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Dairy, ghee, honey as "essential"

Classical Ayurveda lists milk, ghee and honey among the foods suitable for daily use and gives ghee a central place in its materia medica. Nutrition science does not treat any of the three as essential: the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (2025 position, replacing its 2016 paper) holds that appropriately planned vegan diets can be nutritionally adequate for non-pregnant, non-lactating adults, provided calcium, iodine, vitamin B12 and vitamin D get attention, because observational studies find these lower in vegans, who also had more fractures in one large cohort. Ghee is predominantly saturated fat, and WHO groups the sugars in honey with free sugars to be limited. The evidence does not show that diets without dairy, ghee or honey are deficient when well planned, does not test the Ayurvedic idea of essentiality in any trial, and does not show health benefits of ghee or honey that other foods cannot provide.

  • Vegan

Evidence retrieved up to

What the research shows

Appropriately planned vegan dietary patterns, which exclude dairy, ghee and honey, can be nutritionally adequate for non-pregnant, non-lactating adults, according to the current position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Moderate certaintyFurther research may change the size of the effect.
No known concerns at usual amountsBenefit

Who this is about

non-pregnant, non-lactating adults following a vegan diet

Practical note

Graded moderate: a position statement of a major professional body built on several systematic reviews, consistent with observational intake data showing inadequacies in every dietary pattern; not high because the supporting evidence on nutrient status is observational. The 2025 paper (in effect to 2032) supersedes the Academy's 2016 position, which had covered all life stages.

Vegan note

Adequacy depends on planning, particularly for the nutrients in the next claim.

Safety note

The 2025 position covers adults only; pregnancy, lactation, infancy and childhood are outside its scope.

Sources

Adults following a vegan diet, which excludes dairy, have lower average intake and status of vitamin B12, vitamin D, calcium and iodine than meat-eaters, and the lowest iodine intakes of the diet groups studied.

Moderate certaintyFurther research may change the size of the effect.
Take care: see the safety noteRisk

Who this is about

adults following a vegan diet

Practical note

Graded moderate: consistent direction across a 141-study systematic review and an 11-study iodine meta-analysis (4421 adults), all observational; not downgraded further because the outcome (intake and biomarker status) is measured directly. Lower vegan iodine intake was linked to the absence of universal salt iodisation. The systematic review authors are employees of a company that sells fortified foods (declared).

Vegan note

Calcium, iodine, vitamin B12 and vitamin D each have their own entry covering fortified foods and supplements.

Safety note

These are population averages; individual status is assessed by a health professional.

Sources

In a large British cohort followed for about 17.6 years, adults following a vegan diet had higher risks of total and hip fractures than meat eaters, and the authors concluded that bone health in vegans needs further research.

Low certaintyFurther research is likely to change this.
Take care: see the safety noteRisk

Who this is about

adults following a vegan diet

Practical note

Graded low: a single observational cohort with 1982 vegans at baseline; consistent with lower bone mineral density in vegans in the systematic review above, but residual confounding cannot be excluded.

Vegan note

Mean calcium intake in the cohort's vegans was well below that of meat eaters; the associations were slightly weakened but remained after adjusting for calcium and protein, so the cohort does not show that dairy itself is the missing factor.

Sources

Ghee is predominantly saturated fat: in a small randomised crossover trial in healthy adults, a ghee-rich diet raised apolipoprotein B and non-HDL cholesterol compared with olive oil, and WHO groups the sugars in honey with free sugars to be limited. As part of a healthy lifestyle, reducing saturated fat may help reduce the risk of cardiovascular events.

Low certaintyFurther research is likely to change this.
Take care: see the safety noteRisk

Who this is about

adults

Practical note

Graded low for the ghee-specific part: one 4-week crossover trial in 30 healthy adults (indirect, imprecise) plus a 12-week trial in 110 adults with fatty liver who swapped ghee for rapeseed oil. The general saturated-fat evidence is stronger: a 2020 Cochrane review of 15 trials rated the reduction in combined cardiovascular events moderate-quality. WHO advises keeping free sugars below 10% of energy; no study here compared diets with and without honey.

Vegan note

A diet without ghee and honey drops one source of saturated fat and one source of free sugars.

Safety note

Applies to habitual intake; the trials did not test small amounts used occasionally.

Sources

What the tradition holds

Ayurveda holds, following the Charaka Samhita, that milk, ghee and honey belong among the foods that may be taken habitually as part of the daily diet.

No known concerns at usual amountsBenefit

Who this is about

people following an Ayurvedic dietary tradition

The tradition's frame

Ayurveda

In the Charaka Samhita, a small set of wholesome foods (including milk, ghee and honey, alongside rice, green gram, amalaki, rock salt, rain water and the meat of dry-land animals) is suited to habitual daily use because it maintains present well-being; heavier foods such as curds and cream cheese are not to be taken habitually.

Practical note

The list is from Sutrasthana chapter 5, verse 12, in a 1949 English translation; translations differ in wording.

Vegan note

A vegan diet leaves out three items on this list (milk, ghee, honey); the classical text frames them as wholesome daily foods, not as nutrients without which a diet fails.

Safety note

The same classical list includes meat, so it describes a traditional mixed diet rather than a requirement that a modern diet must meet.

Sources

Ayurveda holds ghee to be one of the most important ingredients of its materia medica, with its texts emphasising cognitive, digestive and nourishing benefits.

Take care: see the safety noteBenefit

Who this is about

people following an Ayurvedic dietary tradition

The tradition's frame

Ayurveda

Ayurveda treats ghee as both food and medicine, distinguishing types by animal source, preparation and age, and credits it with nourishing the body and supporting digestion and the mind.

Practical note

The review authors note that modern studies on ghee are limited and focus on different outcomes (cardiovascular, wound and skin health) from those the Ayurvedic texts prioritise.

Vegan note

Ghee is an animal product; plant-oil alternatives are covered in a separate entry.

Safety note

Ghee is predominantly saturated fat; the scientific claim in this entry on saturated fat applies to habitual use.

Sources