Is butter the enemy of diets?

[Article updated on 19/09/2023]

We are motivated and we tell ourselves that we would try to lose a few kilos… Having resolved, when we take action, we ask ourselves this question: can I eat butter or is it an enemy of regimes?

But what is butter?

Butter is part of the food group called fats, a very important food group because, without fats, it would be difficult to cover our needs for fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins, i.e. -say vitamins that are only found in fat, such as vitamin A, D or E which contribute to good vision, good bone growth or even to protect the membrane of all the cells in your body .

It is also recommended to vary the fats during the day because each provides different vitamins and fatty acids: vitamin E is mainly provided by oils while vitamin D by butter, for example.

Well, I imagine you all have the answer but you never know, I’ll ask it anyway:

What is butter made from?

Yes, it is from the cow’s milk that we are going to churn, that is to say we are going to beat this milk mechanically to separate the fat particles until butter is formed.

It is therefore of animal origin.

It has a rather bad reputation because of its content of saturated fatty acids, these fatty acids which promote the risk of cardiovascular diseases, and because of its fat content, which promotes weight gain. Its cholesterol content is also scary.

So, are we right to be wary or even to deprive ourselves of butter?

Frankly, you would be wrong to deprive yourself of it because know that it contains 82% lipids (fat) when vegetable oils reach 100% but the quality of the fatty acids in the oils is better on the other hand.

In addition, it contains Vitamin D which allows calcium to bind to the bones and vitamin A which contributes to the growth of bones and teeth and also contributes to good vision.

Despite its saturated fatty acid content, June 2016 study concluded that butter consumption was neither associated with mortality nor with cardiovascular disease.

Of course, it all depends on the quantities of butter you consume every day!

Moreover, I recommend 10 to 20g of butter per day, which corresponds to 1 to 2 small pre-packaged individual portions.

For example, you have a knob of butter for breakfast on a nice slice of country bread and a knob to melt on a dish of pasta.

And is it eaten raw or cooked?

I advise you to eat it raw to maintain its vitamin content, but it is not forbidden cooked, provided you do not let it turn black because of the risk of producing carcinogenic compounds.

In fact when butter darkens, it becomes loaded with carbon and some researchers have shown that it is a carcinogen, obviously if you repeat this daily.

A simple technique is to add a little oil such as Olive oil rich in monounsaturated fatty acids which allows the butter not to darken as quickly.

But if I have cholesterol, can I eat butter or not?

So in fact butter contains cholesterol since it is a food of animal origin but we know today that 50 to 80% of cholesterol is of endogenous origin, this means that we manufacture it therefore it is not useful to remove it in case of hypercholesterolemia.

How should you store butter?

Butter will keep for 2-3 days at room temperature and up to 3 weeks in your refrigerator door.

If it is salted, it may even keep a little longer.

And you can also freeze it: 3 months for unsalted butter and up to 1 year if it is salted.

On the other hand, be sure to wrap it well with aluminum foil or plastic wrap.

It seems that you can make your own butter at home?

Yes, and it’s very simple: you can do it with a mixer but I prefer the technique which allows you to use less material.

So all you need is a small empty bottle of water, a carton of whole fluid cream and a lot of elbow grease.

You put the whole fluid cream in the bottle of water, close the bottle and shake vigorously for about 6 minutes. The cream will go through a whipped cream phase and then become butter. All you have to do is squeeze and rinse this butter with water to remove the buttermilk in order to improve conservation. And I add fleur de sel, it’s even better!

The advantage of making your own butter at home is economical because a wafer of industrial butter costs on average 1.80 Euros compared to 85 cents for homemade butter, but the advantage is above all gustatory. Personally, I find it better.

To sum upr

• Consumption recommendation: 10 to 20g of butter per day

• Consumption recommendation: 10 to 20g of butter per day

• Butter is not prohibited in case of excess cholesterol in the blood