• Patients are allowed to drink ghee (either pure or herbal-enhanced) for a number of days.
• This makes the body's tissues “oily” and softens ama (toxins, waste products) that are stuck in the body's srotas (channels).
• When ama is dissolved and made “mobile”, it can be directed to the gastrointestinal tract and subsequently eliminated in the later stages of Panchakarma (e.g. virechana, basti, vamana).
2. Medicated ghee (ghee with herbs)
• Here ghee is cooked with specific herbs to target treatment towards, for example, the liver, skin, nervous system or mental imbalances.
• Examples: Brahmi ghee for the mind, Tikta ghee for skin conditions, Triphala ghee for digestion.
It carries the fat-soluble components from the herbs deep into the body's tissues.
3. Plain ghee
• Most often used at the start as a more general “detox-lubrication”.
It is considered to neutralise pitta and vata, build ojas (life energy), and make the body more resistant to the purifications that will follow.
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- Modern understanding:
• Fat-soluble toxins: many environmental toxins, heavy metals, and chemical waste products bind to fat. Ghee can help to “draw out” these from the tissues and transport them to the intestines.
• Increased bioavailability: fat allows the active substances in herbs to be absorbed better.
• Neuro-effects: Ghee contains butyrate and other short-chain fatty acids that have an anti-inflammatory effect on the gut and the brain.
• Protection: Ghee protects mucous membranes from irritation during the detox process.
- In short:
• Plain ghee = a mild, general oil therapy to soften ama and lubricate the system.
• Medicated ghee = ghee infused with the intelligence of herbs, targeted at specific imbalances.
The effect in Panchakarma = to dissolve, mobilise and bring toxins to the digestive tract so that they can be eliminated in the following steps.