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When the fabricated food folks and apologists for the corporate farm realized that they couldn’t block America’s growing interest in diet and nutrition, a movement that would ultimately put an end to America’s biggest and most monopolistic industries, they infiltrated the movement and put a few sinister twists on information going out to the public. Item number one in the disinformation campaign was the assertion that naturally saturated fats from animal sources are the root cause of the current heart disease and cancer plague. Butter bore the brunt of the attack, and was accused of terrible crimes. The Diet Dictocrats told us that it was better to switch to polyunsaturated margarine and most Americans did. Butter all but disappeared from our tables, shunned as a miscreant.
This would come as a surprise to many people around the globe who have valued butter for its life-sustaining properties for millennia. When Dr. Weston Price studied native diets in the 1930’s he found that butter was a staple in the diets of many supremely healthy peoples.1 Isolated Swiss villagers placed a bowl of butter on their church altars, set a wick in it, and let it burn throughout the year as a sign of divinity in the butter. Arab groups also put a high value on butter, especially deep yellow-orange butter from livestock feeding on green grass in the spring and fall. American folk wisdom recognized that children raised on butter were robust and sturdy; but that children given skim milk during their growing years were pale and thin, with “pinched” faces.2
Does butter cause disease? On the contrary, butter protects us against many diseases.
Butter and Heart Disease
Heart disease was rare in America at the turn of the century. Between 1920 and 1960, the incidence of heart disease rose precipitously to become America’s number one killer. During the same period butter consumption plummeted from eighteen pounds per person per year to four. It doesn’t take a Ph.D. in statistics to conclude that butter is not a cause. Actually butter contains many nutrients that protect us from heart disease. First among these is vitamin A which is needed for the health of the thyroid and adrenal glands, both of which play a role in maintaining the proper functioning of the heart and cardiovascular system. Abnormalities of the heart and larger blood vessels occur in babies born to vitamin A deficient mothers. Butter is America’s best and most easily absorbed source of vitamin A.
Butter contains lecithin, a substance that assists in the proper assimilation and metabolism of cholesterol and other fat constituents.
Butter also contains a number of anti-oxidants that protect against the kind of free radical damage that weakens the arteries. Vitamin A and vitamin E found in butter both play a strong anti-oxidant role. Butter is a very rich source of selenium, a vital anti-oxidant–containing more per gram than herring or wheat germ.
Butter is also a good dietary source cholesterol. What?? Cholesterol an anti-oxidant?? Yes indeed, cholesterol is a potent anti-oxidant that is flooded into the blood when we take in too many harmful free-radicals–usually from damaged and rancid fats in margarine and highly processed vegetable oils.3 A Medical Research Council survey showed that men eating butter ran half the risk of developing heart disease as those using margarine.4
Butter and Cancer
In the 1940’s research indicated that increased fat intake caused cancer.5 The abandonment of butter accelerated; margarine–formerly a poor man’s food– was accepted by the well-to-do. But there was a small problem with the way this research was presented to the public. The popular press neglected to stress that fact that the “saturated” fats used in these experiments were not naturally saturated fats but partially hydrogenated or hardened fats–the kind found mostly in margarine but not in butter. Researchers stated–they may have even believed it–that there was no difference between naturally saturated fats in butter and artificially hardened fats in margarine and shortening. So butter was tarred with the black brush of the fabricated fats, and in such a way that the villains got passed off as heroes.
Actually many of the saturated fats in butter have strong anti-cancer properties. Butter is rich in short and medium chain fatty acid chains that have strong anti-tumor effects.6 Butter also contains conjugated linoleic acid which gives excellent protection against cancer.7
Vitamin A and the anti-oxidants in butter–vitamin E, selenium and cholesterol–protect against cancer as well as heart disease.
