Is Butter Consumption Associated with Heart Health? Studies Explain All You Need to Know

Adding butter to our favorite meals is a great way to enjoy the eating experience. The use of butter is not only to level up cuisines but also to help many people regain their overall health. Some diet plans, including Bulletproof and Atkins, involve butter in the list of choices due to its richness in fat and lesser carb content.

Butter in High-Fat, Low-Carb Diet

Benefits of Butter to Heart Organ and Cardiovascular Functions, According to Studies — A woman looks at butter packages on refrigerated supermarket shelves on October 20, 2017 in Nantes, western France. "Due to a shortage of French milk, our suppliers are not able to honor our orders for butter," announces a poster in a supermarket in Normandy. Professionals predicted it since last spring, and that's it, the shortage of butter has arrived. LOIC VENANCE/AFP via Getty Images

A study published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research, titled "Ketogenic diets: Boon or bane?" explained that the common keto diet requires individuals to include at least 70 percent of caloric intake from fat, 20 percent from protein, and the remaining ten percent from choices rich in carbohydrates.

The standard keto diet often utilizes butter, as it matches the content needed by participants without the hassle of specializing in a variety of meals to get a couple of contents in one source.

High-fat, low-carb diets are proven effective by many studies to keep the metabolic functions of people healthy.

One example is demonstrated in a paper from Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, titled "A 12-week low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet improves metabolic health outcomes over a control diet in a randomised controlled trial with overweight defence force personnel."

According to this study, dietary methods could significantly help people, not just to better their metabolic health, but also to offer promising results in short-term weight loss.

According to MBG Health, Metabolic health consists of markers such as blood sugar levels, waist circumference, low-density lipoproteins (LDL), cholesterol levels, uric acid, triglyceride levels, and blood pressure.

Following a high-fat, low-carb diet is indeed inviting for many, but additional scientific evidence is always needed to assess the fat that goes straight into our bodies in the form of butter.

Butter's Saturated Fat, Cholesterols, and Effects on Heart Health

Butter, according to MedlinePlus, is considered saturated fat. This type of fat is good on some levels but can be destructive to cardiovascular functions when it exceeds the proper amount of the body's needs.

Intense levels of saturated fat can clog arteries by materializing cholesterol and increasing the low-density lipoproteins or what we know as 'bad cholesterols.' The higher either of the factors would be, the higher the risk of a person to conditions such as heart attack and stroke.

In a study from The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, titled "Butter increased total and LDL cholesterol compared with olive oil but resulted in higher HDL cholesterol compared with a habitual diet," experts showed that excessive saturated fat heightens not only LDL but also the 'good cholesterol' or high-density lipoproteins (HDL).

HDL cholesterol, according to MayoClinic, can eliminate bad cholesterols straight out of the bloodstream. This means that consuming butter in fluctuating amounts does not have corresponding effects on cardiovascular functions and the heart organ itself, as far as cholesterol is concerned.

Foods that hold the same benefits as butter can be utilized as alternatives, including extra virgin olive oil, avocados, and coconut oil, reports HealthDigest. Based on a report, plant-based butter has a little advantage than conventional butter. It has a higher content of monounsaturated fats and just 15 percent of saturated fat, which is significantly lower than the 35 percent in standard choices.