Is ghee healthier than butter?

 Ghee and butter come from the same place but are two different things and the differences are much bigger than one might imagine. Ghee is butter without any water left in it and with all the milk solids removed. Simple sounding as it may be, this clarification significantly changes the properties of the product in question.

Namely, there are no milk solids left so ghee is completely lactose and casein free. This makes ghee suitable for many people who are sensitive to dairy products and would otherwise have to put up with feeling sick after having their morning toast. So in terms of tolerability ghee wins hands down.

Ghee is also superior when it comes to cooking since it has a smoke point of 250°C whereas butter's smoke point is 150°C. What this means is that you will not burn the fat when you cook with it. Not only will your dishes taste less bitter but also you won't be introducing harmful oxides into your body. So overall, for frying, roasting and other methods ghee is clearly preferable.

Ghee and butter do not really differ nutritionally except for the fact that there are more fat soluble vitamins (such as A, E and K) as well as butyrate (which is said to promote gut health and decrease inflammation) in ghee than in butter. So in terms of nutrients ghee wins a little bit.

Is ghee better for you? Overall, yes. Most of the time it is healthier than butter for most people. However, there is an approach to everyday food choice that I came across and that changed my perception of my diet completely.

How are peanut butter and high blood pressure related?

 

It seems like peanut butter and its effect on blood pressure have quite a complex relationship. This misconception goes in both directions. Most people believe that peanut butter will be beneficial to their blood pressure readings because it has peanuts in it. Yet, the problem comes not from the peanuts, but from what we do with them.

First of all, store-bought peanut butter tends to have up to 100-200 mg of sodium per two tablespoons. This may not seem like much when eating it only once, yet, if you consume the product regularly, you increase the amount of sodium you have. And sodium means increased retention of fluids and, thus, higher blood volume and blood pressure. That is the very basics of physiology.

What is particularly intriguing about the whole story is that natural peanut butter – which includes only crushed nuts and nothing else – is, on the contrary, a good thing to include in a high blood pressure diet. Peanuts contain plenty of magnesium and potassium. Both minerals fight blood pressure and support endothelium functions.

Additionally, it has been proved by science that eating peanut butter makes people avoid ultra-processed snacks that are known to be terrible.