In Ayurveda, ghee (ghrita) is used three ways: as an everyday food, as the base for medicated ghees cooked with herbs, and as one of the fats used in snehana, the oleation procedures that include drinking measured fat before purification therapies. These are traditional uses described in classical texts, not treatments proven by modern medicine. If you are thinking of using ghee or a medicated ghee for any health reason, follow your doctor's advice first.
Ghee holds an unusually large place in Ayurvedic writing, and that is often turned into marketing copy about what ghee "does". This article keeps two things apart: what the tradition says, and what modern research has actually tested. The gap between them is wide, and it is worth seeing clearly.
At a glance
- A 2024 review of eleven classical texts found 774 mentions of ghee in the context of health benefits, more than any other milk product.
- Ayurveda uses ghee three ways: as daily food (the Caraka Samhita lists it among eleven foods for daily use), as the base of medicated ghees cooked with herbs, and as one of the four fats used in snehana.
- The same review concludes that modern literature has limited studies on ghee's functional benefits, and much of what exists is animal or laboratory work.
- The texts dwell on digestion, about 11 per cent of ghee's mentions, while modern papers dwell on the heart, about 27 per cent, and the results on blood fats conflict.
- Medicated ghees and snehapana are medical matters within the tradition; for any health use of ghee, follow your doctor's advice.
What role does ghee play in Ayurveda?
Ghee is the milk product the classical Ayurvedic literature mentions most often in the context of health. A 2024 review of eleven texts found 774 mentions of ghee in the context of health benefits, appearing as a food, as a remedy in its own right, and as the base of complex medicinal formulations called ghrita.
That review, by Kataria and Singh in the Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine, went through seven classical compendia (samhitas), two lexicons (nighantus) and two more recent classical texts, spanning more than 3,000 years. The authors found about 4,000 references to milk and milk products. Of these, 2,913 were about therapeutic benefits, and ghee accounted for 774 of them, the most of any milk-based product.
They grouped those mentions into 15 clusters of traditional benefit, ranging from digestion, nourishment and the senses to skin, healing and bone. These clusters describe what the texts claim. They are a map of the tradition, not a list of established effects.
What do Ayurvedic texts say about ghee as food?
The texts present ghee as ordinary food as well as medicine. According to the 2024 review, the Caraka Samhita lists ghee among eleven foods recommended for daily consumption, a group known as nityasevaniya ahara. In the tradition, then, ghee belongs in the everyday kitchen, not only in the physician's preparations.
As food, ghee is clarified butter, and its composition is well documented; we set out the figures in ghee nutrition facts. Nothing about its place in the tradition changes the fact that it is a concentrated fat, and how much of it suits you is a question for your doctor, especially if you have a heart, liver or metabolic condition.
What is a medicated ghee (ghrita)?
A medicated ghee, or ghrita, is an Ayurvedic medicinal preparation in which ghee is processed with herbal decoctions and a fresh paste of herbs. The mixture is cooked until the water has evaporated, leaving a ghee that carries the fat-soluble parts of the herbs. Each formula comes from a classical text or a formulary.
A 2010 paper in the journal Ayu summarises the traditional view of ghee as an anupana, or vehicle, that "carries the therapeutic properties of herbs to all the body's tissues". A 2020 pharmaceutical study gives a modern framing, describing ghee as carrying lipid-soluble components of herbs into cells. That is a proposed mechanism, not a demonstrated effect of any particular formula.
The same 2020 study, by Wayal and Gurav, describes two traditional processing steps:
- Murcchana — treating the ghee with specific herbs before the main preparation, which the study explains is intended to strengthen the preparation and remove bad odour and rancidity.
- Shata-dhauta — "hundred-times washed" ghee: purified ghee is washed with water a hundred times, which the study says makes it more stable and suitable for applying to the skin.
Their work was a laboratory study. It measured the colour, texture, chemical values, antioxidant activity in the test tube and shelf life of versions of one herbal ghee. It did not test the preparation in people, and it does not tell you whether that formula does what the tradition says it does.
Medicated ghees are medicines in the Ayurvedic system, not cooking ghee with herbs added. They are not interchangeable with the ghee in your kitchen, and they should be used only on the advice of your doctor.
What is snehana, and where does ghee fit in?
Snehana means oleation: applying fat to the body or giving it by mouth. Ayurvedic texts divide it into external oleation and internal oleation, in which measured amounts of fat are drunk. Internal oleation, snehapana, is described as the foremost step before the purification procedures known as shodhana.
A 2018 review of the classical texts by Kadambari and colleagues lists the four fats used for this: oil (taila), ghee (ghrita), bone marrow (majja) and muscle fat (vasa). Ghee is one of the four.
