Serum lipid response to introducing ghee as a partial replacement for mustard oil in the diet of healthy young Indians.

Ghee (clarified butter) has generally been assumed to be hypercholesterolaemic on the basis of its composition but there is hardly any study to support or refute the assumption. The present study was conducted on sixty-three healthy, young, physically active adult volunteers (52 male, 11 female). The study design was that of a randomized controlled trial with a parallel design. After a lead-in period of 2 wk, the subjects were randomly divided into two groups, Group A (n = 30; 25 male, 5 female) and Group B (n = 33; 27 male, 6 female). Group A (experimental) consumed for 8 wk a diet in which ghee provided 10% of the energy intake. The only other visible fat in the diet was mustard oil, and total energy from fats was 25% of the energy intake. Group B (control) consumed for 8 wk a similar diet except that all visible fat came from mustard oil. The serum total cholesterol level showed a significant rise in the experimental group at 4 wk; the rise persisted at 8 wk. A similar rise was also seen in HDL cholesterol. Hence the total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol ratio did not show any significant change. In the control group, there was a trend towards a fall in LDL cholesterol but the change was not significant. The study does not indicate any adverse effect of ghee on lipoprotein profile. However, more studies are needed on older subjects, hyperlipidaemic subjects, and on subjects following less healthy lifestyles before the results of this study can be extrapolated to the general population.

Effect of partial replacement of visible fat by ghee (clarified butter) on serum lipid profile.

A randomised controlled trial with a parallel design was conducted on 24 healthy young volunteers who were divided into two groups. After a lead-in period of 2 wk, the experimental group (n = 11; 9 male, 2 female) had for 8 wk a lactovegetarian diet providing about 25% of the energy intake in the form of fat, of which ghee provided 10 en% and the remaining fat energy came from mustard oil and invisible fat. The control group (n = 13; 8 male, 5 female) had a similar diet except that all visible fat was in the form of mustard oil. In neither group was there any significant change in the serum lipid profile at any point in time. At 8 wk, 2 volunteers in the experimental group, and 1 volunteer in the control group had more than 20% rise in serum total cholesterol as compared to their 0 wk values. There was also an appreciable increase in HDL cholesterol at 8 wk in the experimental group, but it was not statistically significant. Consuming ghee at the level of 10 en% in a vegetarian diet generally has no effect on the serum lipid profile of young, healthy, physically active individuals, but a few individuals may respond differently.