Ghee, also known as clarified butter, is a traditional Indian milk product. Popularly called “liquid gold”, the origins of ghee date back to the 1500s. Ghee has a place of importance all across India, especially in the Indian medical science of Ayurveda. For this reason, ghee forms the base for some of the Ayurvedic medicines. Ghee comes under the “sattvik” category of feeds according to Indian culture. This means that eating ghee makes you optimistic and fills your mind with good thoughts. Cow’s ghee, just as cow’s milk, has both nutritional benefits and medicinal value. In this article, we discuss the 8 amazing benefits of ghee for your baby.
Whether it comes to giving the best to your baby during the growing years or finding an ideal solution for their overall needs, ghee never lets you down. It is easy to infuse ghee into your baby’s dishes. There are multiple benefits of ghee for your baby. Nothing matches the uses of ghee for your baby when it comes to a healthy digestive system, bones, and mind. Ghee is a treasure trove of all of the vital nutrients for your little one.
In This Article
- Nutritional Value of Ghee
- How is Ghee Beneficial for Babies?
- Best Time To Include Ghee in Baby’s Diet
- 8 Amazing Health Benefits of Ghee For Babies
- Tips to Include Ghee in Baby’s Diet
- Which is the Best Ghee For a Baby?
- How Much Ghee Does My Baby Need?
- Risk Of Giving Too Much Ghee For Babies
- Benefits of Ghee For Baby – Facts
- FAQ’s
Nutritional Value of Ghee
Ghee contains virtually no calcium since ghee is made by expelling all of the milk solids from butter, but it is rich in fatty acids. As a rule of thumb, one teaspoon of ghee contains 8% of the recommended daily intake (RDI) of vitamin A, 2% of vitamin E, and 1% of vitamin K. There are more fats in Ghee than in butter. Ghee also contains short-chain saturated fats and butyric acid in it. It is an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids. In fact, ghee is one of the very few sources of omega-3 for vegetarians. If the milk solids (whey) are not completely removed during clarification, traces of protein may remain in Ghee.
How is Ghee Beneficial For Babies?
Ghee’ is a healthy source of fat and contains the all-important Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). DHA is vital for brain development and growth. Plus, ghee is also full of energy, thus providing your baby lots of calories to stay active and on the go. The combination of all vitamins like A, E, K, etc., helps in the consistent growth of your baby.
Ghee is rich in fats that reduce inflammation and ensure the gut health of your baby. The high ratios of saturated fatty acids make ghee ideal for cooking. With a smoke point of 485℉, ghee can handle any heat without destroying important nutrients.
It is as well renowned for its anti-fungal, anti-oxidant, anti-bacterial, and anti-viral properties which can boost eyesight, immunity, digestion and help your baby achieve optimal growth.
Best Time To Include Ghee in Baby’s Diet
You can introduce ghee to your baby once they reach the age of six months and when they are ready for solids. Ghee is one of the first foods introduced to babies in many families. As soon as your child turns seven months old, you can introduce three to four drops of ghee to their meals. After their first birthday, you can add a spoon of ghee to their food. It can be added to mashed rice or lentils to enhance the flavour and taste.
8 Amazing Health Benefits of Ghee For Babies
From the skin to the internal organs, ghee is not less than a tonic for your baby. When you’re looking for some external support for the milk, ghee comes to the rescue. You may be surprised to notice that like adults, ghee is highly beneficial for babies as well.
Here we are going to discuss eight amazing health benefits of ghee for babies:
1. Using Ghee for Treating Eczema in Babies
Eczema is a skin condition, which is common among babies. It is characterized by itchy, red, and swollen skin. The itchiness is mainly due to dryness. You cannot use medication on your baby’s tender skin due to adverse reactions. When you are looking for safer yet effective solutions for treating this onset of eczema in your baby, all you need to do is rub pure ghee in the infected area of the baby around four times a day.
Ghee will act as an excellent moisturizer and soften the rough and infected skin, avoiding further cracking of the skin. Because of its antifungal, antibacterial, anti-virus properties, further infection, inflammation, and the spreading of eczema can be controlled effectively. The anti-inflammatory property of the ghee will help in the treatment of eczema.
Thus, ghee is a 100% safe and highly effective treatment for many types of skin diseases in your babies. It is wise to control the intensity of the disease at the start to prevent any complications for your baby in the future. Thus, ghee for baby skin is the sure-shot solution for prevention as well as care of the ever-changing skin cells.
