Tip Of The Week: Spreading The Truth!

Butter

Unless you are knowledgeable about the history of nutrition science, you may believe/have believed that butter is just terrible for you – that it causes obesity, heart disease, and all sorts of other horrible illnesses.

I love butter. Real, pure butter! You know, that yellowy goodness that comes from cream. I love it!

Butter, made solely from cow’s milk, cream, is churned or shaken, and contains 80% milk fat. Traditionally, butter comes in salted varieties, and is found in stick form. Many today consider butter to have the taste you want, whether it is in regular stick, whipped, or light or lower fat. Calories from 1-Tbsp butter are 100; plus 7g saturated fat; and no trans fats. It is creamy, smooth, and has a rich taste that many people enjoy.

Well, here's the truth: A combination of flawed studies, political bias, hidden data, and clever marketing by the food industry led to the demonization of dietary fat and the birth of the low-fat craze – a trend that has lasted for many years. Despite what food "authorities" have been saying for decades, butter isn't bad for you. In fact, it is actually GOOD for you.

Is Butter Healthy? YES!

A new study published in the journal PLOS ONE (it analyzed nine papers that included more than 600,000 people) concluded that consuming butter is not linked to a higher risk for heart disease and might be slightly protective against type 2 diabetes. This goes against the longstanding advice to avoid butter because it contains saturated fat.

In four of the nine studies, people who ate butter daily had a 4% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. As of now, researchers don't fully understand why, but it may be due in part to the fact that dairy fat also contains monounsaturated fats that can improve blood sugar and insulin sensitivity.

In fact, a growing body of research that suggests that saturated fat is better for you than processed carbohydrates like sugar and white bread, which have been linked to diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.

Surprised? Check out these butter facts:

• Butter has been around for thousands of years—going back to when our ancestors first started domesticating animals. In fact, the first written reference to butter was found on a 4500- year old limestone tablet illustrating how butter was made.

• Butter is rich in vitamins: One of the many beneficial vitamins gotten from butter is Vitamin A, which is needed to maintain good vision and keeps our endocrine system functioning well. It also contains fat-soluble vitamins D, E, and K2. Vitamins A, D, and K2  that are essential for the proper absorption of calcium and phosphorus, which are necessary for strong bones and teeth. Butter is a good source of Vitamin B-12 too. 

• Butter is in manganese, chromium, zinc, copper, iodine, and selenium (which is a powerful antioxidant). Ounce for ounce, butter has more selenium per gram than either whole wheat or garlic.

• Butter also supplies iodine, needed by the thyroid gland (as well as vitamin A, also needed by the thyroid gland).

• Butter is rich in short and medium chain fatty acid chains that have strong anti-tumor effects. Butter also contains conjugated linoleic acid which gives excellent protection against cancer. These fatty acids also help support immune function, boost metabolism, and have antimicrobial properties – they fight against pathogenic microorganisms in the intestinal tract. Butter provides the perfect balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fats. Arachidonic acid in butter is important for brain function, skin health, and prostaglandin balance. Range-fed cows produce especially high levels of CLA as opposed to “stall fed” cattle.

• Other beneficial factor in butter include: rich in Glycospingolipids, a good source of dietary cholesterol, saturated fats, butyrate and more...

 

 Butter vs. Margarine

Butter and margarine are both ‘fats’. They don’t contain much carbohydrate or protein, just good old fashioned fat but butter is natural whereas margarine is processed blends have the least amount of saturated fats and no trans fats. If it says partially hydrogenated oils; it still has some trans fat (less than 0.5 gram per serving), even if the label says trans fat free.

While using small amounts of butter every now and then shouldn’t be a problem for most people, the clear, unequivocal evidence remains that there are other healthier fats for our heart. For those who choose not to use butter, consider avocado, hummus, plant oils (such as olive or avocado oil) and nut or seed butters as good options for a less-processed, more whole food approach. Alternatively you may choose to use no spread at all.

Putting aside the butter versus margarine debate, we need to remember that it’s our whole dietary pattern that counts. The total available evidence tells us that a heart-healthy dietary pattern is based largely on minimally-processed foods and includes plenty of vegetables and fruit; some whole foods in place of refined ones; legumes; nuts; seeds; and other sources of healthy fats such as oily fish or olive oil; and may contain non-processed lean meats or poultry and/or dairy. By following this pattern, the fats in our diet will take care of themselves.


So help spread the TRUTH! Help put to ease on the minds of those good-intention parents and individuals—those healthy minded folks—who have been ditching the good stuff for a harmful replica. And just in case you didn’t get the point: Substituting your butter for something fake will not make you healthy!



Sources:
 Pimpin L, Wu JHY, Haskelberg H, Del Gobbo L, Mozaffarian D (2016) Is Butter Back? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Butter Consumption and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, and Total Mortality. PLoS ONE 11(6) http://journals.plos.org

Mensink RP, Katan MN. Effect of dietary fatty acids on serum lipids and lipoproteins. Arterioscler Thromb. 1992;12:911–9. [PubMed]

He K, Merchant A, Rimm EB, et al. Dietary fat intake and risk of stroke in male US healthcare professionals: 14 year prospective cohort study. BMJ. 2003;327:777–82. [PMC free article] [PubMed]
 
Butter is Not Linked to Heart Disease, Death and Diabetes | Time.com 

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