Why butter? Because butter is the key to life, in more ways than one. Butter makes anything taste better! Sauces, soups, vegetables, you name it. Butter is also important for good health. It supports good development of growing children and continues to support us as we age. I want to tell you about some cool facts from butter's history and how and why this nutrient dense food has been wrongly accused of disease as well as why you need to put butter back on the table.
Butter History Facts
Dr. Weston A. Price studied uncivilized primitive cultures eating their traditional foods in search of good health. He found some extremely healthy people, many of which prized butter as a sacred food. Their butter is not what you would typically find in a grocery store today, it came from content cows grazing on rapidly growing lush grasses and was left raw. Their instincts told them that this sacred gift was especially good for children and expectant mothers. One particular butter loving group Dr. Price studied was the Swiss villagers, they always honored the first butter of the season by placing it in a bowl with a wick and lit it in their churches. A young couple could only marry in the season of spring to summer when butter was at its most abundant and nutritious, so they would be sure to produce a healthy child. They understood how important this food was for life.
In India, ghee (clarified butter) has be a prized and staple food in their diet for more than 3,000 years. For them, it symbolizes purity and is worthy of offering to the gods.
The first written reference to butter was found on a 4,500 year old limestone tablet illustrating how butter was made. Humans may have been consuming butter for a lot longer than that, archaeologist have discovered pottery with milk residues in it dating back over 30,000 years ago.
So What's in Butter that Makes it Soooo Good for Us?
Vitamins - and lots of them. Many of the vitamins found in butter are severely lacking in the modern American diet. Most of these vitamins protect against tooth decay, osteoporosis, vision loss, heart disease (yes nutrients in butter protect against heart disease). Note that the following vitamins listed are all fat-soluble, meaning they cannot be utilized with out the presence of fat, making butter and whole milk products a great source and low fat, skimmed milk products not. I bring this up because that is why many are deficient in these vitamins because we have been lead to believe that fat is bad, but take a look at all the good thing you miss out on when you skip the butter.
- Vitamin A
- Butter contains the most absorbable form of vitamin A. Despite what we have been told, carrots and tomatoes etc., do not contain vitamin A they contain beta carotene which may be converted into vitamin A, but they have no ready formed, easily usable form of vitamin A. The beta carotene in carrots may be converted to vitamin A in the body, unfortunately it is a complicated process that requires the help of many other nutrients also lacking in the diet, so more often than not you never get that vitamin A from you veggies.
- So butter -not carrots- is needed for good vision.
- Vitamin A is necessary for thyroid and adrenal health.
- Also needed for fetus and child development (see butter and children's health below)
- Vitamin D
- D is essential for the absorption of calcium, along with saturated fat.
- needed for mental health
- protects against heart disease
- Vitamin K2
- found by Dr. Price- during his life he was not able to completely figure out was this was, he referred to it as the X Factor. He knew that it was necessary for the utilization of minerals. He stated that you can consume all the minerals you want but if you don't have the X Factor they are not going to do you any good.
- since vitamin K2 is necessary for the absorption of minerals it is very important for strong bones, teeth and so much more.
- see butter and children's health below for how it helps children
- only if butter comes from cows eating grass
- Vitamin E
- butter is great source of another fat-soluble vitamin, vitamin E, which is a very potent antioxidant that helps protect infection and heart disease.
- Calcium
- we have all heard that you need to drink your milk for healthy bones and teeth because of the calcium of course. What is funny about that is that there is no way your body is able to absorb the calcium in skim or even low fat milks. This is because calcium needs saturated fats to be absorbed particularly because vitamin K2 and vitamin D which are fat soluble vitamins that are only in the fat of the milk (cream, butterfat). Not only is that calcium going to completely by pass your bones but it will end up calcifying your arteries leading to heart disease and/or stroke.... Hmm that said, it would seem that reduced fat milks contribute to heart disease not whole fat milk and butter.
- Calcium in butter is completely absorbed and in all the right places, this is because it has plenty of real vitamin D, K2 (if from grass fed cows) and saturated fat.
- needed for strong bones and teeth. Protection against bone loss, arthritis and tooth decay
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| Milk is only a good source of calcium if there is fat |
- Selenium
- this is a mineral sorely lacking the modern American diet. Butter is a great source of this potent antioxidant that protects against heart disease and free radicals.