2. Using Ghee as Massage Oil
Babies have the least physical movement until they start crawling. Hence, regular massages are important for your baby. Massages are all about the advantages of close contact and sensory stimulation for your baby.
Another basic property of ghee is that it protects the body from cold. Oil massages are important for better blood circulation and the growth of infants. During the winter season, especially in high altitudes and cold areas, ghee is popularly used to massage the baby.
This will help the baby’s skin to become smoother and supple. Further, massage with ghee enhances body awareness and adjusts the nighttime schedule of the baby. Ghee helps in improving the skin texture of your baby. Thus, using ghee for baby skin can be the best decision of your life. Don’t fall prey to highly-acclaimed products for your baby’s skin.
3. Using Ghee For Treating Dry Cough
A dry cough, which bothers your baby, can be treated effectively with the help of ghee. Ghee can work wonders for your baby’s throat, eliminating the use of medicines. For this, dry fry and powder the peppercorns, mix it with ghee and give it to the baby. If the baby is too young to eat this, you can try the following method- heat three teaspoons of ghee in a Kadai.
When the ghee is hot, put some fresh peppercorns (if needed, smash them and then put them) and sauté for a while. Now switch off the stove. Let the essence of peppercorn get into the ghee. Squeeze the peppercorns with the help of a sieve and remove them from the ghee. Now give a little quantity of the remaining ghee–peppercorn mixture to the baby throughout the day.
Also, you can add a little amount of ginger to ghee and give it to your baby regularly. This also helps in relieving the dry cough of your baby. You can watch the amazing effect. A sore throat can further decrease the diet of your baby as they will not be able to eat enough. Thus, ghee is best for relieving your baby from throat infections.
4. Using Ghee Reduces the Chances of Infection
Your baby doesn’t have a strong immune system. Exposure to infections can be difficult for your baby. While you try your best to keep diseases away from your baby, ghee is a handy tool for boosting your baby’s immunity.
Ghee is an excellent source of antioxidants. Making it a practice to add an optimum amount of ghee in the baby’s food will help in increasing the immunity of the baby and keeping him away from common infections and diseases.
[Read: How to Increase Immunity in Babies?]
5. Using Ghee For Absorbing Fat-Soluble Vitamins
The notion of fats associated with ghee is not as bad as it looks. While it is rich in good fat for your baby, ghee helps to absorb the fat-soluble vitamins from the food they eat. Fat-soluble vitamins are vitamins that are absorbed into the body fat and remain there until the demand arises. Vitamin E, A, D, and K are fat-soluble vitamins that have a significant role in a baby’s growth.
Ghee takes charge of helping your baby absorb the best vitamins. In other words, ghee for baby food ensures that the vitamins don’t get excreted out of your baby without getting absorbed.
6. Using Ghee will Help to Solve the Digestive Issues
The baby’s digestive system is extremely sensitive and will react instantly if any of the ingredients put stress on the gut (cooking oil is commonly found, the culprit). Feeding preserved foods further add to the problems to your baby as they may suffer stomach aches.
Among the “fat” foods, ghee is an easily digestible and healthy source of fat food. Taking a spoonful of ghee per day will help in solving digestive issues as it helps with healthy bowel movements and thereby helps the baby to stay away from constipation.
Further, ghee acts as a guard of the digestive system of your baby. Thus giving ghee to your child aids in their digestion and promotes appetite too.
7. Using Ghee as an Energy Booster
Do you think your baby is less active? Relax as most babies spend their day aggressively, which results in low energy levels. Thus, there is a need for some boost of energy for your baby that keeps them moving.
Loaded with calories, ghee is a good energy booster, which can satisfy the requirement for extra energy, especially if they are a fussy/choosy eater. Most of the babies like the smell of ghee. Thus, rejuvenating your baby with loads of energy is another important benefit of ghee.
8. Using Ghee Helps to Regulate Thyroid Hormone Function
Due to the different diets and lifestyles of the mother, babies are prone to more hormonal dysfunctions. One such most prevalent condition is thyroid hormone dysfunction. Like other hormonal issues, it is best to treat this problem at earlier stages only.
Consuming the right amount of ghee helps to regulate thyroid hormone function as ghee is a good source of iodine. Ghee for babies prevents them from chronic issues with hormones.
