Mahatma Gandhi once rejected all animal products, including milk, calling it unnecessary and superstitious. But after a serious illness in 1918, he reluctantly accepted goat’s milk to recover, later acknowledging its unique health benefits, according to GreenMedInfo. His experience reflects a more profound truth long known in traditional cultures: butter and ghee have been valued for their nourishing, healing properties. Though demonized in the 20th century, modern science is now redeeming butter, showing it can support heart, brain, and metabolic health, especially when sourced from pasture-raised animals. The story encourages a balanced, informed approach to nutrition that honors both tradition and science. GreenMedInfo writes:
In the early 20th century, Mahatma Gandhi boldly declared that even milk was an unnecessary crutch in the human diet. A devout vegetarian, he sought to prove that a pure plant-based regime could sustain optimal health. For years Gandhi abstained from all animal products, going so far as to call the widespread belief in milk’s benefits “a pure superstition.”
Yet in 1918, amid a severe bout of dysentery and life-threatening weakness, Gandhi faced a harsh realization: his health was failing without the nourishment of dairy. Doctors implored him to break his vow for the sake of survival. Torn between principle and peril, Gandhi at last consented to sip goat’s milk – a compromise that technically honored his vow to avoid cow or buffalo milk. Almost instantly, his strength began to return.
Humbled and enlightened, the great leader later issued a “grave warning” to his followers about excluding dairy: he admitted that no plant food he tried could match the “light and nourishing diet” of milk for the sick or weak. […]
Butter, it turns out, was not the enemy we were told it was. And for many, it can be a valuable ally in the pursuit of metabolic well-being, heart health, and even a happy mind. So go ahead and savor that pat of butter on your steamed vegetables or morning toast – your ancestors would approve, and your body just might too.
Read more here.
