There is no good evidence that ghee helps joint pain. One small, non-randomised trial of sheep ghee massaged into arthritic knees reported less pain, and a 2024 review only proposes possible mechanisms; no trial we found has tested eating ghee for arthritis. If you have joint pain, see your doctor and follow their advice before relying on any home remedy.
Below is each piece of evidence at its true strength, and what the NHS and the UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommend for osteoarthritis. Joint pain has many causes, and only a doctor can tell which one you have.
At a glance
- The only trial of ghee on joints we found used sheep ghee on the knees of 75 older people with osteoarthritis, in a quasi-experimental design without random allocation, published in 2025.
- A 2024 review in Prostaglandins and Other Lipid Mediators describes possible mechanisms by which ghee might support bone and joint health; it reports no new trial in people.
- PubMed searches on 13 October 2026 for ghee with arthritis, osteoarthritis, joint or knee found 6 papers, none a trial of eating plain ghee for joint pain.
- NICE's 2022 osteoarthritis guideline names therapeutic exercise and, where appropriate, weight management as the core treatments.
- USDA FoodData Central lists ghee at 900 kcal per 100 g, and the NHS says being overweight often makes osteoarthritis worse.
Does ghee help joint pain?
Nobody has shown that it does. The evidence comes down to one small trial of sheep ghee rubbed on the knee, which was not randomised and measured results only at the end of a month, and one review that describes possible mechanisms. Neither is enough to recommend ghee, eaten or rubbed in, for joint pain.
Joint pain is also not one condition: the NHS lists sprains, osteoarthritis, bursitis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout and joint infection among its causes, and says not to self-diagnose.
What did the sheep ghee knee trial find?
It reported less knee pain with sheep ghee than with Vaseline, but the design was weak. The 2025 study by Harandi and colleagues, in the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, selected 75 older patients with knee osteoarthritis purposefully, not by chance, in three groups.
One group massaged sheep ghee into the painful parts of the knee, a placebo group used Vaseline, and a control group had a one-minute massage only. According to the trial's registry entry, ISRCTN16332782, this went on for a month, everyone kept taking their usual medicines, and pain was measured before and immediately after the month.
The abstract reports that both ghee and Vaseline reduced pain, with a significantly greater reduction for sheep ghee. The authors concluded that ghee reduced stiffness and pain and improved knee movement and function.
The study has clear limits:
- It was not randomised. The registry calls it a non-randomised quasi-experimental design, and the paper says patients were selected purposefully.
- The registry lists 85 participants enrolled; the published abstract reports 75.
- Its ISRCTN number was assigned in March 2025, after the registry's stated end date of October 2022, so it was registered after it finished.
- Results were measured straight after the month; the registry itself names the short follow-up as a limitation.
- It tested sheep ghee on the skin, so it says nothing about cow ghee or eating ghee.
One trial like this is a reason for a better trial, not for changing treatment.
What does the 2024 review of ghee and joints actually show?
It shows possible mechanisms, not results in patients. The review by Falahatzadeh, Najafi and Bashti explores ghee's fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins and what they might do in bones and joints. Its abstract describes no trial of ghee in people with arthritis.
Its wording is careful: short-chain fatty acids in ghee "can potentially improve joint lubrication and reduce inflammation", and vitamins D and K2 "can play potentially crucial roles" in bone mineralisation. By its own wording, it does not show a benefit.
USDA's FoodData Central record for ghee lists no vitamin D or vitamin K figure at all; our article on the vitamins in ghee covers the figures that do exist. The review also mentions conjugated linoleic acid, the subject of our article on CLA in ghee.
Is there any evidence for eating ghee for arthritis?
We found none. PubMed searches on 13 October 2026 for ghee with arthritis, osteoarthritis, joint, joints or knee in the title or abstract returned 6 distinct papers, all read. None was a trial of people eating plain ghee for joint pain or arthritis.
Besides the trial and review above, they were a 2010 study of a medicated ghee in 28 patients, a rat study of curcumin formulas and two case reports. A rat study cannot show what happens in people, and a case report describes one person. A search for clarified butter with arthritis or joint found only the 2024 review.
What about the medicated ghees used in Ayurveda?
They are herbal medicines made with ghee, so their results are not evidence for plain ghee. A 2024 review of ghee in Ayurveda by Kataria and Singh describes ghritas as "multiherbal ghee-based formulations", and notes that in modern research on bone health, ghee on its own "was rarely mentioned as a therapeutic".
The osteoarthritis evidence is thin. A 2015 systematic review and meta-analysis of Ayurvedic interventions for osteoarthritis by Kessler and colleagues included 33 controlled trials with 2,952 patients. For the compound Panchatikta Ghrita Guggulu, and for Ayurvedic massage, it found no evidence of significant effects once possible methodological bias was taken into account.
