Is Butter A Healthy Food?

For years we were told butter was the “villain” causing heart attacks. As result many people stopped eating butter and instead ate the fake “I can’t believe it is not butter” or margarine. Butter is a natural food with many benefits for your health.

For thousand of years people around the globe have prized butter for its health benefits. The first written description of butter was found on a 4500 year old limestone tablet showing how butter was made. This was when our ancestors started domesticating animals.

 The Myth – Margarine Is Better Than Butter

 Margarines are a processed food, made from chemically processed oils. For more information on why you should avoid all processed oils read 4 Reasons to Stop Using Vegetable Oils. What makes it worse is in order to change these liquid oils to something spreadable they are hydrogenated making them even more detrimental to your health.   These partially hydrogenated oils are trans fats which have be shown to cause inflammation and clog the arteries.

Contrary to popular belief  butter is not bad for you.  Today I am going to tell you the health benefits of eating butter. That’s right, butter is actually good for your health, especially when you eat  organic butter from grass fed cows. You should avoid butter that comes from cows that are pumped up with hormones and antibiotics. These toxins are concentrated in the fat of these animals.

As someone who has been in the healthy eating business since I am 17 I have had a difficult time believing I can eat butter. I wouldn’t touch the stuff for years. The research is clear, butter is good for you.

What about All Those Saturated Fats in Butter

Between 1920 and 1960 the incidents of heart disease rose to become American’s number one cause of death. During that time period butter consumption dropped drastically from 18 lb per person per year to four.

It was proposed that saturated fats in the diet were to blame for the increase. Numerous studies have not been able to prove this claim. Even though over the last 40 years Americans have drastically reduced their intake of saturated fats from butter and healthy animal products, our rates of obesity and diabetes resulting in heart disease have increased. The processed food industry, particularly the low-fat industry, has been booming. You don’t have to be a genius to conclude butter is not the cause.

Good Fats Make You Soft And Fluid 

You need healthy sources of fat to supply your body with essential fatty acids to feed your brain, keep your hormones in balance, give you moist glowing skin and keep you from craving sugar for energy. There are a variety of good fats including butter, preferably grass fed organic butter.. Good fats don’t make you store fat, they help you burn fat and provide long lasting energy. Good fats make you soft and fluid, without them you get dry and brittle.

The truth is when you eat enough good fat you are less hungry, especially for sugar. If you eat a salad with low fat dressing you will most likely be hungry for cereal or ice cream 3 minutes later. When you eat a piece of fish or even a plate of broccoli with good fat like butter you feel full, you just don’t want more food.

Butter is A Healthy Food

Nutrients and Health Benefits In Butter

Supports Your Thyroid – Butter contains Vitamin A and a highly absorbable form of iodine both of which support healthy thyroid function

Cancer Prevention – Butter contains conjugated linoleic acid, which is a potent anti-cancer agent. immunity booster and muscle builder.

Bone Health – Vitamin D in butter is essential for the absorption of calcium

Rich in Selenium – Selenium is an important mineral for your thyroid. It also prevents lipids and fats from being oxidized, which literally means that it prevents fats from going rancid (this can be seen on your skin as “age spots” or “liver spots”

Helps Your Teeth – It is necessary for your teeth to remineralize from the inside out. Butter contains many fat soluble nutrients including a nutrient known as “Activator X” also called Vitamin K2” which helps your body absorb minerals.

Anti-Stiffness Factor – This anti-stiffness factor, known as Wulzen Factor prevents hardening of the arteries, cataracts, and calcification of the pineal gland. Butter and only butter has this special “anti-stiffness factor” which also protects against calcification of the joints. Unpasteurized butter is the best source.

Helps Maintain Good Cholesterol Levels – Butter contains lecithin, essential for cholesterol metabolism and nerve health

Beneficial Fatty Acids – Butter contains lauric acid, a medium chain fatty acid that is a potent antimicrobial and antifungal substance beneficial in treating candida and fungal infections. Butter has appreciable amounts of butyric acid, used by the colon as an energy source. This fatty acid is also a known anti-carcinogen.

Good for Your Brain – Butter contains Arachidonic Acid (AA) which plays a role in brain function and is a vital component of cell membranes. The cholesterol in butter fat is essential to brain and nerve development especially in children.

Raw Organic Grass Fed Butter is Best

When looking for good quality butter, raw and cultured is best. Butter is cultured by adding live bacteria to cream before churning. Also, the fat content has to be a minimum of 82%. It is very popular in France and other parts of Europe. Traditionally, U.S made butter isn’t cultured and the cream goes straight to the butter churn. This is known as sweet cream butter.  Raw butter is only available in certain states, check with you local farm.

Cultured butter may be hard to find. Organic Valley Cultured Butter is carried in some health food stores. Organic grass fed butter is the next best thing. I don’t recommend commercially raised butter as it is full of antibiotics and hormones.  Butter from cows that graze on lush pastures are higher in Vitamin A, have higher levels of omega-3 fats and are rich in the conjugated linolenic acid (CLA) that helps reduce body fat.  Kerrygold makes a delicious butter from pastured cows.

Notice the color of your butter. The white butter comes from corn (force) fed cattle, while the yellow butter comes from hormone free ‘grass’ fed cattle, and the secret to the color difference is “beta-carotene”. Nutrient dense butter has a beautiful yellow color.  

Now you can enjoy eating butter, no guilt.  Your body will tell you how much it needs.  If you crave it, eat more. Butter tastes delicious.  You can think of it as the perfectly natural healthy food that it truly is.