Why grass fed butter is one of the healthiest fats on the planet you need to add it to your diet today
For years the health industry has sold us the common misconception that fat is bad and low fat and low sugar items are the way to go. For our family we have not personally believed that this is the case, realising more often than not that low fat and low sugar (or sugar free or fat free) often means that the food has been heavily processed or contains a number of alarming chemicals. We have been sold the common misconception, as mentioned above, that low fat and low sugar is what a body needs to stay healthy and also to lose weight, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. There is now a number of high profile studies which are showing that there is no link between fat and heart disease (which we have previously been told was the case), so what does this mean for our diets? Today we’re taking it back to butter, delving into why grass fed butter is back on the menu and why you should consider adding it to your daily diet.
The truth about low fat
For many years we have been told that for optimum heart health you need to opt for the low fat options, but these foods are now not as good as we originally thought. However, that isn’t to say that now fat is back on the menu we can eat what we like, the real truth of the matter is being able to differentiate between good fats and bad fats and incorporating those good fats back into our diets. We know that we need some fat in our diet, in fact it is essential for our bodies. Fats found in foods such as nuts, seeds, oily fish and avocado, to name but a few, include essential fatty acids (including omega-3) which are essential for maintaining healthy blood vessels, heart health, hormone control, brain health the normal functioning of our nervous system. Fat can also help us absorb vitamins including A, D, E and K.
So why grass fed butter?
Butter is one of the healthiest fats there is and includes important nutrients that nourish our bodies. Until recently butter was being considered unhealthy due to accelerated fat content, however this myth has been thoroughly debunked in a number of high profile studies in recent years, suggesting that there is no link between saturated fat and heart disease. In fact, butter could even goes as far as to actually lower your risk of heart disease. When it comes to dairy there are two options grass fed and grain fed, which I think speak for themselves.
So why would you pick grass fed over grain fed?
Because it’s a completely different kind of butter. Feeding cattle grains is the equivalent of feeding them junk food and essentially pumps them full the wrong kind of fatty acids, including obesity causing hormones. If you feed junk food you will get junk byproducts. Grain fed animals also contain dangerous mycotoxins (which disgustingly are formed by mould in the cattle food and meat processing) which could be detrimental to our health. Butter from grass fed cows is much higher in the omega-3 fatty acids as well as vitamins, nutrients and other healthy fats. It is also natural for these animals to eat grass and not grains and therefore provides a number of health benefits. Grass fed butter is packed full of nutrition while grain fed butter also contains hormones, antibiotics and a number of other awful chemicals.
There have been a number of studies to backup this theory and in countries where cows are largely grass fed the people who have been eating the butter have a reduced risk of heart disease. In fact in one study the more full fat dairy, such as butter, that people ate, lower the risk of heart attack. This proves author is not the antichrist. However there isn’t just one study there is a number of studies, several across Europe in fact, where cows have been grass fed and the results of the studies show that dairy fat is linked to a reduced amount of heart attacks and strokes.
Where should I start?
By all means use this blog post as a starting point. As always anything you have read on this blog is opinion only and should not be used instead of medical opinion. There are a huge number of articles, studies and information this subject, so use what you have read here as a leaping off point and do your own research on why grass fed butter, and grass fed dairy products in general, could be beneficial for your health.
If you are looking for a grass fed butter – try Kerrygold!