Is Ghee Causing Your Acne and Irregular Periods?

I get asked this question all the time. Salila, is ghee bad for cholesterol? People are adding ghee to their coffee, their rice, their vegetables, their curries, and then they are wondering why are their periods irregular or why is their skin breaking out all the time. So let me set the record straight once and for all. Hi, I'm Salila Sukumaran, a generational Ayurveda practitioner based in sunny California, helping you activate your Ayurvedic intelligence, your inbuilt AI. So today we are talking about ghee and its connection to cholesterol. The basic building block of your hormones for health and vitality. No, ghee is not ruining your health and your hormones by increasing your cholesterol. The quality of ghee and how you're using it might be affecting you. Let me explain the difference. Ghee is one of the most revered sattvic foods in Ayurveda. It's considered a yoga bahi, meaning it carries the properties of whatever it is combined with deep into your tissues. It contains fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E, and K, which are essential for hormone production. It supports healthy cholesterol, which is a raw material for building many kinds of hormones like cortisol that regulates stress, metabolism, and immunity, aldosterone that controls our blood pressure and our electrolyte balance, sex hormones like estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone. And when used correctly, ghee balances our hormone production. It does not disrupt them. But here is where people go wrong. First, quantity. Adding tablespoons of ghee to your coffee and then another teaspoonful on your rice or your pasta and then more onto your sautéed vegetables is excessive. If you're already digestion challenged, and you can tell that from how white and coated your tongue looks like in the morning, your body cannot process that much fat at once. It leads to sluggish digestion, weight gain, and hormonal imbalance, especially if you are a kapha dominant, heavyset body type. The Ayurvedic recommendation is 1 to 2 teaspoons per meal maximum. Second is quality matters. The quality of fats you consume directly impacts the quality of your hormones. Conventionally, ghee is now made from grain-fed, hormone-injected cows that carry those hormones into our bodies. Always choose organic, grass-fed ghee from A2 local breeds from a Vedic koshala where cows are treated with love. This is Satvik healing ghee. The bhava or intentions animals and plants are subjected to matter a lot when it comes to benefiting from their produce. Third is timing. If you have a weak digestive fire or suffer from PCOS, endometriosis, or fibroids, taking ghee at night can aggravate kapha and create more congestion. Using ghee first thing in the morning can depress an already low digestive Agni. Avoid ghee on rainy downcast days if your digestion is weak. Instead, use ghee during lunch on sunny days when your Agni is strongest, as our metabolism follows the warmth of the sun. So ghee is not the bad boy here, misuse is. If you're experiencing hormonal issues and are nervous about your cholesterol levels, do not blame ghee. Look at how much you're using, what quality you're buying, and when you are consuming it. Adjust these 3 factors and ghee will become your hormonal buddy, not your enemy. In fact, if a healthy person eats pure ghee, it is supposed to rekindle his digestion and his vitality, just like a drop of ghee helps a fire burn stronger. But if the wood is wet or the fire is still just struggling, adding ghee will extinguish the fire. If you're feeling challenged with hormonal imbalance and irregular periods and have conditions like PCOS or unexplained weight gain and want personalized guidance on the right kind of food and the timing for your unique body type, I invite you to book a free recovery session with me. The link is in the description below. Ghee is ancient wisdom. It is not a trend. Use golden ghee wisely and Follow the Ayurveda channel to activate your Ayurvedic intelligence, your inbuilt AI. I'll see you next week.