In advance of MommyCon on July 23, Mindful Healthy Life is excited to spotlight some local exhibitors and speakers, including Heba Saleh, founder of EatLuv, which produces clarified butter, also known as ghee.
EatLuv is one of the only brands available that makes clarified butter that is 100% grass fed, organic, and sourced from local farms within 120 miles from DC. EatLuv’s ghee is one of the very best cooking fats to use on a regular basis, especially for pregnant and breastfeeding moms and their children (read on for more on that!).
If you’re attending MommyCon, make sure to stop by the Mindful Healthy Life table for a chance to win some amazing giveaways, including a 9-oz jar of EatLuv’s delicious clarified butter. EatLuv will also be exhibiting at MommyCon, so make sure to stop by to buy a jar and to enter to win a colorful butter knife and a 100% stainless steel water bottle!
We’re also excited to have a coupon code exclusive for our readers. Use code “mindfulhealthy” for 10% off on www.eatluv.com through July 31, 2016. Any order over $100 gets free shipping too!
I asked EatLuv Founder Heba Saleh to share more with us about her journey toward a love affair with ghee in this Q&A.
Jessica of Mindful Healthy Life: What got you into making clarified butter?
Heba of EatLuv: I’ve always loved the taste of clarified butter in my grandparents’ cooking, but until about five or six years ago, I thought I should be feeling guilty about using it in cooking. I grew up with the idea that fat is bad, especially the saturated kind found in butter and coconut oil. But a few years ago, I was introduced to the primal diet, Weston A. Price, Mary Enig, and Gary Taubes (to a name a few influences), who radically changed my view on the topic. I learned that not only is the fat in butter not ‘bad’; it’s actually essential for regulating metabolism, managing nutrient absorption, and reducing inflammation.
Over the past few years, mainstream news has started picking up on the trend that good fat is actually good for you (see related pieces from The Washington Post, NPR, and National Post). And yet, so many people I came across were still scared of eating fat. So, I took on the challenge of convincing people that grass-fed butter is good for them, and started a company to make this life-changing and nutrient-rich ingredient available to more people.
Jessica: What is clarified butter, and why is it essential for a healthy family’s pantry?
Heba: Clarified butter, also known as ‘ghee’ in Sanskrit and ‘samn’ in Arabic, is essentially the pure butterfat left over after all the moisture and milk solids have been removed from the butter. Because it doesn’t contain any lactose or casein but still has an amazing buttery flavor, clarified butter (ghee) in particular is ideal for anyone with dairy intolerances.
Clarifying butter the traditional way is a simple yet time-consuming process. We think EatLuv is essential for your pantry because: 1) it’s the easiest way to get fat-soluble vitamins, CLA, and omega-3 into your diet on a daily basis, 2) it turns all food it touches into gold (seriously, it makes every dish mouth-wateringly delicious), 3) it is heat-stable to a staggering 485℉, so you can cook to your heart’s content without fearing scary free radicals and oxidation.
Jessica: Why did you start a company focused on one ingredient?
Heba: I really like a Jamie Oliver quote that I saw online recently; it does a great job summarizing why we have been focusing our startup company on one ingredient:
“Real food doesn’t have ingredients; real food is ingredients.”
And what better food to start with than the one ingredient we believe is foundational to a healthy pantry!
At EatLuv, we are all about inspiring people to cook simple meals from scratch, and to eat life-giving and nutrient-dense food. Our clarified butter is an ingredient that makes this process really easy for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Omelets, seared salmon, roasted broccoli, homemade oatmeal, gluten-free cookies … the number of foods you can make with our clarified butter is staggering. Compared with regular butter, clarified butter is much more resistant to oxidation and rancidity, has none of the potential allergens in a dairy product, has more concentrated nutrients, and is stable even at high heat. Though it sounds like a new ingredient to many Americans (we can blame our modern unfamiliarity with traditional foods), it is in fact an age-old prized ingredient that has been made in our ancestors’ kitchens for thousands of years … and we want to popularize it!
