5 Amazing Benefits of Buttermilk

India’s official favourite summer drink, buttermilk makes an excellent medicine. A concoction of the cooling curd, water and spices, helps beat the summer heat. But that’s not the only benefit of this amazing drink. In this blog, I bring you some of the proven benefits of buttermilk. 

This sour drink is one of the most effective foods in Ayurveda. Ayurvedic doctors often recommend it to correct digestive disorders. A glass of this calming concoction is the perfect complement to hefty Indian meals.

It is a rich source of calcium and iron. It also contains a host of vitamins, carbohydrates and proteins. The herbs and spices aid in boosting immunity. And yoghurt is good for the gut. The best thing is its low-fat content which makes it a super weight-loss drink. 

These Ayurvedic sayings are now backed by modern researchers too. Norwegian scientists confirmed the clinical composition and nutritional richness of this drink. In their study, researchers approved buttermilk as a complete health booster!

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What is Buttermilk?

Chaas is a traditional Indian drink. It’s prepared by diluting yoghurt or churning it with water. Depending on the kind of curd, this healthy drink can be sweet or sour. There are different types of this drink. The qualities of this drink vary according to the quantity of water and butter. Check out these 5 widely popular types of Buttermilk:

• If you make it by churning curd without adding water, then it’s called “Ghola”. 
• Adding one-fourth of water to the curd makes Takra.
• Buttermilk with half water is Udasvita. 
• Mathita is the residue after butter is extracted without adding water.
• If the butter is extracted after adding an adequate amount of water then it’s called Chacha.

Chacha is the most widely available buttermilk in India. Takra is very light and healthy. It is prepared without extracting butter content is very heavy but is a good strength enhancer. However, it aggravates Kapha.

Ayurvedic Benefits of Chaas

The cooling summer drink is an excellent appetizer and hydrator. A glass of this drink ensures smooth digestion of your meals. It is the best remedy for dysentery, colitis and chronic sprue syndrome. This hydrating drink has srotas purifying properties. It helps increase urination and cure abdominal disorders, oedema and haemorrhoids. This healthy drink is a great aid for abdominal swelling, jaundice, spleen disorders and poisoning. Being low in fats helps beat obesity. 

Science too confirms the efficacy of buttermilk in treating heart diseases caused by obesity.

Clinical Use of Chaas

Apart from being one of the best appetizers, buttermilk has many other clinical uses

Takradhara – Shirodhara with buttermilk

Takradhara comes from two words; Takra meaning buttermilk and Dhara meaning pouring. It’s a type of Shirodhara that used medicinal buttermilk. This drink has considerable cooling properties. It is steadily poured onto the forehead. This is followed by a soft and gentle head massage.

Takradhara is very effective in decreasing male pattern baldness, dandruff, hair loss, and greying. It also helps treat headaches and anorexia.  In psoriasis, Takradhara is applied to the affected region for a curative effect. This therapy helps to relieve insomnia, depression and other anxiety-related problems.

Buttermilk as an Anupama

In Ayurveda, it is considered an Anupama. It is a vehicle to enhance the efficacy of other foods and carry medicines. Some of the noted medicinal uses for buttermilk are –

• Firstly, Rock salt and dried ginger dissolved in sour buttermilk help correct Vata disorders.
• Secondly, Sweet buttermilk is highly beneficial for Pitta disorders.
• Thirdly, Salt, long pepper, black pepper and dry ginger in buttermilk cures Kapha disorders.
• In addition, Asafoetida, cumin seeds, and rock salt added to buttermilk are effective against Piles, colitis, bladder pain and diarrhoea.
• Moreover, Buttermilk with jaggery is an excellent remedy for dysuria.
• Above all, mixing leadwort extracts with this drink makes it a powerful anti-jaundice drink.

Clinical Studies on Buttermilk

1. It protects your Heart Health

A group of French scientists published their study conducted on 58 volunteers. It was an attempt to understand its beneficial effects. They identified the cardiac benefits of buttermilk. The study quoted “The reduction in the “bad” cholesterol was about 8.7 per cent with 5g/day of buttermilk extracts”. Thus, the study concluded that buttermilk improves cardiovascular health.

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2. It’s a great Immune Booster

A study titled ‘Buttermilk: Much more than a source of milk phospholipids’ identified many benefits. This study classified buttermilk as an important immunity enhancer. The curd, herbs and spices are highly beneficial to the immune system.

This study further established its cell-modulating and lipid-transporting properties. It has cholesterol-lowering properties. Buttermilk is an amazing metabolism booster. The study also crowns this cooling drink as a regulator of blood pressure.

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3. Blood Pressure

A study titled “Effect of buttermilk consumption on blood pressure” researched its blood pressure-lowering properties. The study concluded that even short-term consumption of buttermilk can reduce blood pressure.

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4. Diabetics

Research fed enriched buttermilk to 52 human subjects for one year. The study confirmed buttermilk as a safe drink for diabetic patients. It also confirmed that buttermilk is 100% safe for people with early macular degeneration.

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5. Diphtheria

A bacterial infection of the nose and throat is called diphtheria. Common manifestations can vary in severity. Symptoms often grow steadily, starting with a sore throat and fever. It can eventually cause difficulty in breathing. 

A study titled “Buttermilk in the Prevention and Treatment of Diphtheria” examined this. The researchers concluded that buttermilk is helpful in the prevention and treatment of diphtheria. It can also work as a preventive against malaria and other inflammatory diseases.

Conclusion

Thus, we can say that buttermilk has an ocean of medicinal benefits. And these amazing benefits are research-proven and scientifically established. Ayurvedic doctors have been recommending this concoction for thousands of years. Today, allopathic doctors are also widely recommending this amazing drink.

Never miss a dose of this amazing digestive, immune booster, and health enhancer!