- Trace minerals
- phosphorus - like calcium, is needed for strong bones and teeth
- iodine - butter contains iodine in the most absorbable form, it is important for thyroid function
- zinc
- manganese - in perfect amounts
- chromium - a mineral found to be lacking in diabetics
Butter contains a hormone like substance called the Wulzen Factor, also known as the anti stiffness factor. The Wulzen Factor protects against calcification of the joints and pineal gland as well as protecting against the hardening of the arteries and cataracts. The bad news is that this amazing factor is only found in raw dairy, as pasteurization destroys it.
Fats in Butter
Yes we all know that butter contains fat, that is one reason that it is so darn good for you! Hopefully you will notice how much these fats can actually help promote weight loss among other benefits.
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| properties in butter promote weight loss |
- Short/Medium Chain Fatty acids
- such as lauric acid and butyric acid
- both are great for the immune system! They have anti-tumor, anti-microbial, and anti-fungal properties and protect against a nasty little yeast called candida.
- support against gastrointestinal infections in the very young and the elderly (particularly a fatty acid called - Glycospingolipids)
- they are the preferred source of energy for the lining of the intestinal tract
- Lauric acid is only found in butterfat or coconut oil
- the short/medium fatty acids found in butter do not need much digestion so they are absorbed directly from the small intestine to the liver, where they are converted into quick energy, not stored as fat. Which boosts the metabolism and promotes weight loss. (yes you read right WEIGHT LOSS)
- Omega 3:6
- if you have ever read anything about health I am sure you have heard of omega 3's being good for your health and yes so are the 6's (and the 9's), we need all of them, however, the balance we get in the modern American diet is not normal, or healthy. We get far too much 6 compared to 3's. 1:1 is best or 1:3 is o.k.
- butter contains small amounts of both but in the perfect ratio!
- Arachidonic Acid (AA)
- is important for brain function, healthy skin and prostaglandin balance.
- Prostaglandins are needed to protect against heart attack, stroke, inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, lupus and asthma. They also regulate pain, temperature and clotting.
- Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA)
- potent anti-cancer properties
- builds healthy muscles and promotes weight loss
- immunity booster
- Butter contains powerful antioxidants such as vitamin E and selenium that have already been mentioned
- one POWERFUL antioxidants overlooked and demonized is CHOLESTEROL.
- Cholesterol like any other antioxidant protects against free radical damage and protects against weakening arteries. Despite the bought and paid for research often thrown at us today, we need this healing substance! Besides being an antioxidant that protects the whole body, it is especially necessary for health of the intestinal wall and protects us against cancer of the colon.
- Yes cholesterol is one reason why you should be eating you butter!
- Cholesterol like any other antioxidant protects against free radical damage and protects against weakening arteries. Despite the bought and paid for research often thrown at us today, we need this healing substance! Besides being an antioxidant that protects the whole body, it is especially necessary for health of the intestinal wall and protects us against cancer of the colon.
- A Medical Research Council survey in 1991 showed that men eating butter have half the risk of developing heart disease than those consuming margarine.
- An African tribe studied by Dr. Price noted that the men drank enough milk in a day that was equivalent to eating 3and a half sticks of butter. These men had the lowest blood cholesterol level ever recorded. Further study with carbon-14 tracers showed that the average cholesterol level was about 50 percent of that of an average American.
- Cholesterol is required for the production of hormones and as a structural component of cell wall membranes, according to the University of Iowa.
- Vitamin D from the sun cannot be used by our bodies without the presence of cholesterol in the skin.
- Your own body realizes how important cholesterol is to us, it actually recycles it!
Butter For Your Children - Please!
But Butter is especially good for the proper growth and development of our children. Low fat diets have been recommended not just for us adults but for our children as well, despite the fact that low fat diets are linked to failure to thrive in kids as well as tooth decay - as published in Pediatrics in March 1994. Also children consuming low fat milk have multiple times more risk of diarrhea than those drinking whole milk.
The saturated fat found in butter is crucial for proper development of the lungs and has been shown to be effective in preventing asthma. Besides for lung function, they also need saturated fats for kidney function and heart health. These fats will help fight infections and boost immunity. They are also vitamin carriers: all fat soluble vitamins need saturated fats to be utilized in the body - A, D, E, K2.
Vitamin A, which we have already learned that butter is one of the best sources of, is especially needed for the growing body: bones, teeth and vision. Dr. Price found that cultures consuming adequate amounts of the true form of vitamin A from conception produced children with broad handsome faces, strong straight teeth and excellent bone structure. Vitamin A is also necessary for hormone production and is thought to be able to prevent diabetes if part of the diet early on in life.
