[This is an 𝕏 Thread 🧵 @DrBPHealth]
Butter has been demonized for decades. The experts told us it “clogged arteries”. But it’s actually health-promoting for a large percentage of people. I’ll cover who should be concerned. And for the rest of us, I’ll cover the healthiest kind of butter.
For decades we were told that saturated fats found in butter and other foods clogged arteries. And instead, we should consume “healthier” options like margarine. Turns out, margarine is HORRIBLE for your heart health & body. Margarine is a butter substitute typically made by combining water & vegetable oils, such as soybean, corn, palm, or canola oils. Ingredients like salt, colorings, and artificial flavorings are often added as well. I remember growing up having tubs of margarine (Country Crock brand) at our house. No telling what havoc that wreaked on my body!
If you are not familiar with why you should not consume “vegetable” oils like the ones used to make margarine, you can read more about them in this thread.
HINT: they are NOT made from vegetables & cause significant inflammation in your body.
Turns out that saturated fats are not what cause heart disease. It is more complex than that. For the sake of this piece, it is ultimately chronic inflammation that injures the interior walls of the arteries. The body’s adaptive mechanism is to “patch” these injuries with particular types of cholesterol. And margarine is very inflammatory to the body. This is why it created more heart disease. Yes, you read that correctly. Margarine contributed to increased rates of heart disease NOT prevented it! So if you’re still consuming margarine or “whipped spread” disguised as butter: STOP! Your body will thank you 😊
Now let’s talk about the benefits of butter and what type to get. Not all butter is created equal. There’s the following:
- Conventional Butter
- Grass-fed Butter
- Ghee
- Clarified Butter
Let me cover each, and what I’d suggest you purchase. First, if we ask any 5-year-old what cows eat, they will respond, “Grass!” Which is obvious.
However, in a conventional CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operation) cows consume some grass and a lot of grains. When dairy cows eat grains, they are more likely to become sick, malnourished, & weak because grains are not a genetically-congruent diet for them. This means butter with fewer nutrients, more omega-6, & traces of the added hormones & antibiotics used to treat the sick animals. Grain-fed dairy is also more likely to contain mold and toxins from moldy grains used as feed. These mold toxins can accumulate in the animal’s milk, although less is present in their butter. The grains CAFO cows are fed, are filled with a lot of Omega 6’s. The same pro-inflammatory compounds found in “vegetable” oils that margarine is made from. Omega 6’s are more pro-inflammatory. You want to limit these. This means that conventionally raised cows that consume these grains, have a higher amount of Omega 6’s in their milk. Which is used to make butter.
However, grass-fed cows (and therefore grass-fed butter) have routinely had higher levels of Omega 3’s in their butter. Omega 3’s are more anti-inflammatory in nature. You want more of them.
Additionally, looking at the color of the butter you can tell a difference. Conventional butter is more of an off-white color to a very pale yellow. Grass-fed butter is a deep & rich, golden-yellow color. This is caused by higher beta-carotene found in the cow’s grass-fed diet. Grass-fed butter’s taste is generally richer and more intensely butter-flavored than conventional butter. Grass-fed butter is also softer to cut into.
In addition to an increase in Omega 3’s, grass-fed butter also contains higher amounts of:
- Butyric Acid
- Vitamin A
- MCT’s
- CLA
- Healthy Cholesterol
But What If I Have A Food Sensitivity or Allergy to Dairy? Or Lactose Intolerant? Most people who have a dairy sensitivity or who are lactose intolerant do well with butter.
Some who are more sensitive or have a full dairy allergy, do well consuming clarified butter or ghee. Both take an extra step by warming up the butter, cooking off the 16-17% water found in butter and the “milk solids”. Milk solids are the protein portion of butter. A protein in milk and butter is casein. Casein is what people react to who have a dairy sensitivity or allergy. So by removing all the dairy protein, water and lactose, you are left with 99-100% butter fat in ghee and clarified butter. The only difference between the two is ghee is cooked just a little longer and has a slightly nutty flavor. But both are packed full of healthy nutrients.
So What Butter Do I Suggest?
For probably close to a decade now, I’ve been consuming grass-fed butter. When I go to a restaurant that uses conventional butter, I can taste the difference.
I’ve told countless patients about my favorite brand. It can be found in most grocery stores in America, including Walmart. It is the brand Kerrygold. Kerrygold butter is made in Ireland. They contract with small farms that raise cattle on grass. The result is all the health benefits I listed above. And the taste is AWESOME! You can get the salted variety (what I typically get). The packaging looks like this.
Or if you don’t want the salt, you can get the unsalted variety. It’s packaging is the same, but in silver. If you can’t find it in your local store, you can order it off of Amazon as well.
Who Should Be Cautious About Eating Too Much Butter?
Butter, as you probably know, has a large amount of saturated fat. Contrary to what has been told to us for decades, saturated fat does not “clog arteries”. However, there is a small subgroup of the population that has a genetic predisposition to not do as well with too much saturated fat.
It is those individuals who have a genetic marker of APOE e4. Particularly if they have 2 pairs (one from each parent), which only about 2-3% of the general population carry 2 pairs. This gene is associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer’s and heart disease. Notice I said increased risk. Not a death sentence. Some people who have this double pair never get Alzheimer’s. But compared with those who have APOE e2 and APOE e3, they have an 8-12X increased risk. They also appear to have an increased risk for heart disease and don’t metabolize saturated fats the same as others.
This doesn’t mean they can’t have saturated fats. They just want to moderate them more than the general population. If you have these genetic markers, you’ll want to focus more on consuming these healthy fats:
- olive oil
- avocado oil
- nuts like walnuts & almonds
Also, stick with leaner meats.
But for the large majority of the population, grass-fed butter will be a healthy fat to incorporate into your diet.
Your One Actionable Step This Week
If you have not already done so, begin buying & consuming grass-fed butter. Once you switch from conventional butter, you’ll likely not go back😉 And definitely stop consuming chemical-laden margarine! It does nothing positive for your health.
