Yes, I said butter. We are now learning that healthy “fats” are not what is making society “fat.” I know “fat” has been the enemy of many for decades. For most of the population, they wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole, for health reasons. The others, well they would never think of doing without. Science can sometimes do a 180-degree flip and now we are back to butter, thank goodness…
We can all get stuck in “our ways” on how we have been raised and taught by the media and miss out on some of the fun foods that can actually provide us with health benefits.
It can be hard to get past the messaging that the fat on our bodies has been caused by eating fat. When we look at not only science but some common sense, we realize that our bodies have a basic need for healthy fats.
That does not make butter right for everyone. Each person is uniquely different, with changing health needs and tastes. It is all okay, do what YOUR body leads you to. Nourishment is about doing what is right for YOUR body, not legalism about food.
Back to Butter
Butter used to be the enemy. We were told by our parents, our doctors, the media and then what seemed to be everyone, butter is the enemy.
I think there were some farmers who rolled their eyes and kept eating fresh creamy butter!!
I was raised in a time when we simply were not allowed to have much butter. It was measured constantly so that it was strictly limited. And only one egg per week. Food was the enemy! Their doctor, the media, and the rumble of society had declared it, so that was the way it was. No one’s fault, just the way of the time.
Although I did not carry the belief system of such, I carried the habits into adulthood. I limited my healthy fats and eggs just because that is what I knew. How many millions of people born into that time did the exact same thing?
Time to catch up with old-fashioned real food like butter. We now have evidence-based science to show us that there are butter benefits. Let’s say before the 1960’s more people lived in rural areas while eating from the land and their animals, not commercialized grocery stores like we have done since.
People in Europe continued eating butter much more than Americans did for those decades of “butter is the enemy.”
Butter has been a staple in diets for centuries. Then came some historical events that tried to steer us away from the nutrients of pure wholesome grass-fed butter.
Butter Nutrients
The fewer ingredients in food, usually the healthier it is. Butter contains only one ingredient, cream that is churned. When it comes from grass-fed roaming happy animals, even better.
- one-ingredient real food
- vitamins A, E, D, & K
- great source of healthy fat
- healthy saturated fat
- contains 400+ fatty acids
- healthy cholesterol
- supports heart health
- supports brain health
- adds healthy taste to a real food diet
Nutritionally the composition of butter is roughly 80 percent fat (mostly saturated), 12 percent water, 2 to 3 percent nonfat milk solids (lactose, protein), and 2 percent added salt. It is the most concentrated of dairy products, containing about 740 kilocalories per 100 grams (210 kilocalories per ounce). Butter is a valuable source of vitamin A, plus it has a little vitamin D. It is also a source of dietary cholesterol. Vitamin content is higher in summer, when the cattle feed on fresh grass.
~ Encyclopedia.com; Butter (really FUN FACTS on butter)
Butter made from grass-fed animals has a higher nutrient content in the summer when they are eating on fresh grass. Getting to know your local farmer is a great resource for healthy food.
Butter Your Brain
If you too grew up in during the decades of no butter, no fat, no eggs, no cholesterol of any kind, then you might want to butter your brain.
It was not until my last health crash that wiped me out, drug me down, and kicked my bum, that I started to have the beginning symptoms of Alzheimer’s. I had crashed so hard that my brain shut down. I could not put words together to make sentences. I got lost in a town 10 miles away. I could not process thoughts.
I had heard several health gurus speak about coconut oil and the promising effects on Alzheimer’s. I think it was David Asprey (Bulletproof Coffee dude) that said he had gone through the same thing and he loaded up on healthy fats to counteract it. His 2019 book; Super Human: The Bulletproof Plan to Age Backward and Maybe Even Live Forever
Now, this makes perfect sense. Our brains are made up mainly of fat. We are born into a time when we are not given sufficient healthy fats. Then we go through our childhoods assuming society is right that healthy fats are the enemy. We continue through decades into adulthood depriving our brains of basic healthy fats to develop and thrive. NO WONDER our brains have struggled so much.
At my worse, I decided to start eating healthy fats, pour them in like David Asprey and others had done to overcome this. The first year I did it every couple of hours. I added organic grass-fed butter to everything. I also added organic coconut oil and MCT oil.
It worked for me too. Now I not only can words together to make sentences, but I can also process full thoughts, and currently, I can sort out thought processes better than I have been able to in my whole life. That makes for a better quality of life.
Where are you with healthy fats? Have you found your healthy fat balance that is specific to your body?
How When Where To Eat Butter
Over the last 29 years on my health and healing journey, the Weston A. Price Foundation was formed. They became a valuable resource for learning about diet; from the basics to the science. They emphasize the traditions of food and the health of groups of people who have lived long vibrant lives.
This is where I initially “got permission” to eat butter and still be on a healing journey!!!
The Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF), co-founded in 1999 by Sally Fallon ( Morell) and now president, is a U.S. 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
Sally Fallon is the author of Nourishing Traditions. She has created timeless cookbooks that provide in-depth explanations and how’s for the healthiest foods on earth.
- Paperback ~ Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and Diet Dictocrats
- Paperback ~ Nourishing Broth: An Old-Fashioned Remedy for the Modern World
- Paperback ~ Nourishing Fats: Why We Need Animal Fats for Health and Happiness
- Spiral-bound ~ The Nourishing Traditions Cookbook for Children
EAT PLENTY OF GOOD FATS! ~ Dr. Price lists it as such…
- Butter – on bread, vegetables, meat, porridge – butter on everything!
- Lard, Bacon Fat, Duck Fat and Goose Fat – for cooking
- Tallow – for deep frying
- Olive Oil – for salad dressings
- Coconut Oil – for medium-chain fatty acids
- Cod Liver Oil – for vitamins A and D
When it comes to animal fats, grass- or pasture-fed is best. Animal fats like butter, lard, bacon fat, duck fat and goose fat are rich sources of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D and K2, which Dr. Weston Price discovered were very high in the diets of healthy, primitive peoples.
~ Weston A. Price Foundation
AVOID THE BAD FATS ~ Dr. Price lists it as such…
- Industrially processed liquid vegetable oils (corn, soy, canola, safflower, sunflower)
- “Healthy” low-trans spreads
- Partially hydrogenated vegetables oils (margarine and shortening)
- Commercial fried foods
- Processed foods containing these industrial fats and oils
- Industrial fats and oils are the number one problem in the modern diet. They are the main cause of chronic disease, and they replace the nutrient-dense animal fats that nourished our ancestors.
