We know that butter tastes wonderful but is it good for us? It wasn’t so long ago that any saturated fat was considered unhealthy. In lieu of eating butter we were told to eat margarine made from trans fats. Now we know that trans fats are the most unhealthy fat – not saturated fats. But is butter better than vegetable oils?
The answer is that it depends. Some vegetable oils (corn, soybean and even canola) are now considered not our best choices. This is due in part because of the ratio of omega 6 fats to omega 3 fats. We eat too many omega 6 fats and the imbalance is now thought to be a threat to our health.
If butter is from pasture raised cows eating fresh grasses, then that butter has a fair amount of omega 3 fats in it. Moreover, pasture butter also contains conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) which is also a good fat. CLA is thought to help us burn fat better, slim our waistlines and even help prevent breast cancer.
But you may wonder if saturated fats clog our arteries and contribute to heart disease. For the answer to that I highly recommend you read the book Deep Nutrition by Dr. C. Shanahan. Evidence is presented there that it’s the vegetable oils that are cholesterol threats, not saturated fats.