Ghee for me?

So I'm eating better for the past few days. Yay :) Sleep is still an issue, but hey I get at lest 5 hours a night so I'm good. I'm starting to look more into what I'm putting into my body. Normally I use olive oil to cook and on occasion butter. Then the husband brought home Ghee and said "try this", he's yet to fail me so I figure, why not.... ZOMG yum! It's good and flavorful and yummy and and and yeah I like it. So I wanted to look into this more, as I tend to do. Here's the history...

Ghee: a class of clarified butter that originated in South Asia, and is commonly used in South Asian, North African and Horn African cuisine. Traditionally, ghee is made from from butter churned out of yogurt (curd). It is boiled and constantly stirred until the all the water is evaporated. Then, further heated to get the awsome flavor, slightly cooled and filtered to remove sediment. It's suppose to be good for people on a low fat diet because you only need to use a little for lots of flavor. Other interesting things I found out about Ghee is it's said to stimulate the secretion of stomach acids to help with digestion, while other fats, such as butter and oils, slow down the digestive process and can sit heavy in the stomach. Tests are being done to see if it helps with ulcers, constipation, and the promotion of healthy eyes and skin. Supposedly Ghee also promotes learning and increased memory retention. It is used in Indian beauty creams to help soften skin, and as a topical for the treatment of burns and blisters. It is rich with antioxidants and acts as an aid in the absorption of vitamins and minerals from other foods and serving to strengthen the immune system. With a high concentration of butyric acid (a fatty acid that contains anti-viral properties) is believed to inhibit the growth of cancerous tumors. What a wonder food!

But are these claims for real? I mean it's good, but can it be that good? Looks like it... This is an abstract about a study done with Ghee and how it effect cholesterol.

J Nutr Biochem. 2000 Feb;11(2):69-75.

Hypocholesterolemic effect of anhydrous milk fat ghee is mediated by increasing the secretion of biliary lipids.
Kumar MV, Sambaiah K, Lokesh BR.
Department of Biochemistry and Nutrition, Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore, Karnataka, India
The anhydrous milk fat ghee is one of the important sources of fat in the Indian diet. Our earlier studies showed that rats fed diets containing greater than 2.5 wt% of ghee had lower levels of serum cholesterol compared with rats fed diets containing groundnut oil. To evaluate the mechanism of the hypocholesterolemic effect of ghee, male Wistar rats were fed a diet containing 2.5 or 5.0 wt% ghee for a period of 8 weeks. The diets were made isocaloric with groundnut oil. Both native and ghee heated at 120 degrees C containing oxidized lipids were included in the diet. The ghee in the diet did not affect the 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG CoA) reductase activity in the liver microsomes, but it significantly increased biliary excretion of cholesterol, bile acids, uronic acid, and phospholipids. The rats fed ghee had lower levels of cholesterol esters in the serum as well as in the intestinal mucosa. Both native and oxidized ghee influenced cholesterol metabolism. These results indicate that supplementation of diets with ghee lipids would increase the excretion of bile constituents and lower serum cholesterol levels.

So what's left then? A side by side nutritional comparison of Ghee, Butter and Olive Oil of course.
Here ya go! Got the numbers from www.calorieking.com

Conclusion: I'm gona use it. :) Thanks hubby!