Another critically important reason we wanted to start people on this one ingredient is that people are interested in quality foods that are fresh, minimally processed and obtained from good sources. However, a great many of these same people are very confused about cooking fats. They might buy some great fresh organic vegetables and then might saute them in inflammatory vegetable oils, or might cook them in olive oil at high heat beyond what it can stand before it oxidizes. (Extra virgin olive oil is great, but it should be consumed raw or can be heated to low temperatures).
So, clarified butter is both foundational and pivotal to improving understanding of healthy traditional cooking.
Jessica of Mindful Healthy Life: Why is clarified butter considered a ‘power food’?
Heba: First, let me start by saying that not all clarified butter (ghee) is created equal. For ghee to be a ‘power food,’ the source of the butter makes all the difference. At EatLuv, we are very particular about the kind of butter we source.
Here’s what’s amazing about our butter: we only get 100% grass-fed (that means zero grain), certified organic, and locally-sourced butter from small American farms. This makes our clarified butter a superfood: it boasts high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, as well as vitamins A, E, D, and K2. It is also the highest dietary source of CLA and butyric acid, which have powerful anti-inflammatory properties. What other food do you know of that is high in all these essential fat-soluble vitamins, is easy to incorporate into every meal, and is absolutely delicious? Read about our sourcing standards here, and the Benefits page on our website has a lot more info, including references, so check that out, too.
Jessica: I’ve heard that even if you can’t tolerate dairy, you can probably eat traditionally-made clarified butter. Tell us why that is.
Heba: The short answer is that all the milk solids including lactose (a milk sugar) and casein (a milk protein) are carefully filtered out, and our clarified butter is lab-tested to be below detectable levels of these potential allergens or irritants. Read the answer to our FAQ for more info.
Jessica: Why is EatLuv clarified butter especially good for postpartum and breastfeeding mothers?
Heba: Breastfeeding moms need to eat foods that are full of diverse nutrients, that can promote vitamin absorbency, and that are easy to digest. Clarified butter (ghee) fits every one of these requirements! As mentioned above, it is a superfood that contains all the essential fat-soluble vitamins (A, E, D, K2), as well as Omega-3 and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). Moreover, clarified butter (unlike other oils) has the highest known source of dietary butyric acid, a short-chain fatty acid that promotes healthy digestion and absorption of nutrients, thereby strengthening the immune system.
In a healthy gut, good bacteria converts fiber in other foods to butyric acid and uses that to digest other foods. Since most people have deviated from traditional diets, our guts don’t have as much butyric acid — so consumption of clarified butter can provide some of the butyric acid directly. Clarified butter also contains medium-chain fatty acids that provide energy to burn fat, speed up metabolism, and aid in weight loss. So basically, it’s a source of good nutrition for both mother and baby, while also keeping mom’s digestion running smoothly and helping some of that baby weight come off more easily.
Jessica: How can I incorporate EatLuv clarified butter into my children’s diet?
Heba: It’s incredibly easy to cook with our clarified butter. You basically use it whenever you would use butter or oil in cooking! Children (just like adults) can be convinced to eat vegetables when they’re tasty … and we know that butter makes everything taste better! Clarified butter’s high smoke point makes it perfect for roasting vegetables and searing meats. Here are some recipes to get you started. You can also stir into soups, add some to morning oatmeal, or simply just spread on organic sourdough toast. Yum!
Oh, and one of my favorites is this flourless carrot cake recipe!
Jessica: On the topics of favorites, do you have a favorite quote?
Heba: Yes! This one by Albert Einstein: “Imagination is more important than knowledge — knowledge is limited, but imagination encircles the world.”
Jessica: How can Mindful Healthy Life readers follow EatLuv’s updates?
We love sharing interesting health finds and delicious recipes and engaging with our customers. We’ve made it easy and have all our social media profiles on one page here. Tag us in your recipe creations featuring @eatluv and we’ll enter you into our monthly drawing for a giveaway. See ya online!
This post contains affiliate links.
Jessica Claire Haney is the founder, publisher and editor of Mindful Healthy Life. She is a writer and editor and the founder of the Arlington/Alexandria chapter of Holistic Moms Network. Her personal blog is Crunchy-Chewy Mama and her writer’s site is JessicaClaireHaney.com. See the Team Mindful Healthy Life page and Jessica’s Mindful Healthy Life Q&A for more on Jessica.