Butter and the Immune System
Vitamin A found in butter is essential to a healthy immune system; short and medium chain fatty acids also have immune system strengthening properties. But hydrogenated fats and an excess of long chain fatty acids found in polyunsaturated oils and many butter substitutes both have a deleterious effect on the immune system.8
Butter and Arthritis
The Wulzen or “anti-stiffness” factor is a nutrient unique to butter. Dutch researcher Wulzen found that it protects against calcification of the joints–degenerative arthritis–as well as hardening of the arteries, cataracts and calcification of the pineal gland.9 Unfortunately this vital substance is destroyed during pasteurization. Calves fed pasteurized milk or skim milk develop joint stiffness and do not thrive. Their symptoms are reversed when raw butterfat is added to the diet.
Butter and Osteoporosis
Vitamins A and D in butter are essential to the proper absorption of calcium and hence necessary for strong bones and teeth. The plague of osteoporosis in milk-drinking western nations may be due to the fact that most people choose skim milk over whole, thinking it is good for them. Butter also has anti-cariogenic effects, that is, it protects against tooth decay.10
Butter and the Thyroid Gland
Butter is a good source of iodine, in highly absorbable form. Butter consumption prevents goiter in mountainous areas where seafood is not available. In addition, vitamin A in butter is essential for proper functioning of the thyroid gland.11
Butter and Gastrointestinal Health
Butterfat contains glycospingolipids, a special category of fatty acids that protect against gastro-intestinal infection, especially in the very young and the elderly. For this reason, children who drink skim milk have diarrhea at rates three to five times greater than children who drink whole milk.12 Cholesterol in butterfat promotes health of the intestinal wall and protects against cancer of the colon.13 Short and medium chain fatty acids protect against pathogens and have strong anti-fungal effects.14 Butter thus has an important role to play in the treatment of candida overgrowth.
Butter and Weight Gain
The notion that butter causes weight gain is a sad misconception. The short and medium chain fatty acids in butter are not stored in the adipose tissue, but are used for quick energy. Fat tissue in humans is composed mainly of longer chain fatty acids.15 These come from olive oil and polyunsaturated oils as well as from refined carbohydrates. Because butter is rich in nutrients, it confers a feeling of satisfaction when consumed. Can it be that consumption of margarine and other butter substitutes results in cravings and bingeing because these highly fabricated products don’t give the body what it needs?.
Butter for Growth and Development
Many factors in butter ensure optimal growth of children. Chief among them is vitamin A. Individuals who have been deprived of sufficient vitamin A during gestation tend to have narrow faces and skeletal structure, small palates and crowded teeth.16 Extreme vitamin A deprivation results in blindness, skeletal problems and other birth defects.17 Individuals receiving optimal vitamin A from the time of conception have broad handsome faces, strong straight teeth, and excellent bone structure. Vitamin A also plays an important role in the development of the sex characteristics. Calves fed butter substitutes sicken and die before reaching maturity.18
The X factor, discovered by Dr. Weston Price (and now believed to be vitamin K2), is also essential for optimum growth. It is only present in butterfat from cows on green pasture.19 Cholesterol found in butterfat plays an important role in the development of the brain and nervous system.20 Mother’s milk is high in cholesterol and contains over 50 percent of its calories as butterfat. Low fat diets have been linked to failure to thrive in children21–yet low-fat diets are often recommended for youngsters! Children need the many factors in butter and other animal fats for optimal development.
Beyond Margarine
It’s no longer a secret that the margarine Americans have been spreading on their toast, and the hydrogenated fats they eat in commercial baked goods like cookies and crackers, is the chief culprit in our current plague of cancer and heart disease.22 But mainline nutrition writers continue to denigrate butter–recommending new fangled tub spreads instead.23 These may not contain hydrogenated fats but they are composed of highly processed rancid vegetable oils, soy protein isolate and a host of additives. A glitzy cookbook called Butter Busters promotes butter buds, made from maltodextrin, a carbohydrate derived from corn, along with dozens of other highly processed so-called low-fat commercial products.
Who benefits from the propaganda blitz against butter? The list is a long one and includes orthodox medicine, hospitals, the drug companies and food processors. But the chief beneficiary is the large corporate farm and the cartels that buy their products–chiefly cotton, corn and soy–America’s three main crops, which are usually grown as monocultures on large farms, requiring extensive use of artificial fertilizers and pesticides. All three–soy, cotton and corn–can be used to make both margarine and the new designer spreads. In order to make these products acceptable to the up-scale consumer, food processors and agribusiness see to it that they are promoted as health foods. We are fools to believe them.
