Benefits of Buttermilk

Mention about buttermilk, and people would make nauseatic faces with expressions like “Eww … What is this!” Usually this happens because people don’t like the sour taste and the pungent smell of buttermilk. But that’s not a good thing to do as buttermilk is known to provide many health benefits for people of all ages, professions and regions. For those who don’t know about buttermilk; keep in mind that it is a simple dairy drink.

Earlier, buttermilk was termed to that liquid that was left over after the butter was churned from cream. During this churning of cream, butter was one resulting compound which used to be in a semi-solid form and the other part was a liquid. Now because this liquid was accompanied with butter, it came to be known as buttermilk.

But it is a misconception amongst many people that buttermilk contains a high fat amount. This is totally wrong and untrue. Just because its name has ‘butter’ does not mean that buttermilk contains fat. In fact, buttermilk contains even lesser amount of fat than the regular milk because all the fat is contained in butter, which is another compound obtained after churning cream.

Buttermilk is highly effective in reducing the amount of heat in our body. Therefore, people consume buttermilk in large quantity during the summer season. Also, people facing problems with digestion are advised to consume buttermilk with a small amount of rock salt as it is easy to digest. It is worth mentioning that buttermilk is rich in potassium, Vitamin B12, phosphorus and calcium. Lactic acid is another vital ingredient of buttermilk, which is produced by lactic acid bacteria and this helps us in keeping our immune system stronger.

Because of all such benefits, many times physicians advise patients to consume buttermilk instead of milk as it contains less fat, calories and skim milk. And the best part is that one can consume buttermilk anytime – as a drink, which is refreshing and healthy!