Myth About Butter

If you’ve always thought that butter was bad for you, you’re not alone.

Since I was small I remember my mother always buying margarine instead of butter because ‘fat makes you fat’.  Since the 1960’s we’ve been taught to believe that fat is detrimental to our health. For years doctors and nutritionists have preached that a low-fat diet is the best way to lose weight and avoid heart disease. My mother and many others around the world listened to this advice and reduced the families intake of fats such as butter, cheese and red meat.

Over time, food manufacturers have found fat-substitutions and offered low-fat options for almost everything. For over 5 decades the world has replaced butter with margarine and other ‘spreads’, believing it to be the healthier option.

In fact, it is not.

Margarine is a man-made product, a processed food. Margarine is created chemically from refined oils turning the liquid oils into spreadable form through a process called hydrogenation. High in trans-fat, margarine and similar highly-processed oils are potentially more detrimental to our health than any saturated fat!

In 2014, a large analysis conducted by a team of international scientists found no evidence that eating saturated fat increased heart attacks or other cardiac events. Further researchers have shown that eating whole-milk dairy products is actually linked to less body fat and lower levels of obesity. This could be due to the fact that full-fat dairy makes us feel fuller for longer and is more satisfying, helping us eat less overall.

So what about butter?

Butter is made naturally, from churning milk or cream. Whole, grass-fed organic butter is a good fat that we should not be avoiding! It is the omega-3s and vitamin K2 contained in grass-fed butter that can actually lower your risk of heart disease. Good fats such as omega-3 fats are essential to our physical and emotional health.

As always, a healthy diet consists of everything in moderation. Organic, grass-fed butter is best and I now enjoy it on my vegetables, meat and even on a slice of freshly baked bread.

The myth about butter is now broken.

For more facts about nutrition check out our blog.