Dear friend, dear friend,
The French consume nearly between 7 and 9 kg of butter per year and per person depending on the sources. (1,2)
This is the country in the world where it is consumed the most.
Germany follows with 6 kg per year per person. (1)
In North America, consumption does not exceed 3 kg per year and per person. (1)
If you are one of those French people who continue to eat butter, good for you!
82% fat to serve you!
The strength of butter, as you can imagine, are its fats.
They have two major advantages:
- they take part in many functions of the body;
- and they facilitate the circulation of nutrients that melt into fat, those that are said to be fat-soluble, such as vitamins A, D, E and K. (3)
This food is useful for health but it is better to take organic butter, from cows that have grazed on pasture grass and not GMO corn…
Here are 10 good reasons to consume butter.
1/ An ancestral gesture
Consuming butter is almost as old as the world.
In 2500 BC, the Sumerians already knew how to make butter and the Indians discovered it at about the same time. (1)
In antiquity, Romans and Greeks appreciated it. It is mentioned several times in the Bible.
Arabs and Syrians make butter from milk stored in goat skins hung from their tents! (1)
The Vikings and the peoples of Northern Europe preserve it with garlic. (1)
By taking butter in the morning, you are part of a long European and Mediterranean tradition…
For a long time, however, it was a luxury item. Not everyone had a cow or access to butter.
The poorest consumed vegetable oil or pork fat, the famous lard. (1)
This allows you to appreciate a little how lucky you are to be able to enjoy a good buttered toast in the morning.
2/ Butyric acid is a treasure
Butter is one of the only foods to provide your body with butyric acid. (4)
It is a small molecule of fat that your body is also able to manufacture in the colon through the fermentation of certain fibers such as inulin. (4)
You will find this fiber in garlic, onions, artichoke, Jerusalem artichokes or agave for example. (5)
These foods are prebiotics, they facilitate the production by the body of good bacteria. This operation is very useful for digestion!
Butter gives you ready-made butyric acid, which helps your body fight constipation, inflammation, irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease and colon cancer. (4, 6)
It would also be useful for the thyroid, of which it improves the functioning. (6)
3/ A source of vitamin A
Butter provides you with highly assimilable vitamin A contained in its fat. (1)
Vitamin A is stored in the liver. (7)
It contributes to growth and is essential for eye health. It also contributes to the proper functioning of your immune system. (7)
4/ A few extra vitamins…
Butter also provides you with vitamins D3, K2 and E. (1,8) :
- Vitamin D is essential for healthy bones and teeth. It allows in particular to fix calcium. (8) It is also useful for the liver and the thyroid. (8)
- Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant. It protects your cardiovascular system and promotes fertility. Your nervous system also benefits. (9)
- Vitamin K2 is useful for bone and cardiovascular health. (10)
And the latter is not so easy to find in food! It is found in Japanese natto, some cheeses and fermented products; (11)
5/ A small reserve of very assimilable minerals
Butter contains many minerals including phosphorus, magnesium, iron and selenium.
The amounts of minerals present are not very large but as they are melted in the fat, they become very assimilable for the human body.
- Phosphorus is essential for your health. It acts on RNA and DNA, it has a direct influence on the bones and it helps to control the pH in the blood. (12)
- The iron brings you energy. It facilitates the transport of oxygen in the blood. (13)
- Magnesium affects more than 300 functions in the body. It is known in particular for its ability to soothe the nervous system. It also brings you energy. (14)
- Selenium acts against oxidative stress. It helps your cells age less quickly!(15)
6/ A little iodine…
Butter, like other animal products, contains some iodine (16), which allows the thyroid gland to produce hormones. (17)
If you need iodine, however, the best food source is seafood. (17)
7/ Arachidonic acid: messenger of happiness
Butter, as well as animal fats, provide your body with a particular substance that is not often talked about.
It is arachidonic acid.
It is an omega 6 which allows the production endocannabinoids.
These substances serve as receptors and messengers. They regulate the nervous system and soothe it. (18,19,20)
Arachidonic acid would also be useful for the skin and digestion. (18)
On the other hand, excess arachidonic acid could have an inflammatory effect. (19)
There is no point in abusing good things…
8/ The cholesterol you need
The anti-cholesterol propaganda supported by the pharmaceutical industry since the 70s made several generations believe that this molecule was dangerous.
It has been accused of clogging arteries and promoting myocardial infarctions or strokes.
But the CNRS researcher, Michel de Lorgeril, expert in cardiology and author of the study on the French Paradox with Pr Serge Renaud, demonstrated, through several books, that this hypothesis was false. (21)
For him, the pharmaceutical industry in the United States has pressured the administration to lower commonly accepted acceptable cholesterol levels. (21)
Thus, millions of people found themselves, overnight, considered sick and likely to be prescribed statins, cholesterol-lowering drugs.
In reality, cholesterol is a very useful molecule for the body, which uses it, for example, to make cell membranes. (22)
It is a molecule that your body produces and is used for growth, neurological health, the health of your muscles and the production of hormones. (23)
Cholesterol also allows your body to produce vitamin D, which is essential for your immunity. (23)
In short, cholesterol is a molecule essential to your health.
And if you fear for your heart health, Michel de Lorgeril recommends adopting a protective lifestyle.
This requires more physical activity and sport and a healthy diet of the Mediterranean type, for example.
9/ Specific fats present especially in butter
Among all the precious fats it contains, butter has two others that are very useful for your health:
- conjugated linoleic acid or CLA which is a polyunsaturated fatty acid and helps prevent cancer while protecting your arteries. It is useful against diabetes and obesity. (24)
- les glycosphingolipides which facilitate digestion and protect the intestine.
10/ butter nourishes you
Finally, butter is rich in saturated fats.
These fats give you a feeling of satiety. You are no longer hungry.
Your body, thanks to butter, does not ask you for sugar!
This limits the risk of cravings.
A gourmet food!
All these good reasons do not mean that you have to rush on the butter!
For this food to be good for your health, it is preferable that it is raw, taken in small quantities and that it is of high quality.
Moreover, if you put it on bread, prefer it black bread or bread einkorn to avoid gluten.
Finally, if you want to cook with butter, avoid smoking it. It then becomes toxic.
For cooking, you can mix the butter with the vegetable oil, which prevents it from overheating.
Basically, the healthiest way to consume butter is also the simplest: a dab on your green beans or on your steamed vegetables. What a treat !
Naturally yours,
Augustine of Livois