Liana’s Health Tip: Is Butter Good for You?

I know, I know… we’ve alll been told not to eat butter but to eat “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” or other comparable products. I was brought up eating margarine and olive oil – butter was quite the outcast in my home. Now I’m not casting any daggers at olive oil, but I am going to be casting daggers at margarine.  Read on.

It’s been about 6 months now since I’ve learned that butter is a good thing to include. Since then I’ve read numerous articles supporting this like The 20 Health Benefits of Real Butter, Recent Studies and Age Old Wisdom Point to the Health Benefits of Butter, and Have some butter with your veggies! 

Health proponents of butter say that butter gives the following benefits:

- Fruit and vegetable consumption won’t lower the risk of coronary heart disease unless consumed with high fat products. Read fascinating studies about this here. In other words, butter PROTECTS against heart disease. How? Because butter is high in both Vitamin A and E, both of which support the entire cardiovascular system. Here’s an interesting fact: “At the turn of our century, heart disease in America was rare. By 1960, it was our number one killer. Yet during the same time period, butter consumption had decreased - from eighteen pounds per person per year, to four…since the early 1970′s, Americans’ average saturated fat intake has dropped considerably, while rates of obesity, diabetes, and consequently, heart disease, have surged.” (20 Health Benefits..) There are a lot of people who are anti-fat, even the good kind, like avocado and I’m yet to understand. Side note: avocado is good for you!

- Things like margarine and polyunsaturated fats have a negative effect on immunity while butter is known to be an immune booster. This is directly related to the length of the fatty acid chains and if you’d like to know more about this, I recommend reading the above articles. Numerous studies indicate that the only correlation betweyen butter and cancer is that butter will help to prevent cancer.

- Butter HELPS with weight loss! Yes, it’s true.  It’s again related to the length of fatty acid chains…the longer the chain (think butter substitutes), the harder it is for your body to digest and the more your body stores as fat, whereas the shorter the chain (think butter), the more quickly your body digests it and very little is stored as fat. In fact, these fat storages are used for muscular energy…hmm.. could this be a good pre-workout food? Yes! Athletes love medium chain fatty acid foods for quick bursts of energy. And short-medium chain fatty acid foods are known to “stimulate thermogenesis (the process in which the body generates energy or heat by increasing its normal metabolic, fat-burning rate)” (Natural News).

- Protects against calcification of joints (think of it as an anti-stiff food!).

- Promotes intestinal health.

- May promote fertility in women.

- It is one of the few foods that contains high amounts of absorbable iodine which is directly related to thyroid health.

- Protects against tooth decay and helps with healthy bone growth.

The best kinds of butter? Raw or Pasture Butter.