I post this every so often when the question of butter substitute comes up.

1.  Ghee is very nutritious and works great.  Here is our experience:

Ghee is clarified butter which means that if done properly the milk 
solids have been removed.

I would like to note that I have used ghee at home with my son (now 
15) since he started on solids at 6 months. He was very allergic to 
dairy (breaking out in hives when he gets it on his skin and if taken 
internally forget it--although he can now have things that have some 
milk cooked into them and can now have soy cheese which has casein in 
it). He has never had a problem with ghee.

I use clarified butter in everything.  It offers a nice taste 
(although it will not taste just like butter in things) and I 
substitute it one for one for butter.  Since you don't need to 
refrigerate it, it is always at room temperature which is nice for 
baking.  The products come out about the same.  Anyone is welcome to 
email me with questions.  I have years of experience with this.

I have always made my own ghee from a chemists recipe and am very 
careful to boil it until 245 degrees until all the water is boiled 
off and then all the milk solids are coagulated. I do not "skim off 
the froth." I FILTER it through a cloth.

Here is what the chemist found through research of food scientists to 
be the chemical composition of ghee.

Triglycerides 98%
Steroids        0.5%
Fatty Acids     0.4%
Water   0.3%
Others  0.8%

"Others includes: phospholipids, fat soluble vitamins A&E, carotenes 
(only in cows ghee), volatile & non-volatile ketones and aldehydes, 
and traces of charred casein, calcium, phosphorus, etc.

2.  Secondly, I would like to note that after 15 years of having a 
son who was allergic to dairy, we have noticed that if he ingests 
dairy he no longer breaks out into hives.  (This has been 
gradual--not some sudden thing.)

What is very heartening is that a few months ago a friend made him a 
protein drink (the wrong one--they had 2 products at their house and 
one was a dairy base).  My son had such cramps and thought he was 
going to die, but when the Mom came home (not knowing him well) gave 
him some Lactaid, and he really felt better pretty quickly.

So maybe after all this time he is only lactose intolerant and no 
longer has the dairy allergy.  He now keeps the Lactaid with him for 
emergencies, when he thinks maybe something had some dairy in it, and 
he says it has helped.

I think all of the painful years of being so careful has really 
helped--just to give everyone hope that things can get better.

P.S. I have been lactose intolerant since birth (although from 1-20 
years produced enough lactase to eat dairy normally)  and only 
recently started trying Lactaid.  It really helps me.  I don't go out 
of my way to eat dairy, but since I am vegetarian, I was told that it 
is good to have it sometimes for the B12

Rachele Shaw 


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