Butter and the Family Farm
A nation that consumes butterfat, on the other hand, is a nation that sustains the family farm. If Americans were willing to pay a good price for high quality butter and cream, from cows raised on natural pasturage–every owner of a small- or medium-sized farm could derive financial benefits from owning a few Jersey or Guernsey cows. In order to give them green pasture, he would naturally need to rotate crops, leaving different sections of his farm for his cows to graze and at the same time giving the earth the benefit of a period of fallow–not to mention the benefit of high quality manure. Fields tended in this way produce very high quality vegetables and grains in subsequent seasons, without the addition of nitrogen fertilizers and with minimal use of pesticides. Chickens running around his barnyard, and feeding off bugs that gather under cowpaddies, would produce eggs with superb nutritional qualities–absolutely bursting with vitamin A and highly beneficial fatty acids.
If you wish to reestablish America as a nation of prosperous farmers in the best Jeffersonian tradition, buy organic butter, cream, whole milk, whole yoghurt, and barn-free eggs. These bring good and fair profits to the yeoman producer without concentrating power in the hands of conglomerates.
Ethnic groups that do not use butter obtain the same nutrients from things like insects, organ meats, fish eggs and the fat of marine animals, food items most of us find repulsive. For Americans–who do not eat bugs or blubber–butter is not just better, it is essential.
See our Trifold Butter Brochure
Notes
- Price, Weston, DDS Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, 1945, Price Pottenger Nutrition Foundation, Inc., La Mesa, California
- Representative of American folk traditions about butterfat is this passage from “Neighbor Rosicky”, by American author Willa Cather: [The Rosickys] had been at one accord not to hurry through life, not to be always skimping and saving. They saw their neighbours buy more land and feed more stock than they did, without discontent. Once when the creamery agent came to the Rosickys to persuade them to sell him their cream, he told them how much the Fasslers, their nearest neighbours, had made on their cream last year. “Yes,” said Mary, “and look at them Fassler children! Pale, pinched little things, they look like skimmed milk. I’d rather put some colour into my children’s faces than put money into the bank.”
- Cranton, EM, MD and JP Frackelton, MD, Journal of Holistic Medicine, Spring/Summer 1984
- Nutrition Week Mar 22, 1991 21:12:2-3
- Enig, Mary G, PhD, Nutrition Quarterly, 1993 Vol 17, No 4
- Cohen, L A et al, J Natl Cancer Inst 1986 77:43
- Belury, MA Nutrition Reviews, April 1995 53:(4) 83-89
- Cohen, op cit
- American Journal of Physical Medicine, 1941, 133; Physiological Zoology, 1935 8:457
- Kabara, J J, The Pharmacological Effects of Lipids, J J Kabara, ed, The American Oil Chemists Society, Champaign, IL 1978 pp 1-14
- Jennings, IW Vitamins in Endocrine Metabolism, Charles C. Thomas Publisher, Springfield, Ill, pp 41-57
- Koopman, JS, et al American Journal of Public Health 1984 74(12):1371-1373
- Addis, Paul, Food and Nutrition News, March/April 1990 62:2:7-10
- Prasad, KN, Life Science, 1980, 27:1351-8; Gershon, Herman and Larry Shanks, Symposium on the Pharmacological Effect of Lipids, Jon J Kabara Ed, American Oil Chemists Society, Champaign, Illinois 1978 51-62
- Levels of linoleic acid in adipose tissues reflect the amount of linoleic acid in the diet. Valero, et al Annals of Nutritional Metabolism, Nov/Dec 1990 34:6:323-327; Felton, CV et al, Lancet 1994 344:1195-96
- Price, op cit
- Jennings, op cit
- DeCava, Judith Journal of the National Academy of Research Biochemists, September 1988 1053-1059
- Price, op cit
- Alfin-Slater, R B and L Aftergood, “Lipids”, Modern Nutrition in Health and Disease, Chapter 5, 6th ed, R S Goodhart and M E Shils, eds, Lea and Febiger, Philadelphia 1980, p 131
- Smith, MM, MNS RD and F Lifshitz, MD Pediatrics, Mar 1994 93:3:438-443
- Enig, op cit
- “Diet Roulette”, The New York Times, May 20, 1994.