Snehapana involves taking large, increasing amounts of fat over a short period. It is a clinical procedure in the tradition, not a wellness habit, and the texts themselves frame it as something done before other treatments. It is not something to attempt at home from an article. Speak to your doctor before considering it.
What does modern research actually show?
Much less than the tradition claims. The 2024 review that catalogued ghee in Ayurvedic texts concluded that modern scientific literature has limited studies on ghee's functional benefits. What exists is uneven: some areas the texts emphasise have barely been studied, and much of the rest is animal or laboratory work.
| Area | What the tradition describes | What modern research shows |
|---|---|---|
| Ghee as daily food | Listed in the Caraka Samhita among eleven foods for daily use | Composition is well measured; the tradition's daily-food recommendation has not itself been tested |
| Digestion | About 11 per cent of ghee's mentions in the texts | Under 1 per cent of modern papers; the review found only one PubMed study on ghee and gut health |
| Memory and the mind | A cluster of cognitive benefits | The review's cognitive section counts 5 animal studies, 2 human clinical studies and 2 reviews, largely on ghee-based formulations |
| Heart and blood fats | Comparatively few mentions | About 27 per cent of modern papers; results conflict, and the review calls for large, long-term studies |
| Medicated ghees | Ghee as the vehicle for herbs | The formulation study cited here was laboratory work only and did not test the preparation in people |
Two details are worth drawing out. First, the research focus is almost the reverse of the tradition's. The texts dwell on digestion; modern papers dwell on the heart.
Second, look at what kind of study sits behind a claim. The 2010 Ayu paper, often quoted as support for ghee, was a rat study: five rats were fed ordinary feed and five a diet with 10 per cent ghee for four weeks. Total cholesterol did not change significantly, triglycerides rose, and lipid peroxidation in the liver did not increase. The same paper cites a rural Indian population in which men who ate more ghee had less coronary heart disease. That is an association in an observational study, not evidence that ghee caused the difference. The authors also warn that ghee adulterated with vanaspati (vegetable ghee) could give spurious results in experiments, a reminder that the purity of the ghee studied matters; see how to tell if ghee is pure.
The review also cites a study in which short-term, escalating amounts of fat given as in snehapana did not raise blood lipids. It is a single study, and it does not show that the procedure achieves its traditional purpose.
How should you read Ayurvedic health claims about ghee?
Read them as statements about a tradition. "Ayurvedic texts describe ghee as nourishing" is accurate. "Ghee is proven to improve memory" is not. When a product page or article blurs the two, ask what kind of evidence sits behind the claim and whether it was tested in people.
A few questions help:
- Is the source a text or a trial? A verse in a classical compendium tells you what physicians believed and practised. It does not tell you the result of a controlled test.
- Was the study in people? Rat studies and test-tube measurements are a starting point for research, not a basis for health decisions.
- Was it plain ghee or a formulation? Results from a medicated ghee with several herbs say little about the ghee on your table.
- Who is selling what? A brand that sells ghee has a reason to quote the tradition generously. That includes us.
None of this makes the tradition worthless. The 2024 review's authors see it as a source of research questions worth testing. But a question worth testing is not an answer. For any health use of ghee or a medicated ghee, follow your doctor's advice.
Does the kind of ghee matter in the tradition?
The 2024 review notes that the texts hold old ghee, purana ghrita, in high regard, and it compares the fatty acid profiles of ghee from different animals. For everyday cooking, the practical questions are simpler: is it genuine milk fat, how was it made, and is the batch tested?
Himdhara sets whole milk from hill Badri cattle into curd overnight, churns it on a wooden bilona and clarifies the butter slowly over a wood fire; the steps are on the bilona process page. We describe the method because it is how the ghee is made, not because it makes ghee a medicine. It does not.
The short version
Ayurveda uses ghee as daily food, as the base of medicated ghees cooked with herbs, and as one of the four fats used in snehana before purification treatments. Classical texts mention ghee more than any other milk product, but those mentions record a tradition, not tested results. Modern research on ghee's functional effects is limited, uneven and often in animals or the laboratory. Enjoy ghee as food, regard medicated ghees and snehapana as medical matters, and follow your doctor's advice for any health use.
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.
- Kataria D, Singh G (2024). Health benefits of ghee: Review of Ayurveda and modern science perspectives. Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine.
- Kadambari PB, Dharmarajan P, Prathibha CK, Anandaraman PV (2018). A Critical Review on the Concept of Avapeedaka Snehapana, a Special Mode of Lipid Administration. Journal of Evidence-Based Integrative Medicine.
- Wayal SR, Gurav SS (2020). Bhallatakadi Ghrita: Development and evaluation with reference to Murcchana and Shata-Dhauta process. Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine.
- Sharma H, Zhang X, Dwivedi C (2010). The effect of ghee (clarified butter) on serum lipid levels and microsomal lipid peroxidation. Ayu.