Whenever a desperate new mother asks me about weight loss my heart really goes out to her. Whenever I see a celebrity mother bounce back and flaunt her body on Instagram, my heart goes out to her too. Why do I feel bad for the celeb you ask? Because I am sure she went to hell and back to turn her postpartum body into an Instagram-worthy body. The scrutiny and pressure she was under because of the media laughing mercilessly at her extra inches has driven her into extreme weight loss extra fast. But the weight we put on in pregnancy is not to match the roundness of our growing bellies. It is nature doing its job of storing fat to nourish the growing baby and maintain stores to make sure the body and the baby are well nourished after delivery also. I don’t think the human race in today’s age realizes that stored fat in the body is a valuable resource and not something to hate. Our bodies evolved this ability to survive fatigue, famine, fire and floods.

Our amazing food tradition places premium importance on the consumption of ghee in the diet of the new mother. And many new moms run far away from ghee because “ghee is fattening”. Quite the opposite actually. Ghee is medicinal for the new mother’s healing body. And like all foods should be consumed in moderation. So eat the ghee ke laddoo, the ghee on your hareera and let your body get what it deserves- a chance to heal and recover fully. The goodness in this golden fat is:

Some examples of NEAT breaks:

1. Butyric acid: Ghee increases the digestive power of the body. Your gut and liver is inflamed after delivery. Ghee helps in healing the intestine because of the component butyric acid present in it. It also provides nourishment to the good bacteria in your gut and protects you from constipation.
2. Fatty acids: The fats in ghee help in cutting down stubborn fat in the belly region: The deeper fat in our belly, called as visceral fat is what predisposes a person to ‘lifestyle diseases’ such as diabetes, blood pressure and heart disease. The fatty acids in ghee are great for reducing your risk for these diseases.
3. Excellent for brain health: After delivery, the changing hormones and sleep deprivation adversely affects our brain function. In fact, new nerve connections are being formed in the brain after delivery and the fats in ghee provide protection against baby blues, modd swings and postpartum depression. Particularly new mothers, in a bid to lose pregnancy weight, must not exclude oil and ghee from their diet.
4. Ghee helps in absorbing vitamins better from your diet: Being a fat, it helps in absorbing vitamins from your food and optimizes use of these vitamins for the healing of your uterus and better bone health.
5. Excellent carrier of nutrients: Ghee is usually given to the new mother in the form of laddoos. The ingredients of these laddoos are medicinal for a new mother and ghee is used to bind these laddoos. And it is not just for great flavor! The ghee helps in absorption of all the minerals in these laddoos and also serves as an excellent carrier of these nutrients to your cells.
6. Joints: Sitting for prolonged hours while breastfeeding can makes our joints achy. The weight gain from pregnancy and changing hormone levels also puts a strain on our joints particularly the knee. Ghee helps in lubricating joints and prevents stiffness and pain.
7. Improves cholesterol and blood sugars: Ghee helps in reducing bad cholesterol in your body and also slows down glucose absorption from your food. The slow absorption of glucose from the food will make sure that there are no glucose spikes and your diabetes stays under control.

A word of caution here. Just because ghee is amazing for weight loss, does not mean we eat ghee alone. That is beauty of a healthy diet, everything needs to be in balance. Make sure you get your veggies too to get fibre from it as you will be prone to constipation after delivery. And don’t forget to add a spoonful of ghee to your breakfast, lunch and dinner!