Tips to Include Ghee in Baby’s Diet
Your child should be given homemade cow’s ghee. Store-bought ghee is often not pure and chemical-free. You can incorporate ghee into your baby’s diet in various ways. Listed below are some tips for introducing ghee to your baby’s diet.
- If your baby is 6 to 9 months old, stir a scoop of ghee into their food, such as cooked vegetables or porridge. It is easy to add ghee to a baby’s meal if it is dal or khichdi. Alternatively, you can add ghee to the baby’s vegetable puree or mashed potatoes.
- Continue adding ghee to baby’s meals after they turn 9 to 12 months old. You can also offer ghee on toast, cooking vegetables in ghee, or mixing ghee into rice or other grains at this time.
- Ghee can replace butter in chapatis and parathas for toddlers. Ghee can also be substituted for cooking oil in small amounts. As an alternative to salted butter, ghee can be used on bread.
Which is the Best Ghee For a Baby?
Ghee can be made out of cow’s milk or buffalo’s milk. The advantages of cow’s milk are high as compared to that of buffalo’s milk for babies. Hence, you can go for collecting the milk solids of cow’s milk. You can then churn this mixture to get butter and buttermilk. Giving butter to your baby is not a good option as it contains milk solids and is raw.
How Much Ghee Does My Baby Need?
It is not only about healthy food as quantities do matter. The same is true for ghee for babies. Many parents worry about giving the right amount of ghee to the baby. Don’t worry, you can use ghee in your baby’s diet by any of the following methods. You can:
- Add ghee to mashed potato or khichdi.
- Use ghee as a dip for idly.
- Add ghee to porridge.
- Substitute ghee for cooking oil.
- Make ghee dosa (using ghee instead of oil).
- If your baby loves it, you can also give them ghee directly.
Nevertheless, excessive use of ghee will result in loss of appetite and other issues like being overweight. Here are the appropriate measures of ghee that should be given to the baby. You can take the help of a quick guide for feeding nutritious ghee to your baby.
| Month (Year) | Quantity | Servings |
| Six Months | ½ teaspoon | 2 |
| Eight Months | ¾ to 1 teaspoon | 2 |
| Ten Months | 1 to 1 ¼ teaspoon | 3 |
| 1 Year Onwards | 1 to 1 ½ teaspoon | 3 |
| 2 Years Onwards | 1 ½ to 2 teaspoon | 3 |
Risk Of Giving Too Much Ghee For Babies
Even something as nutritious as ghee can be harmful if consumed in excess. Ghee is extremely healthy, but only if consumed in moderation. If consumed in excess, it can pose health risks.
In babies, too much ghee can cause indigestion and loss of appetite. When consumed in excess, ghee can also cause childhood obesity due to its high fat and calorie content. Therefore, don’t give more than one to one and a half teaspoons of ghee per day to babies
Ghee for Baby – Some Interesting Facts
We now know the multiple benefits of ghee for your babies. now find out some interesting facts about ghee for babies:
- Ghee doesn’t cause obesity in babies. Irregular eating habits may add to excessive weight gain.
- It contains medium-chain triglycerides that act as an energy booster.
- Ghee is free from any type of free radicals, unlike other cooking oils. Hence it is 100% safe to include ghee while you’re cooking for your baby.
- As ghee is prepared by removing the milk solids from the butter, it can be consumed even if the baby develops lactose intolerance.
- Ghee is essential for ensuring good vision in your baby.
- It stimulates gastric acid in your baby’s system and creates appetite.
- Cow ghee is best for babies.
What you may not have realized until now is its power to keep your baby healthy and fit throughout the growing years. Whether it is skin, digestion, hormones, or any other possible things, ghee never fails to deliver its best to your baby.
FAQ’s
1. Can I Give Ghee is My Baby is Lactose Intolerant?
Yes, you can. Though it is a milk product, it is considered safe. However, if your baby is unable to digest it, please discontinue.
2. Can Ghee Help Develop My Baby’s Brain?
Yes, it can it is in fact a part of every Indian household for this purpose. It contains DHA which aids brain development. It is loaded with many nutrients as well.
3. Can I Use Ghee Topically For My Baby?
Ghee can be used to massage your baby. It is very good for the skin. It can be used to treat mouth sores and eczema as well.
4. Can Eating Too Much Ghee Lead to Constipation in My Baby?
No, it won’t. Ghee helps digest food easily. It can even improve bowel movements.
Read Also: Goat Milk For Babies: When To Give And What Are Its Benefits
