Article By: Johnny Fontana
I hope that no one simply read the title of this post, decided they were convinced and just started shoving sticks of butter in their mouths. If you read any of my posts on other animal-derived products, you will see there is almost always an asterisk underlining the title. This may be one of the biggest asterisk-blanketed posts I have written yet, because of the difference between good and bad butter. The typical butter you get at the grocery store is one of the worst, single food items you can buy. However, if you are lucky enough to live in a state or city with stores and markets that present a wide variety of health foods, then the good butter can be found.
The butter you find in stores today is loaded with saturated fat from grain-fed cows that are pumped full of hormones and stand knee-deep in their own manure. This is the stuff you should avoid at all costs and never even think about purchasing. But “real” butter that comes from grass-fed, organic cows that are raised on open pastures actually boasts a variety of health benefits. This stuff can absolutely be eaten from time to time and I think you will be amazed by all the good stuff inside it.
Why So Good?
Saturated Isn’t So Bad
I know that your first rebuttal to my “Butter is good for you” claim will be that it holds saturated fat. Saturated fat is widely considered to be an enemy of man, leading to many heart complications. In many cases, saturated fat is terrible for us and should be dodged like a ball thrown from the big kid in your 4th grade Phys Ed class. However, saturated fat that comes from natural foods (butter, avocado, eggs) has shown to hold some health benefits and isn’t nearly as bad for you as you might think. The saturated fat in butter has been shown in many studies to increase good cholesterol levels. Other studies have shown that saturated fat from good foods is not necessarily linked to higher rates in heart disease. Some of the healthiest cultures in the world traditionally have diets that are high in fat and saturated fat.
Nutrient Packed
Butter is filled with nutrients, especially the fat-soluble vitamins that our culture traditionally lacks. Our immune systems and vision both benefit from vitamin A, which is found in abundance in butter. Vitamin D is also found in butter, which helps build bones, aids in calcium absorption and fights against the common cold. Other essential fat-soluble vitamins such as E and K are found in butter as well.
Lose Weight
Real cows hold a special chemical called conjugated linolenic acid (CLA) which can actually fight weight gain in humans (yeah, some fats help reduce fat). As if that wasn’t cool enough, CLA can help prevent against fat around the abdomen. On top of that, CLA has many anticancer benefits and helps fight against infections.
Ghee
Ghee is basically the same thing as butter, but has the milk solids removed from it. Ghee has a few more benefits than butter because the removal of milk solids makes it great to cook with at higher temperatures without going rancid. For thousands of years many Eastern cultures have considered ghee to be an amazing food. They believe it speeds metabolism, fights against disease and is all around essential for good health. It’s hard for me to discredit the ancient Eastern cultures, because they had no incidences of heart disease or cancer.
How To Eat?
I don’t think I have to get into a big lesson here on how to eat butter. Most Americans use far too much butter (the bad kind) in our diets and put it in/on just about anything. While I am telling you that butter is good for you, I am not giving you a free pass to add butter in every meal. If you love to use butter for cooking, try out some ghee instead. Ghee can be raised to much higher temperatures than butter since the milk products are taken out of it.
Otherwise, use real butter and ghee just as you’d use the butter you find in most grocery stores.
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What is the ratio of total fat/saturated fat in the “good” butter or Ghee? Isn’t it MUCH higher than that found in avocado and the other GOOD fats? I am still thinking it is better to stay away from the foods with a high ratio of saturated fat to total fat…and stick with the good fats that are lower in saturated fat…compared to the total fat. Thoughts???
Dear Deborah,
You wrote, “I am still thinking it is better to stay away from the foods with a high ratio of saturated fat to total fat…and stick with the good fats that are lower in saturated fat…compared to the total fat. Thoughts???”
Unfortunately you have this just exactly backward. But, don’t feel bad, so do most doctors. It is the unsaturated fats manufactured from grains and soybean oil that are bad. The saturated fats from meat, dairy and eggs are not only loaded with essential nutrients but are also higher in omega 3’s than vegetable based foods.
The reason people need to supplement the diet with omega 3’s is that they are eating so many unnatural omega 6’s that the 3’s and 6’s are out of balance. You will get more essential omega 3 fatty acids by eating a nice juicy steak from grass fed cattle than most people get by taking their daily fish oil supplements. And, you won’t need to supplement your diet with fish oil if you stop eating foods with high in unsaturated fat such as vegetable oils. (but I do recommend taking cod liver oil, NOT fish oil.)
We’ve been led to believe that unsaturated fats are healthful and saturated fats unhealthful because unsaturated fats are cheaper to manufacture than it is to raise animals that contain saturated fat. Fat is necessary in the production of most foods, especially those that use the cheapest food of all, grains. It is ten times more expensive to use saturated fat when making foods than it is to use unsaturated fats. So, even though the natural saturated fats are more healthful, because the unsatruated fats are cheaper to produce, they convinced us that saturated fats are more healthful. In the meantime, since they began replacing saturated fat with cheaper unsaturated fat in the early 1900’s heart disease exploded.
If you want to learn what the informed doctors are saying about saturated fat and cholesterol, if you want to know more about the fats than the doctors who are only paroting what they were taught in the pharmaceutical industry lead medical schools, then check out the “Cholesterol is Good” Web Ring at http://cholesterolisgood.blogspot.com/ . Or, visit me at http://www.PerfectHealthInstitute.com
To Your Health,
Gary Springer
Gary,
Thank you for writing such an elaborate response. I agree with you for the most part, but I don’t think Deborah’s response was exactly backward. Exactly backward would mean that we should be eating more saturated fats than monounsaturated fats, which I don’t think is the case.
My response to Deborah would be similar to yours, Gary. The saturated fats that most Americans consume, give a terrible reputation to real saturated fats. As you said, saturated fats found in grass-fed beef and other good sources are absolutely fine and actually good for you. It kills me to see people just eat egg whites, when the yolk (if from a good egg) has the majority of the good nutrients.
If you are getting saturated fats from good sources, than the amount you consume raises drastically. If you saturated fats come from bad sources that were listed by Gary, than you should consume a very low amount of them. The amount of saturated fat is higher in animal products such as dairy or meat, but if it is from a grass-fed, organic cow than it is fine. Look to the Inuit tribe which is known for having 50-70% of their caloric intake from fat, most of which is very high in saturated fat. They have been following that diet for hundreds of years and have almost no instance of any heart diseases.
I always follow the “Everything in moderation.” thought process. While I do believe that good saturated fats are essential to the body, I don’t think it should be your main resource for fat or calorie content.
If you’re interested in eating more organic foods, one of the things that you may have trouble getting past is the price tag. After all, organics tend to be a lot more expensive than chemically treated products. The best solution to that, especially if you have the space, is to grow your own organic vegetable garden.