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Copyright © 2025 Foodies Only
5 min
05/01/2026
Ayurveda calls ghee a natural protector against winter. Vata is an energy that peaks in the cold months. Ghee fuels digestion, warms the body, nourishes the tissues, and prevents the drying effect of Vata.
Ghee, in Ayurveda, is more than fat; it's a conduit of heat, nourishment, and sturdiness. Winter naturally causes an increase in Vata, and digestion slows down. Ghee combats both of these factors by strengthening Agni (digestive fire), supporting immunity, and keeping the body warm and well-oiled from the inside out. Ghee's fatty acid profile, sattvic nature, and tissue-repairing properties make it one of the best winter foods recommended not only in ancient texts but also in modern nutrition.
Ayurveda classifies bodily functions into three categories: Vata, Pitta and Kapha. In the winter, Vata increases as the cold, breezy months disturb the body’s Vata, the doha pushing dryness, lightness, and irregular digestion. The appropriate foods, therefore, need to be the opposite: heavy, moist, grounding, and warm. Ghee fits that bill in every way. Ancient Ayurvedic texts like the one Charaka Samhita state ghee is "Vata-pacifying" and "Agni-strengthening", meaning it warms the body and stabilises digestion. When digestion (Agni) is stronger, the system can create heat, as metabolism provides internal warmth that lasts longer.
Perhaps the biggest reason Ayurveda values ghee is that it increases the Agni - the digestive fire. When Agni is low, it creates winter sluggishness, bloating, slow metabolism, and feeling cold all the time. Ghee improves the capacity of the gut to digest efficiently, without also wasting the system as spicy foods sometimes do. It helps to digest food and nutrients more robustly, facilitates viscosity in the gut, and ultimately assists food in converting into energy - energy that warms the body naturally from within.
Winter draws moisture from all things – your skin, hair, joints and even your energy levels. In Ayurveda, ghee is known as an “ojas-building” food, as it nourishes tissues more profoundly. It consists of short-chain and medium-chain fatty acids, which lubricate your body’s internal passages, and you will feel it through supple skin, flexible joints, smoother digestion, and perhaps even less irritability (dryness in Ayurveda affects the mind too). This nutrient-dense fat will also assist you in the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K, which are important in winter for immunity and warmth.
Ayurveda categorises food as sattvic, rajasic, and tamasic, and the sattvic food is clean, calming, and healing. Ghee is the king of all foods in the sattvic category. It is thought to enhance clarity of the mind and steadiness of emotions, and grounding – all things that get disturbed during windy, cold seasons. This is why winter rituals often entail cooking with ghee in kichdi, halwa, rotis, and even warm milk is common and customary. You're not just eating fat. You're eating food that nourishes your mind and your energy.
One of the reasons we often see Ayurvedic medicines pairing herbs with ghee is that ghee has a special name, "anupana," that refers to a carrier or vessel. Ghee can penetrate quickly and easily into deep tissues, allowing the nourishment or herbal properties to be more effectively delivered. During winter, herbs like ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, turmeric, and black pepper are often tempered or infused into ghee. This combination warms the body through the respiratory system, aids circulation, and increases immunity. The concept is simple, as ghee absorbs plant medicine properties and sends them further into the body.
Outside of Ayurvedic principles, nutrition science is aligned with the idea that good fats keep the body warm. In fact, fats produce more sustained heat through digestion and metabolism compared to carbohydrates. Ghee, with its healthful saturated fats, also produces slow-burning energy, which helps control the sudden drop in body temperature that can happen in colder months. Ghee provides anti-inflammatory properties to help with winter stiffness, and the beneficial properties are backed by the short-chain fatty acid, butyrate, which improves gut health, which is just another important ingredient for a healthy winter.
Ayurveda emphasises the proportion of food given to digestion. If digestion is strong, consuming a few teaspoons throughout the day, spread over meals, is not a problem. If digestion is very slow, then it would be less, maybe a teaspoon. The aim is not to inundate food with ghee, but simply to apply enough to nourish the body without causing excess.