Wider uses are covered in our article on ghee in Ayurveda. Before taking any herbal formula, tell your doctor: the NHS page on living with osteoarthritis advises checking with your healthcare team before taking over-the-counter remedies or nutritional supplements, because they can sometimes interfere with your medicine.
Claim by claim: what holds up?
Each popular claim against the evidence described above.
| Claim | Type of evidence | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Rubbing ghee on the knee eases osteoarthritis pain | One non-randomised trial of sheep ghee in 75 older people, registered after it ended, measured at one month | Early and weak; not confirmed |
| Eating ghee eases joint pain or arthritis | No human trial found in PubMed | No evidence |
| Ghee lubricates the joints | A review of possible mechanisms; nothing measured in people | Untested theory |
| Ghee's vitamin D and K2 strengthen bones | A review of possible mechanisms; USDA's ghee record lists no vitamin D or K figure | Not supported |
| Medicated ghees help osteoarthritis, so ghee does | Herbal formulas; a systematic review found no significant effect for one once bias was considered | Not evidence for plain ghee |
| Exercise and weight loss help osteoarthritis | NICE clinical guideline; NHS | Core treatment |
At Himdhara we make ghee, so we have an interest in people eating it; this article claims no joint benefit for it.
What do the NHS and NICE recommend for osteoarthritis?
Exercise and, if you are overweight, weight loss come first, with pain medicines and other support where needed. NICE's 2022 guideline calls therapeutic exercise and weight management the core treatments. The NHS says osteoarthritis cannot be cured, but it does not necessarily get worse and symptoms can be eased.
The main options:
- Exercise. The NHS calls it one of the most important treatments, whatever your age or fitness; agree a plan with your GP or physiotherapist.
- Weight loss if you are overweight. NICE says any amount is likely to help, and that losing 10 per cent of body weight is likely to be better than 5 per cent.
- Topical anti-inflammatory creams. NICE says to offer a topical NSAID for knee osteoarthritis; the NHS says some are available without a prescription.
- Other medicines your doctor may suggest, such as capsaicin cream or, when other treatments have not worked, steroid injections.
- Supportive help, such as hot or cold packs, suitable footwear, walking aids and physiotherapy.
The NHS is also plain about what lacks support: complementary therapies such as acupuncture, glucosamine and chondroitin, and warming rub-in creams called rubefacients. Neither the NHS pages nor the NICE recommendations mention ghee.
On diet, the NHS says a good diet and regular exercise help control weight. Ghee is all fat: USDA's Butter, Clarified butter (ghee) record lists 100 g of fat and 900 kcal per 100 g. India's guideline limits are in our article on how much ghee per day.
When should you see a doctor about joint pain?
See a GP if joint pain stops you doing normal things or disturbs your sleep, gets worse or keeps coming back, has not improved after 2 weeks of home care, or your joints stay stiff for more than 30 minutes after waking. These are the NHS's own reasons.
The NHS says to ask for an urgent GP appointment or contact NHS 111 if the skin around a painful joint is swollen and feels hot, or you feel unwell or have a high temperature. Go to A&E or call 999 after a fall or injury if the pain is very bad, you cannot put weight on the joint, it has moved out of place, or the area tingles or has no feeling.
The NHS osteoarthritis page notes that long morning stiffness can be a sign of rheumatoid arthritis instead, one more reason to get a diagnosis before trying a home remedy.
The short version
There is no good evidence that ghee helps joint pain, eaten or rubbed in. The one trial, of sheep ghee on arthritic knees, was small, not randomised and registered after it ended; the 2024 review describes possible mechanisms, not results in patients. Medicated ghees are herbal formulas, and a systematic review found no significant effect, once bias was considered, for the one it assessed. NICE and the NHS put exercise and weight management first. If your joints hurt, see your doctor and follow their 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.
- Harandi F, Seyedbagheri S, NajjarMohiabadi A, Jamali M, Abbasifard M, Sayadi A, Khoshab H (2025). The effect of sheep ghee on pain, stiffness, physical function, and range of motion of the knee joint in older people with osteoarthritis of the knee. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies.
- Falahatzadeh M, Najafi K, Bashti K (2024). From tradition to science: Possible mechanisms of ghee in supporting bone and joint health. Prostaglandins and Other Lipid Mediators.
- NHS (2023). Osteoarthritis: Treatment and support. NHS, Health A to Z.
- NHS (2026). Joint pain. NHS, Health A to Z.
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2022). Osteoarthritis in over 16s: diagnosis and management (NG226), Recommendations. NICE guideline.