Butter Helps Your Body Absorb Critical Vitamins and 4 Other Things You Need to Know

Butter consumption has trended downward in the past hundred years. Find out why you need to be part of butters comeback!

Butter consumption has trended downward in the past hundred years, following advice of doctors, diet specialists and public health professionals, many people switched from this natural and delicious food to heavily processed margarine, vegetable oils and more. But as eaters abandoned butter our waistlines continued to grow as well as the incidence of nutrition related chronic diseases. Maybe it’s time to think of butter as a health food, especially butter from pasture-raised animals. Here are SueprmarketGuru’s top 5 reasons you should choose butter over other (especially highly processed) oils.

Butter is Vitamin Rich: Butter is full of fat soluble vitamins, including vitamins A, E, D and K. And as their name implies, fat-soluble vitamins need fat in order to be absorbed and assimilated. Vitamin K, specifically K2 is a less well known vitamin, but has very powerful effects on health. It is involved in calcium metabolism and a low intake has been associated with many serious diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer and osteoporosis. Butter from grass-fed cows is rich in all of the fat-soluble vitamins mentioned above.

Butter is Better for Your Heart: The famous Framingham heart study, examined the effects of butter and margarine on cardiovascular disease. Margarine significantly increased the risk of cardiovascular disease, while butter had no effect. Another study revealed that high-fat dairy consumption reduced the risk of heart disease by a whopping 69 percent, most likely due to increased Vitamin K2 intake.

Butter Contains Butyrate: So what, you say? Butyrate is a fatty acid created by bacteria in the colon when they are exposed to dietary fiber, or from butter. Studies have demonstrated that butyrate supplementation prevents weight gain by increasing energy expenditure and reducing food intake, as well as improving the function of mitochondria and lowering fasting triglycerides and insulin. Butyrate has also been shown to be anti-inflammatory and has powerful protective effects on the digestive system.

Butter is Rich in Conjugated Linoleic Acid: Butter, especially grass-fed, is a great source of a fatty acid called conjugated linoleic acid. CLA has powerful effects on metabolism and is actually sold as a weight loss supplement. CLA has been shown to have anti-cancer properties as well as lowering body fat percentage.

Butter is Associated With a Lower Risk of Obesity: Despite higher calorie content, eating full-fat dairy products is not associated with obesity.  In fact, a 2012 review found that high-fat dairy did not increase risk of metabolic disease and was associated with a significantly reduced risk of obesity.

When shopping for butter look for grass fed, pasture raised, organic products. Dairy from cows eating grass and exposed to sunlight will have a healthier fat profile as well as more vitamins and minerals.