I started out writing a post on why butter is healthy, and quickly realized the merits of butter are so far-reaching it will take more than one post to even begin to delve into this controversial subject.
After all, most of us have been told for decades that butter belongs on the top of the “do not eat” list. It takes more than one simple blog post to undo years of USDA propaganda.
Is Butter Healthy? Butyric Acid Benefits
So today I want to start by addressing butyric acid (also known as butyrate). Butter is the richest dietary source of butyric acid (3-4%), a short-chain fatty acid which is proving to be highly beneficial.
Butyric Acid and Metabolic Health
A very interesting study demonstrated the benefits of butyric acid in mice. Researchers found that feeding these mice butryic acid could reverse several harmful metabolic affects.
The mice who received butyric acid in their diet were leaner and did not have a tendency to overeat. They also had lower cholesterol, triglyceride and fasting insulin levels–all pointing to better metabolic health and a decreased risk of developing metabolic syndrome.
Butyric Acid and Gut Health
The gut actually uses butyric acid as an energy source. Butyric acid has been shown to benefit those with gut disorders like ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. That’s because this short-chain fatty acid helps restore the integrity of the gut lining while also reducing inflammation.
Butyric Acid and Cancer
Studies have demonstrated that butyric acid has the ability to cause cancer cells to mature into normal cells. This is a unique property, since most anti-cancer substances either kill the cancer cell or cause it to kill itself. Butyric acid, however, appears to preserve the life of the cell by normalizing its function.
So…Is Butter Healthy?
In the end, the degree of health-giving properties in any given food is dependent upon an individual’s tolerance or dietary needs. In other words, your mileage may vary. But after today’s post and as we continue to explore butter’s health benefits, I hope that we can end the tirade on this traditional fat and learn to appreciate what butter has to offer.
Is Butter Healthy? Part Two: Vitamin A Benefits
More Articles from me on Butter:
References:
http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/content/58/7/1509.abstract
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1612357
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18346306
For a more in-depth look at the research done on the benefits of butyric acid, check out this post at Healthy But Smart.
Thanks for taking on this topic. Any chance of siting the studies so as to make the argument stronger when talking to my scientific friends?
Yes! I’ve added references at the bottom of the post.
Hi Elizabeth! I love your article and yes, butter’s benefits are so far reaching affecting every aspect of health. I would love to share your series on butter on my thoughts on friday link love at a moderate life. Please stop by friday to say hi! 🙂 Alex@amoderatelife
I often have a dilemma when choosing which fat to use–butter or coconut oil? I use more coconut oil than butter, but if I ate grains, I have no doubt that I would eat more butter. 🙂 Nothing as tasty as a piece of whole grain (sprouted) toast with butter and raw honey. Mmm. 🙂
LOL Butter or coconut oil? That’s my daily dilemma as well! 😉
have been reading more and trying to share with people i know, all the benefits of things like butter and fat, but some people just arent believers, they would much rather stick to their weight watcher diet full of processed low fat items, that hasnt worked, than to, dare i say, eat more fat!!
I have learned the importance of butter, but it hasn’t become second nature yet after hearing for so many years that it was bad. Thanks for reiterating the benefits of butter for me.
Great blog post! Super informative – I learned some new things that I wasn’t aware of!
What about the health benefits (or not) of Ghee?
Ghee is going to have many of the benefits of butter, since it is essentially pure butterfat. A good quality ghee is definitely a health food!
I fully agree. Check out the following links if you haven’t already.
Thanks
http://www.bodyecology.com/07/07/05/benefits_of_real_butter.php
http://www.health-report.co.uk/saturated_fats_health_benefits.htm
I mix ghee and coconut oil together to use for cooking. Butter or EV olive oil on prepared foods.
Rye also contains butyric acid!
Saying butter is healthy for you because it has butyric acid in it is like saying soda is good for you because it has water in it. The fact is butter is a concentrated source of saturated fats and cholesterol which in any case no physician would agree is healthy. If you want to increase the risk of yourself having a heart attack by clogging your arteries with cholesterol, butter is certainly one way to do it and no one can agree that’s healthy.
Check this out: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/26/opinion/bittman-butter-is-back.html?_r=0
Your analysis is incorrect on so many levels. Eating cholesterol and saturated fat foods has almost zero impact on blood levels of either. Your body already has systems in place to regulate both. The problem is the influence from other hormones, mainly, INSULIN OVER PRODUCTION, that creates the problems that end up impacting the cholesterol regulating functions. This country has been swindled for 100+ years from 2 major circumstances by “scientists” working with large corporations , the patenting of a process called “hydrogenation” in 1910, you’ve probably heard of it; and secondly from a quack known as Ancel Keys and his non-study of war-torn european eating habits in the early 1950’s of which the illogical and incorrect “conclusions” were perpetrated on the American population.
John, you arrive at a faulty conclusion because you fail to make the distinction hypercholesterolemic vs normocholesterolemic population. Read more at http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2015/07/01/ajcn.115.112227
Further, elevated total cholesterol only becomes problematic to the extent cholesterol/LDL becomes oxidised. Avoiding cholesterol is problematic because cholesterol is an important compound, needed in the cell wall and as a substrate for endogen hormone synthesis.
John, you must be an enthusiastic GP. Every body knows the GOOD fat is essential for your body except mainstream medics. Butter , ghee , lard and coconut oil I eat and still alive after 15 years of consumption . And I am 70 of age.
If you want butyric acid, get it from fermented foods, or by eating soluble fibre in whole grains and letting your gut microbes ferment them to butyric acid in your large intestine. You will get many other benefits from whole grains, where butter is at best neutral once you factor in all its components. Don’t give me studies of purified butyric acid in rodents: give me clinical trials of butter in humans. There’s enough meta-analyses on diet already that I doubt there’s much space to find a previously unidentified benefit from butter.
I agree that butyric acids can be produced from multiple sources. Not sure if that works as well if a microbe imbalance is in place. I think more than ever, meta-analyses show that butter is not the bad guy: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/magazine/magazine_article/is-butter-really-back/