Ghee can help in the way any fat helps: human trials show that eating fat with vegetables raises how much of their carotenoids and fat-soluble vitamins reach the blood, and ICMR-NIN says fats promote the absorption of vitamins A, D, E and K. But no trial we found used ghee, so nothing shows ghee does this better than oil or butter. If you have a medical condition, are pregnant, or take vitamins on prescription, follow your doctor's advice rather than this article.
At a glance
- ICMR-NIN's Dietary Guidelines for Indians (2024) say fats serve as a vehicle for vitamins A, D, E and K and carotenes "and promote their absorption".
- In a 2004 trial in 7 people, salads with fat-free dressing gave negligible carotenoid absorption, while dressings with 6 g and 28 g of canola oil gave more, and the 28 g dressing the most.
- A 2012 trial in 29 people found that 20 g of fat with a salad gave higher carotenoid absorption than 3 or 8 g, and that the amount of fat mattered more than whether it was canola oil, soybean oil or butter.
- A 2017 trial in 12 women found absorption of carotenoids, vitamin K1 and vitamin E from salad was highest with 32 g of soybean oil, the largest amount tested.
- ICMR-NIN advises limiting ghee or butter to 1 to 2 teaspoons a day; no trial we opened tested ghee at any amount.
Does eating fat help you absorb vitamins?
Yes, for the fat-soluble ones. ICMR-NIN's 2024 Dietary Guidelines for Indians state that fats "serve as a vehicle for fat-soluble vitamins like vitamins A, D, E & K and carotenes, and promote their absorption". The guidelines class vitamin C and the B-complex vitamins as water soluble; the fat question is about A, D, E and K.
The same guidelines list "vegetable oils, butter and ghee" together as visible fats, and note that beta-carotene is a pro-vitamin "converted to vitamin A in the body". That matters here, because most of the trials below measured carotenoids from vegetables rather than vitamins themselves.
The guideline names fats as a group. It does not single out ghee or rank one fat above another. For the vitamins ghee carries in its own right, see our article on vitamins in ghee; this one is about whether ghee helps you absorb vitamins from the rest of the meal.
What did the salad-with-fat trials find?
They found that a salad eaten with no fat gives almost no carotenoids to the blood, and that adding fat raises the amount. The trials we opened fed people the same vegetable salad with different amounts of fat and measured carotenoids in the blood over the following hours.
The 2004 trial, by Brown and colleagues in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, gave seven people three salads of spinach, romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes and carrots, with dressings containing 0, 6 or 28 g of canola oil, in random order. With the fat-free dressing, the appearance of alpha-carotene, beta-carotene and lycopene in the blood was "negligible". With 6 g it rose, and with 28 g it was higher still.
The 2017 trial, by White and colleagues in the same journal, went further. Twelve women each ate five salads with dressings holding 0, 2, 4, 8 or 32 g of soybean oil, and the researchers tracked not only carotenoids but phylloquinone (vitamin K1), tocopherols (vitamin E) and retinyl palmitate, which the abstract describes as formed from the provitamin A carotenoids. Absorption of all of them "was highest with 32 g oil". The authors also reported that the effect "varied widely, and some individuals showed a negligible response".
These are small, short studies. Each measured what reached the blood after one meal, not anyone's vitamin status over weeks or months, and none looked at health outcomes. What they show is direction: with these salads, some fat beat none, and in most comparisons more fat beat less.
What did the avocado trial find?
It found that adding avocado, a fatty fruit, to salsa or salad raised carotenoid absorption, and that avocado oil did the same. The authors attributed the effect "primarily to the lipids present in avocado", that is, to its fat. The trial, by Unlu and colleagues, was published in the Journal of Nutrition in 2005.
It ran as two crossover studies with 11 healthy people each. In the first, 150 g of avocado added to salsa gave 4.4 times the lycopene and 2.6 times the beta-carotene absorption of avocado-free salsa, measured as the area under the blood-concentration curve over 9.5 hours. In the second, 150 g of avocado, holding 24 g of fat, or 24 g of avocado oil added to a salad raised alpha-carotene, beta-carotene and lutein absorption; with 150 g of avocado, that came to 7.2, 15.3 and 5.1 times the avocado-free salad.
The abstract also states that "Neither the avocado dose nor the lipid source affected carotenoid absorption": 75 g of avocado (12 g of fat) did about as well as 150 g, and the oil as well as the fruit. Those multiples come from one trial with particular vegetables. They are not a general figure for "fat with food", and they say nothing about ghee.
Has any trial tested ghee itself?
No trial that we found used ghee. We looked for human studies that fed people ghee with a meal or a vitamin and measured absorption, and found none. Every trial here used vegetable oil, butter or avocado. So the claim that ghee helps absorb vitamins rests on ghee being a fat, not on any study of ghee.
The nearest test is a 2012 trial by Goltz and colleagues in Molecular Nutrition & Food Research. Twenty-nine healthy people ate identical salads with 3, 8 or 20 g of canola oil, soybean oil or butter. Across all three fats, 20 g gave higher absorption than 3 or 8 g for every carotenoid measured except alpha-carotene, where the difference fell short of statistical significance. The authors concluded that the amount "appears to exert a stronger effect" than the source.
