30 Day Paleo: Day Nine – Switch to Grass Fed Butter or Make Ghee

Looking to make healthier choices? Perfect! This is Day 9 of 30 of my 30 Day Paleo Plan. For more information on 30 Day Paleo as well as 30 Minute Paleo, check out the get started page. Post each day on your 30 Day Paleo journey to Twitter or Instagram and show me by tagging me with @dranthonygustin — get after it! 

Now that you have cut out processed foods and grains, you will need to incorporate other energy sources as fuel that won’t harm your body. The bread, pasta, tortillas and other empty carbohydrates need to be replaced with something. That something is fat.

The concept of purposefully loading up on fat seems counterintuitive to many because most of us grew up constantly hearing that eating fat makes us fat and unhealthy. We could rant all day on how misinterpreted studies and lobbying have led to the inappropriate demonization of fats. The fact is, your body needs fat to create hormones, make new cells, and to thrive. Unlike carbohydrates, fat is an essential macronutrient (meaning your body NEEDS to acquire it).

Just like anything else, fat from bad sources (hydrogenated vegetable oils, grain fed butter) can cause problems. If you eat crappy ingredients, that’s exactly how you’re going to feel.

To summarize, fat does not make you fat, and butter is not bad for your heart.

Why is grass fed butter better? When compared with traditional butter, it contains a much higher ratio of omega 3 to (more inflammatory) omega 6 fatty acids. Traditional butters also include lower doses of fat soluble vitamins. As an added bonus, grass fed butter contains a compound called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) that is known to increase fat burning.

If you’re looking for a go-to grass fed butter, Kerrygold is a great brand found in many grocery stores. In specialty stores, you will have more options to sample. Look for “grass-fed” or “pasture” butter on the label and you should be good to go.

Some paleo guidelines recommend removing butter as it can have traces of dairy in it. If you know you’re sensitive to dairy, eliminate it and stick to ghee. If you’re not sure, don’t worry about it just now.

Since the amount of dairy in butter is so small that most won’t react to it, we think that the small proportion who do react can fine tune after making more important dietary changes. A step in the right direction is still a good step to take. If you go through all 30 days and feel like you still have some room to improve, eliminate butter and use ghee.

So what is ghee? Ghee, or clarified butter, is the pure fat component of butter. Ghee production involves removing potentially inflammatory milk solids from the butter, leaving you with liquid gold. It is also a little more expensive, but you can make ghee yourself if you are so inclined!

HOW TO MAKE GHEE

STEP ONE:

Add 1lb butter to saucepan and set on low heat.

STEP Two:

Melt butter and cook on very low setting for 20-25 minutes or until the solids have separated from the fat. You will notice a golden liquid layer sandwiched by milky white solids.

STEP three:

Skim the solids off the top with a slotted spoon until most are gone.

STEP four:

Pour the rest slowly over a fine sieve or through cheesecake cloth and into a jar to filter out the rest of the remaining milk solids

And there you have it! That’s how you make ghee! Throw in the fridge and keep just like normal butter.

Toss old butter and go with Kerrygold or make ghee on your own!