Cholesterol is especially important for children, it is of the up most importance in forming the human brain, nervous system and digestive system, as well as building a strong immune system. Children need a lot of fat in their diet. Mother's milk is 55% fat and it is mostly saturated fat. It is extremely high in cholesterol, and it has a special enzyme that helps the baby absorb the cholesterol. That is how important cholesterol is for the growing child. Children not only need this nutrient in the womb but growing up as well. The human brain is largely made up of cholesterol and continues to develop at a very fast rate in the first 2-3 years of life. Children need more fat than adults right through their growing years, right up to the age of 18 or 20. As mentioned before, cholesterol is important for the immune system which is important for children - we are exposed to many horrible things in our environment and need as much protection as we can get.
Vitamin K2 is needed by children for good, healthy growth. We don't always want them to grow up too fast but we need to give them what they need to be able to do it the right way.
If Butter is So Darn Good for You Than Why Does My Doctor and Every Say It Is So Bad?
Unfortunately this is true, our "experts" and foundations that we look to for answers have either: been deceiving us or have been deceived themselves as well.
We have been told for over 70 years that saturated fat and cholesterol-rich foods like butter cause heart disease. If butter really caused heart disease don't you think it would have wiped most of us out already, I mean we have been consuming it for as least 4,000 years and whole fat milk for at least 30,000 years! Not to mention other sources of saturated fat before butter have helped us a species, survive and thrive throughout the millenniums.
Butter consumption at the turn of the 20th century was 18 lbs/person/year and heart disease was rare, very rare (at that time we also consumed fats such as lard and tallow, which the American Heart Association looks down on). Today 40% of all deaths in the U.S. are from heart disease, 2,600 every day! That makes heart disease the number one killer of Americans, and guess what - butter consumption today averages less than 4 lbs/person/year! Hmmm... interesting, how is butter consumption contributing to heart disease? As banned butter from our kitchens the consumption of processed vegetable oils increased by 400% and processed foods/sugar consumption increased by 60%. Again, hmmm......
The very studies that "prove" saturated fats such as butter are bad for you, were actually conducted incorrectly. The scientists doing the research that lead to the famous diet-heart hypothesis, grouped dangerous trans fats (margarine) with natural animal fats and concluded they are all very bad. However another scientist, Dr. Mary Enig, reviewed this work and noticed that they did this, grouped the two fats together, she went to her superiors to get these findings corrected - she found nothing bad about the natural animal fats, actually she found the exact opposite. Unfortunately Dr. Enig was laughed at and thought a fool, the oil industry made sure she receive no grants or funding to continue her work, her name was tarnished and finding work after that was very difficult. All for the sake of profit! Today Dr. Enig has received the gratitude she deserves from many followers through the Weston A. Price Foundation, she has written many great books (Know Your Fats, Nourishing Traditions, Eat Fat Lose Fat, The Oiling of America) and continues to get the truth out there.
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| My vote for a new name: I Can't Believe it's actually Plastic |
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| Find anything life sustaining about this? Ingredient list for I Can't Believe it's Not Butter
Again, Why Eat Butter?
Butter is made from milk, the nutritious food made by the mother's body for her growing young. It is a natural and life sustaining substance that is a concentrated source of the best things in the milk! The higher the quality the better.
Because ........
it promotes weight loss
provides healthy energy
protects against osteoporosis, tooth decay, arthritis, cancer
strong bones, teeth and joints
protects mental health, as well as adrenal, thyroid, endocrine and immune systems
boosts immunity
promotes good brain function
helps to fight infections
may help fertility
supports healthy development of children in the womb and throughout life
provides nutrients for proper lung function
good for intestinal health and heart health
Resources
The Untold Story of Milk by Dr. Ron Schmid westonaprice.org "Why Butter is Better" pamphlet by Weston A Price Foundation Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Dr. Weston A Price realmilk.com Nourishing Traditions and Eat Fat, Lose Fat by Sally Fallon and Mary Enig The Healthy Home Economist blog by Sarah Pope mercola.com http://suite101.com/article/eat-fat-lose-weight-butter-diet-a54388 http://www.webexhibits.org/butter/history-intro.html http://www.foodrenegade.com/high-fat-dairy-lowers-risk-of-heart-attacks/ http://www.kineticconditioning.net/Skinny%20On%20Fats.htm |
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