5 ms·

>ghee Cholesterol oxides in Indian ghee: possible cause of unexplained high risk of atherosclerosis in Indian immigrant populations: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.n

by mrob 5y ago

>ghee Cholesterol oxides in Indian ghee: possible cause of unexplained high risk of atherosclerosis in Indian immigrant populations: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2887943/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2887943/ "Substantial amounts of cholesterol oxides were found in ghee (12.3% of sterols), but not in fresh butter"

sinyug 5y ago
> Indian ghee We have been using ghee in India for thousands of years. If immigrant Indians are having problems, they should look into what changed in their diet and lifestyle after they immigrated.
- namdnay 5y ago
  > We have been using ghee in India for thousands of years That in of itself is not a particularly good argument. What has been the life expectancy for those thousands of years?
- kortilla 5y ago
  > We have been using ghee in India for thousands of years. Doing something unhealthy for “thousands of years” does not make it healthy.
  - sinyug 5y ago
    > unhealthy There is no concrete evidence that ghee is unhealthy. Even the linked study is only talking about a "possible cause," that too in Indians who are not even in India. Indians adopt western habits when they immigrate. Who knows what they have been eating once they assimilated into English and West Indian societies.
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  Indians in India have skyrocketing diabetes and obesity numbers in recent decades. 20+ years ago you would struggle to see a single non thin person. Drastic increase in quantity of ghee (and sugar since a lot of Indian tests are a lot of ghee and sugar) consumed and reduction in labor (trading strenuous, perspiring work for air conditioned, sitting work) could be relevant factors that make ghee consumption from the previous thousand years not comparable to today.
  - sinyug 5y ago
    > Indians in India have skyrocketing diabetes and obesity numbers in recent decades. 20+ years ago you would struggle to see a single non thin person. I have noticed that. I have also noticed that youngsters started adopting Western habits and diets and consumption patterns over the same time period. > Drastic increase in quantity of ghee Unless you are rich or belong to the upper middle class, ghee is generally consumed in moderate quantities because the family would not be able to afford it. Today, ghee is between Rs. 500-600/kg. Seed oils are about Rs. 125/kg.
    - lotsofpulp 5y ago
      Presumably, the Indian immigrant populations discussed above would belong to upper middle classes, by virtue of being able to immigrate at all. But also, the sheer scale of Indian population can mean we are talking about a couple hundred million people easy in India whose lifestyle is no longer conducive to the amount of ghee they were used to eating.
    - 8ytecoder 5y ago
      Yup. Rich/Upper Class people used to consume a lot of Ghee (rich people - they can afford it. Upper class - usually because they're connected to temple food preparation and ghee is abundant there). The rest of us used a tiny amount at the very end for flavor. Peanut oil & Coconut oil were common in our household. Followed by sunflower oil.
  - GordonS 5y ago
    > Indians in India have skyrocketing diabetes and obesity numbers in recent decades About a decade ago, my Indian colleagues told me that Indians had been encouraged to switch away from ghee, based on health concerns. I forget which oil most moved to, but I think it was palm, vegetable or sunflower oil. In addition, they said consumption of refined sugar had skyrocketed, where palm sugar had previously been used. Ghee has been consumed for centuries (at least) in India - I wonder if it's these ghee alternatives and refined sugar are the main causes of increased diabetes and obesity.
    - 5y ago
pigeonhole123 5y ago
There are thousands of possible explanations. Indians may just tolerate the western lifestyle worse than westerners do. This study seems to look at a single chemical compound that is suspected of some connection with atherosclerosis, which is pretty thin.
- sarma912 5y ago
  In Grad school (and as someone who had no idea about the western diet or macros for that matter at the time), pizza everyday seemed like a low cost option. I got fat. I've spent the last 5 year undoing all that damage.
loudtieblahblah 5y ago
Cholesterol is more than just fat consumption. You can't talk cholesterol without talking about carbohydrates. All fat oxidizes, some oxidize easier than others. Some are more inflammatory tahn others (omega6s are way more so than saturated fats). Carb intake has complex interactions kicking off the oxidation of fats too.

by mrob 5y ago

sinyug 5y ago

> Indian ghee We have been using ghee in India for thousands of years. If immigrant Indians are having problems, they should look into what changed in their diet and lifestyle after they immigrated.

namdnay 5y ago
> We have been using ghee in India for thousands of years That in of itself is not a particularly good argument. What has been the life expectancy for those thousands of years?
kortilla 5y ago
> We have been using ghee in India for thousands of years. Doing something unhealthy for “thousands of years” does not make it healthy.
- sinyug 5y ago
  > unhealthy There is no concrete evidence that ghee is unhealthy. Even the linked study is only talking about a "possible cause," that too in Indians who are not even in India. Indians adopt western habits when they immigrate. Who knows what they have been eating once they assimilated into English and West Indian societies.
lotsofpulp 5y ago
Indians in India have skyrocketing diabetes and obesity numbers in recent decades. 20+ years ago you would struggle to see a single non thin person. Drastic increase in quantity of ghee (and sugar since a lot of Indian tests are a lot of ghee and sugar) consumed and reduction in labor (trading strenuous, perspiring work for air conditioned, sitting work) could be relevant factors that make ghee consumption from the previous thousand years not comparable to today.
- sinyug 5y ago
  > Indians in India have skyrocketing diabetes and obesity numbers in recent decades. 20+ years ago you would struggle to see a single non thin person. I have noticed that. I have also noticed that youngsters started adopting Western habits and diets and consumption patterns over the same time period. > Drastic increase in quantity of ghee Unless you are rich or belong to the upper middle class, ghee is generally consumed in moderate quantities because the family would not be able to afford it. Today, ghee is between Rs. 500-600/kg. Seed oils are about Rs. 125/kg.
  - lotsofpulp 5y ago
    Presumably, the Indian immigrant populations discussed above would belong to upper middle classes, by virtue of being able to immigrate at all. But also, the sheer scale of Indian population can mean we are talking about a couple hundred million people easy in India whose lifestyle is no longer conducive to the amount of ghee they were used to eating.
  - 8ytecoder 5y ago
    Yup. Rich/Upper Class people used to consume a lot of Ghee (rich people - they can afford it. Upper class - usually because they're connected to temple food preparation and ghee is abundant there). The rest of us used a tiny amount at the very end for flavor. Peanut oil & Coconut oil were common in our household. Followed by sunflower oil.
- GordonS 5y ago
  > Indians in India have skyrocketing diabetes and obesity numbers in recent decades About a decade ago, my Indian colleagues told me that Indians had been encouraged to switch away from ghee, based on health concerns. I forget which oil most moved to, but I think it was palm, vegetable or sunflower oil. In addition, they said consumption of refined sugar had skyrocketed, where palm sugar had previously been used. Ghee has been consumed for centuries (at least) in India - I wonder if it's these ghee alternatives and refined sugar are the main causes of increased diabetes and obesity.
  - 5y ago

pigeonhole123 5y ago

There are thousands of possible explanations. Indians may just tolerate the western lifestyle worse than westerners do. This study seems to look at a single chemical compound that is suspected of some connection with atherosclerosis, which is pretty thin.

sarma912 5y ago
In Grad school (and as someone who had no idea about the western diet or macros for that matter at the time), pizza everyday seemed like a low cost option. I got fat. I've spent the last 5 year undoing all that damage.

loudtieblahblah 5y ago

Cholesterol is more than just fat consumption. You can't talk cholesterol without talking about carbohydrates. All fat oxidizes, some oxidize easier than others. Some are more inflammatory tahn others (omega6s are way more so than saturated fats). Carb intake has complex interactions kicking off the oxidation of fats too.