Please provide a source for the claim that butter provides more selenium than herring or wheat germ. I am seeing this same claim being made all over the internet (likely bloggers who have read this article as their source). However, I have yet to find any source for the claim.
When I look up the selenium content of the referenced foods in the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference I find the following per 100 grams of each
wheat germ 79.2 mcg
raw herring 36.5 mcg
butter 1 mcg
I am genuinely interested in this matter. If butter truly is a good source of selenium, that would be good to know. Of if you can provide a source that shows that raw butter from grass-fed cows is substantially higher in selenium than other butters that would be helpful. But as it is, I’m finding this claim to be hard to believe.
Thank you.
Joey,
It’s my understanding that the selenium content of butter would relate closely to the amount avaiable in the particualr soil the cows ate their grass from and the microbes in that soil…..So I am always worried when I see statements about how much of a particular trace mineral is contained in a particular food.
The richest source of selenium on Earth is Brazil nuts. Eat the nuts if you’re looking to up your selenium daily intake.
Just wondering why we would want to consume butter (a food high in saturated fat) for vitamin A and selenium when we can get this vitamin and mineral from much more nutrient dense foods. Also, the body makes its own cholesterol so we don’t need to consume it.
I am not sure why a study of an isolated village from the 1930’s is relevant to our present diet. Butter being the reason for their health is probably amongst a multitude of dietary and environmental factors.
Bottom line, we shouldn’t be afraid to use butter in small amounts, but let’s not start singing its nutritional praises.
Emily, you’re a newcomer to accurate information on nutrition, I see. Keep reading. You’ll figure it out.
Hey Wade, I was gonna comment on Emily’s post until I read your response. You said it all.
Yes
Wade you are correct we are now living in a very fast Food and disposable World and yes in the 30’s Food was more wholesome simple and pure
Emily
Fat, Hopefully grass fed FAT! Which is then Omega 3 which the body only gets from the diet! Your brain is fat. As a Neurologist, Fats and a restricted carbohydrate diet is best!
If we are not afraid to use butter in small amounts, then we should not be afraid to sing its nutritional praises. Only small amounts are required to reap the benefits.
i like Irish Butter unsalted “Kerry gold”
Emily,
Large amounts of butter are better than small amounts as it has so many beneifts including saturated fats!
Please do more research and read Sallies article again !
OrganicGrass fed and finish butter is best !
Ghee is also good for cooking.
This article pretty much is spot on when it says through 1920 through the 1960s there was not a lot of heart attacks and people just basically used Butter lard or tallow to cook with ! Crisco oil was invented from cotton seed oil cause they didn’t know what to do with the seeds when this country was producing so much cotton well…. It’s pretty bad for the body and has a lot of toxins in it.
Seed oils were primarily used as lubricant for the machines in the nineteen fifties and sixties until they decided to put him in humans.
The carnivore m d on youtube has a lot of good info on this period
Is Ghee equivalent in nutritional value as in butter ?
“Also, the body makes its own cholesterol so we don’t need to consume it.”
That’s a massive assumption. Based on what?
Tecnicamente las grasas son alimentos más complejos que los carbohidratos, claro que el cuerpo puede generar grasas a partir de carbohidratos pero el precio es alto
I understand the body makes its own cholesterol yes, but it has to have the ingredients to make it and that would be fat! That’s why doctors were recommending low fat diets to lower cholesterol.
Wow! After all you are on the Weston A Price Foundations website…. BUTTER IS BETTER! Cholesterol and Saturated Fat’s are GREAT for YOU! (THE BODY!)
