“The case for eating butter just got stronger,” said a Time magazine article in June. However, a new study found no connection between eating butter and heart disease.
Researches looked at 4 studies on approximately 175,000 people to assess butter’s impact on cardiovascular disease. Those who reported eating more butter after 10 to 16 years had no higher or lower risk of a heart attack or other cardiovascular event than those who said they ate less butter.
However, the studies asked people what they usually ate only once – when the studies began. This could have obscured butter’s impact (since someone who later switched to another fat would still count as a butter eater). And, 2 of the 4 studies masked the impact of butter on cardiovascular disease by “adjusting” for blood cholesterol levels. Also, it’s not clear why a single food like butter would affect risk, since people who eat butter don’t necessarily eat an overall diet that’s high in saturated fat.
A stronger study, which tracked 126,000 people for 26 to 32 years reported that those who ate more saturated fats had a higher risk of dying than those who are more unsaturated fats.
The editors at Nutrition Action recommend replacing saturated fats (like butter, red meat, and cheese) with unsaturated fats (like oils, salad dressing, nuts and fatty fish).
Nutrition Action
September , 2016