Butter is not ghee: ghee is made by clarifying butter. But the butter arm is the closest any trial we opened comes to ghee, and it does not suggest milk fat is special. Pooled across amounts, canola oil only "trended toward" higher lutein and alpha-carotene absorption than butter, and those differences were not statistically significant. The authors concluded that both the amount and the source of fat affect absorption, with amount the stronger. Butter was not shown to beat the oils, and ghee was not tested, so neither "ghee beats oil" nor "oil beats ghee" has a trial behind it.
How much fat did the trials use?
Between 2 and 32 g per meal, depending on the trial, with the largest amount often giving the most absorption. ICMR-NIN's limit for visible fat is 20 to 50 g per person per day, which it puts at 4 to 10 teaspoons, so a teaspoon works out at 20 ÷ 4 = 5 g. On that scale, the trials' amounts ran from under half a teaspoon to over six teaspoons in a single meal.
| Trial | Fat used | Amount per meal | What rose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brown et al., 2004 (7 people) | Canola oil in salad dressing | 0, 6 or 28 g | Alpha-carotene, beta-carotene and lycopene: negligible at 0 g, higher at 6 g, highest at 28 g |
| Unlu et al., 2005 (11 people per study) | Avocado or avocado oil | 75 g avocado (12 g fat), 150 g avocado (24 g fat) or 24 g oil | Lycopene and beta-carotene from salsa; alpha-carotene, beta-carotene and lutein from salad; dose and source made no difference |
| Goltz et al., 2012 (29 people) | Canola oil, soybean oil or butter | 3, 8 or 20 g | Carotenoids higher at 20 g than at 3 or 8 g, except alpha-carotene (not significant) |
| White et al., 2017 (12 women) | Soybean oil in salad dressing | 0, 2, 4, 8 or 32 g | Carotenoids, vitamin K1, vitamin E and retinyl palmitate, all highest at 32 g |
Two cautions. The higher amounts are well above what ICMR-NIN suggests for ghee: it advises limiting ghee or butter to "1 to 2 teaspoons/day or avoid, if possible", which on the guideline's own teaspoon is about 5 to 10 g a day, not per meal. And no trial was designed to set a recommended amount of fat for absorbing vitamins. Our article on how much ghee per day works through the ICMR-NIN limits in detail.
What does this mean for cooking with ghee?
Mostly that you do not need extra ghee for this. ICMR-NIN observes that "almost all recipes are made with visible fats", and notes that in stir-frying "the addition of fat improves the absorption of plant compounds, antioxidants, and fat-soluble vitamins". No trial we found shows ghee doing this better than oil.
What follows from the evidence, without going beyond it:
- Count the fat already in the meal. A dal finished with a ghee tadka or vegetables cooked in oil already carry fat. Adding more for the sake of absorption has no trial behind it.
- Keep inside the daily limit. ICMR-NIN's 1 to 2 teaspoons of ghee or butter sits inside its 20 to 50 g limit for all visible fat.
- Do not expect ghee to outperform oil. The one trial that compared butter with oils found the amount of fat mattered more than its source.
- Treat health questions as your doctor's. People who have trouble absorbing fat, have a heart or metabolic condition, are pregnant, or take vitamins A, D, E or K on prescription should follow their doctor's advice on fat and supplements.
If you cook with ghee anyway, choose one whose batch can be checked. Each batch of Himdhara A2 bilona ghee has its laboratory report published before it ships; we make no claim that it improves vitamin absorption, because no trial has tested that.
The short version
Fat eaten with a meal helps the body absorb carotenoids and the fat-soluble vitamins, and ICMR-NIN says so plainly. Trials with canola oil, soybean oil, butter and avocado found that salads with no fat gave almost no carotenoids to the blood, and that adding fat gave more. No trial we found used ghee, and the one trial that compared butter with oils found the amount of fat mattered more than the type. Any help from ghee would come from its being a fat, and it belongs within ICMR-NIN's limit of 1 to 2 teaspoons a day, and anyone with a medical condition should follow their doctor's advice.
Sources
Further reading behind the figures above. Himdhara's own numbers — yields, batch results — come from our production records and the batch reports on the lab reports page.
- ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition (2024). Dietary Guidelines for Indians. ICMR-NIN, Hyderabad.
- Brown MJ, Ferruzzi MG, Nguyen ML, et al. (2004). Carotenoid bioavailability is higher from salads ingested with full-fat than with fat-reduced salad dressings as measured with electrochemical detection. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
- Unlu NZ, Bohn T, Clinton SK, Schwartz SJ (2005). Carotenoid absorption from salad and salsa by humans is enhanced by the addition of avocado or avocado oil. Journal of Nutrition.
- Goltz SR, Campbell WW, Chitchumroonchokchai C, et al. (2012). Meal triacylglycerol profile modulates postprandial absorption of carotenoids in humans. Molecular Nutrition & Food Research.
- White WS, Zhou Y, Crane A, et al. (2017). Modeling the dose effects of soybean oil in salad dressing on carotenoid and fat-soluble vitamin bioavailability in salad vegetables. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.