I am happy and love knowing I HAVE HIGH CHOLESTEROL! 🙂
Sugar cane contains 100-1000 times the Wulzen factor as raw cream
does that hold true ?
wher can I see copy of original resource ?
The Wulzen-factor indeed comes from sugar cane. But most of all, it has little effect in Humans. And the text is incorrect: it was not researched in calves but in guinea pigs. Here is an extensive treaty of the research:
https://www.seleneriverpress.com/historical/wulzen-calcium-dystrophy-syndrome-in-guinea-pigs/
Treatment of 10 cases of scleroderma and calcinosis with sources and concentrates of the anti-stiffness factor indicates only a feeble beneficial effect on scleroderma and none at all on calcinosis. It was less effective than older treatments still in vogue
Just a comment on cholesterol. When it was higher, 235, I was healthy. Now that it is below 200, I am not!
For me, the only thing that has affected my cholesterol levels was when I was a vegan, total cholesterol got as low as 131. Prior to being a vegan and now that I swim in fat from pastured eggs, raw butter/cream, bacon fat, etc. – I can’t get above a total cholesterol count of 160. And my ratio is as expected for someone in the healthy range. I’ve even had my cholesterol measured, at lunch time after having a high-fat breakfast of (4 egg yolks) and still no difference. I’ve been a long-time WAPF member.
Oh, I forgot to mention ghee also…
I have several times put students to the test to see what would happen if they went on low carb diet and every time they reduced cholesterol levels some from a 230 down to 180.
After watching this movie Guns, steel and germs I had to question how long have we been here and for how long have we been eating grains?
Based on Jared Diamond’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book of the same name, Guns, Germs and Steel traces humanity’s journey over the last 13,000 years – from the dawn of farming at the end of the last Ice Age to the realities of life in the twenty-first century. Inspired by a question put to him on the island of Papua New Guinea more than thirty years ago, Diamond embarks on a world-wide quest to understand the roots of global inequality
In this movie we see when we started eating grains and humans went from nomadic to farmers our diets changed, but when we go back to a Hunter gather diet and the body is not to bad off, many illnesses are reversible. Every time I eat only meat, cheese, vegetables, and fruits I lose weight. As soon as I reintroduce grains and beans I gain weight back. I still eat grains because we have become addicted to them, and I too love and miss them when I take it out of my diet. But I cut back as much as I can.
Any body know what would be the optimum amount of butter to consume ? No guesses please !!
For example coconut oil experts suggest 30=50 ml a day of coconut oil. I have ayearning to eat as much or more of butter but my wife freaks out so I need reference to healthy peoples that do eat a lot
I did the math and if 18lbs of butter per year is 36 cups of butter, and 16, table spoons to a cup, divided by days of the year, that’s about 1.5 table spoons a day. Is what average Americans used to consume. But I wouldn’t be afraid of more than that.
Actually, Americans probably used to eat far more than that. The info on 18 lbs of butter per person per year comes from the 1930s, as I recall.
That was already more than a couple of decades after Crisco was introduced to the market. Consumption of butter, along with lard, was already on a major decline at that point.
There are countries right now where there population gets higher amounts of butter than that. New Zealand at 24 lbs of butter per person per year.
A Stick Of Butter A Day Keeps The Doctor Away.
I love my butter & cream, plenty of butter with every meal, I was getting them raw but since my move I am unable to source any Raw butter & cream, only Raw milk. You mention in the article that the essential nutients in butter e.g.: Vit A, D & K2 etc. are beneficial, do you mean Raw only or does pasturised butter still contain Vit A, D & K2. I beleive that the traditional cultures at that time would have consumed all types of only Raw dairy.
Rod, these important nutrients in butter are diminished when pasteurized, particularly with ultra high temp pasteurization. Therefore, if you can not find raw butter, perhaps you can purchase low-temp pasteurized. Refer to our shopping guide for sources, including some mail-order suppliers.
But, save the raw (when you can get it) for non-cooking use.
Refer “JOHN CLAYDON” query on “optimum amount of butter to consume”.
