The Mayor of Simpleton

191.8 lbs

Another big drop. Damn, I might have to do horrible things to my diet on Sunday again. Uh, but no. 190 is the goal by the end of the month, if not the week. I have two more weigh ins. I should be very close and then we are on to 185 lbs. I ain't counting my chickens before I kill, clean, cook and eat them. But if I do count them I know how to fry them in clarified butter now.

From the start of all this, Christy and I have kept our eye out for clarified butter or its not so distant cousin, ghee. I have hit the organic section of the local market, the whole food stores and the high end stores and found nothing, nada, zip, zolly. I have read the health benefits of ghee or clarified butter in health articles, books and Ayurdvedic websites. While reading through the last of these I couldn't help but to read them in my head in the voice of Mike Meyers in "The Love Guru" (a particularly bad viewing experience I am still coming to grips with). For more than three months, I have not been able to find this wondrous butter with no lactose or hard fat anywhere. It is also supposed to be quite delicious and does not cause spikes and drops in the metabolism which is the key to weight loss. Lose the spikes, lose the weight. It's as simple as that.

Well, a friend asked me a few questions because she is doing pretty much the same thing I am and wanted to know about clarified butter. I was, of course, at a loss until yesterday when I decided to Google "Clarified Butter" (duh? seriously). Clarified butter or ghee isn't something you can buy. It's the extruded contents of monkey breast milk beaten with garden rakes in front of screaming elderly women. Well, it could be something that arcane as far as I knew. Instead, it is nothing more than slowly melted/cooked unsalted butter with the water and fat solids removed. Ghee is made in a similar way except it is boiled to a brown nutty color and then cooked slowly for a period of time before removing the solids. Clarified butter is often referred to as drawn butter but they are not the same unless the solids and the process to render the butter is performed. Upon reading various recipes, including one from Alton Brown, I can tell you that the process is relatively simple and easy.

Now you may be saying to yourself, what? Butter is good for you?! Pshaw! Well yes in most cases and no in some. If you don't believe me, you can always read this fine article all about it. Did you know that clarified butter has a higher smoking point than normal butter? This makes it ideal for a high temperature saute'. Clarified butter also has a very long shelf life. Ghee and clarified butter also help with the absorption of vitamins and minerals making it a fantastic way to ensure whatever food or supplement you are taking gives you the maximum effect. This last reason was why I wanted it so desperately. I needed it to level up my testosterone in combination with Brazil nuts or some other testosterone increasing food like pumpkin seeds. Brazil nuts and pumpkin seeds were also a search and find affair until today when I checked again at Trader Joe's - voila' - nuts and seeds - duh!

Here is a quick overview from Associated Content about the benefits of clarified butter and/or ghee:

"Ghee is most notably said to stimulate the secretion of stomach acids to help with digestion, while other fats, such as butter and oils, slow down the digestive process and can sit heavy in the stomach. Although tests and research are still ongoing, it has been used in Indian medicinal practice to help with ulcers, constipation, and the promotion of healthy eyes and skin. An Indian folk-remedy for thousands of years, ghee is also said to promote learning and increased memory retention. It is used in Indian beauty creams to help soften skin, and as a topical for the treatment of burns and blisters.

In addition to ghee's nutritional value, it is rich with antioxidants and acts as an aid in the absorption of vitamins and minerals from other foods, feeding all layers of body tissue and serving to strengthen the immune system. A high concentration of butyric acid, a fatty acid that contains anti-viral properties, is believed to inhibit the growth of cancerous tumors."

Damn, who wouldn't want to add ghee to their diet? Because the fat police say that the saturated fats will clog up your heart. Now if you read the article link I posted previously, you can groan at this point just like I did. Heck we could start our own chorus. Now wouldn't that be fun?

So for the lack of a bit of reading and more in depth research I have been without something I would have been able to make a staple of what I am doing all along. Tonight I hope to cook up a batch of clarified butter for the first time. I am going to get right on that after I sell the lactating monkeys, the garden rakes and persuade the Sun City Women's Glee Club to go home.