EXPERT’S CORNER

better butter

Want to enjoy your favorite spread without the guilt? Grass-fed is the way to go.

Q: To me, there’s nothing better than mushrooms sautéed in butter, or buttered broccoli, or butter melted on a muffin! However, I’ve repeatedly heard that we should avoid saturated fats like butter. Should butter be avoided

or not? —Anne W., Albuquerque, N.M.

A: We all grew up hearing that butter should be avoided because it’s a saturated fat that isn’t good for heart health. However, the saturated fat myth has been thoroughly debunked in recent years: two massive review studies showed there is no association between saturated fat consumption and heart disease. (This is especially true if the saturated fat you eat doesn’t go hand-in-hand with sugar and refined grains.)

But bear in mind that all butter isn’t created equal. Just as grass-fed beef has a much stronger nutritional profile and offers more health benefits than conventional beef from cattle that are fed grains, the same is true of grass-fed butter. This is the type of butter that comes from the milk of cows that graze on grass their entire lives.

The Benefits of Grass-Fed Butter

Grass-fed butter was an historically used fat. It was part of the diets of many traditional cultures, and in many ways, it was considered a superfood. We now know that it’s rich in numerous hard-toobtain and not so well-known nutrients and healthful fats—a key reason why some people, such as keto diet followers, are now adding it to their coffee. Here’s a rundown of the nutrients found in this creamy golden favorite.

CLA—Grass-fed butter is a rich source of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA): It actually contains five times more CLA than butter from grain-fed cows. CLA is a beneficial fatty acid that has anti-inflammatory properties and is linked to fighting cancer and helping your body build muscle rather than store fat.

CLA also seems to promote cardiovascular health. One study conducted in Costa Rica, where most dairy farms are still pasture based, found that people with higher CLA levels in their bodies also had less risk of heart attacks. Those with the highest levels of CLA had a 36 percent lower risk of heart attack compared to those with the lowest levels.

“Activator X”/Vitamin

K2 —In the 1930s, researcher Weston A. Price traveled around the world and documented the diets of traditional cultures with little degenerative disease and very low rates of tooth decay and cavities. Price discovered that butter was an important food for bone and dental health and he deduced that it had something he called “Activator X” that helps the body use other

vitamins to strengthen bones and teeth. Today many nutrition professionals think Activator X is vitamin K2, which is found in grass-fed butter.

Vitamin K2 plays a key role in bone and heart health by regulating calcium levels. Vitamin K2 helps remove excess calcium from your bloodstream, which may help prevent harmful calcium deposits and plaque from building up in your blood vessels. The nutrient also helps your bones properly use vitamins A and D. Vitamin K2

If Dairy Bothers You …

Many people who are lactose-intolerant or sensitive to the proteins in milk products often can tolerate small amounts of grass-fed butter in their diet. That’s because grass-fed butter is mostly fat, with very low levels of the milk sugar and milk proteins that make other dairy foods problematic for some people. However, we all are biochemically unique. If you are sensitive to butter, try grass-fed ghee, also called clarified butter. Ghee is made by heating butter at a very low heat until the water evaporates and then skimming o the proteins that float on top to get almost pure fat with even fewer

is mainly found in fermented foods and milk sugars and proteins. Being almost pure fat, it has a higher smoke animal products, point than butter. Brands of grass-fed ghee to look for include: Bulletincluding grass-fed proof Grass-Fed Ghee; 4th & butter. Our gut flora can make vitamin K2 How to Find Grass-Fed Butter Heart Ghee; and Organic Valley Organic Ghee Clarified Butter. from vitamin K1, which is found in vegetables. But cows Several imported brands of butter that are grass-fed or mostly grass-fed can be found If you don’t tolerate ghee, or if you avoid animal products, switch to coconut oil. It does not that eat grass rich in in natural food stores. These include: Kerry- have the same nutritional profile K1 are much more gold (from Ireland); Allgäu (from Germany); as grass-fed better, but coconut efficient converting it Anchor (from New Zealand); and Smjör oil serves as a handy vegan to vitamin K2, and the K2 is present in their milk and concen(from Iceland). One nationally available brand of grasssubstitute for butter in cooking and baking. trated in butter made fed butter that is USDA Organic (meaning from the milk. the cows are not fed feed that is genetically Omega-3 Fatty modified feed or sprayed with synthetic Acids—Compared to chemical pesticides, and they are not given butter from grain-fed antibiotics and hormones) is Organic Valcows, grass-fed butter ley Pasture Butter. Vital Farms also makes is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids Pasture-Raised Butter from US family farms. Vitamins A, D, E, and Beta-Carotene—Grass-fed butter is rich in the such as DHA and EPA. fat-soluble vitamins A, D, and E, which One analysis found are necessary for optimal immune that grass-fed butter provides about 26 boosting, and possibly weight-controlling function, reproduction, and vision. These percent more omega-3 fatty acids than benefits. In studies using mice, butyrate nutrients are also involved in forming regular butter, on average. improved insulin sensitivity, reduced and maintaining healthy teeth, bones,

Omega-3s are an integral part of cell cholesterol, and greatly increased fat and skin. membranes throughout your body and a burning and mitochondrial activity. Additionally, grass-fed butter building block for hormones. They also Mitochondria power every cell in your contains higher amounts of beta have anti-inflammatory functions, which body, helping turn the foods you eat into carotene than regular butter. Beta are important in controlling inflamma- cellular energy. According to a study in carotene is a potent antioxidant that has tory health conditions such as arthritis World Journal of Gastrointestinal been linked to a reduced risk of several and eczema and in protecting heart and Pathophysiology, butyrate can help chronic diseases and the body converts brain function. control weight by enhancing the it to vitamin A as needed. hormone leptin, which can suppress Butyrate—Grass-fed butter contains appetite. Butyrate also has anti-inflam- In sum, grass-fed butter is a nutritional butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid that matory benefits in the gut and it may powerhouse. So, go ahead and enjoy has anti-inflammatory, metabolism- help prevent colon cancer. butter, but make sure you upgrade it.