As per Ayurved(a) the guidelines on Clarified butter:
– For people who do physical labour: 2 tablespoon (30 ml) of Clarified butter
– For people with sedentary lifestyle: 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of Clarified butter
* After age 60: Stir in 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of Clarified butter to the stove boiled 1 cup /glass of milk at bed time and drink it.
PS: Refer Wade’s response to Emily’s query – one of the best responses that I’ve seen!
So then, your comment re ‘after the age of 60’ says to boil the butter and add to milk. The butter is, therefore, no longer in raw form(?).
Anytime a food is heated above at least. 140 deg. it is no longer “raw”. However, you may add raw butter to very warm (raw) milk for the same benefit, or use pasteurized butter. I’m not sure that there is any benefit to boiling the milk or butter, other than to melt the fat.
I believe in the benefits of dairy but since completely eliminating it from my diet my health is much improved! I need to know what would be a healthy animal fat to replace butter? Please don’t say coconut I also cannot tolerate nuts or dupes (?) either don’t want to use any form of margarine . Ideas? Thanks
Kat Murphy,
Ghee/clarified butter also has wonderful health benefits, without the difficult to digest lactose and casein friends. I make mine at home, though you can pay dearly for it at the store. Check out wellnessmama.com for the recipe.
Have you considered dairy products from A2A2 genetic cows? They produce milk with a different protein that people with dairy protein/casein allergies (like me) can digest. If you research A2 milk and Snowville Creamery you may find some interesting information.
Tallow! From pastured (grass-fed) animals 🙂
I love my butter & cream, plenty of butter with every meal, I was getting them raw but since my move I am unable to source any Raw butter & cream, only Raw milk good for health . You mention in the article that the .
Hi,
I drink quite a lot of raw bio dynamic (demeter) milk. However, the label says it contains less than 1.5% fat. I put demeter butter inside but it’s pasteurized.
So what about pasteurized bio dynamic butter? What are it’s benefits and side effects?
Should I put it in the milk so i have a more balanced food or should I just drink it at less than 1.5% fat?
Thanks for the help
Hi,
I drink quite a lot of raw bio dynamic (demeter) milk. However, the label says it contains less than 1.5% fat. I put demeter butter inside but it’s pasteurized.
So what about pasteurized bio dynamic butter? What are it’s benefits and side effects?
Should I put it in the milk so i have a more balanced food or should I just drink it at less than 1.5% fat?
Thanks for the help
In the Quar’an god says butter is me dine
and it might also be in the sahib bukari hadith book number 7 9the one on foods)
Its also says milk can cure many diseases
Wtf are you reading that for?! ‘Kathy’ doesn’t sound very muslim to me.
sorry meant to say butter is MEDICINE
I’m curious what the Weston price’s views are on the China study, which claims that vegetarian and low fat is truly the most healthy according to history’s largest nutrition study. I’m torn as I’m new to both ideas and want to begin a healthy lifestyle for me and my family. Is Weston A. Price solely based on a doctors findings or is there any scientific documented proof of his beliefs?
Dana, several researchers have written extensive rebuttals to the China Study, including Dr. Chris Masterjohn and Denise Minger. The dietary principles and recommendations of WAPF are based on years and volumes of research conducted by Dr. Weston A. Price, as well as others including the likes of Francis Pottenger. Dr. Price researched for decades and his work is archived at the Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation. Many other modern research corroborates Dr. Price’s findings as well, as you may read both here on this website, and in our quarterly journals.
I truly believe that the reason some people do well on plant foods and others on animal foods has to do with your blood type. If you are type A, you can do well on plant and grain foods. If you eating animal foods your health suffers. If you are type O blood, you do well on animal foods, but not grains. Type O’s are better equipped to handle the fats from animals since their digestive systems produce more protein and fat digestive enzymes to deal with these fats than a person who is Type A.
One thing that should be noted about the Blood Type Diet by Peter D’Adamo, is that, by his own admission, many years later, he says the information that he made available in the books were based on A/B/AB/O – but as Secretors, and not Non-Secretors of blood type antigens into the tissues. It is know than 20% of the world population are non-secretors, yet he published these books as is. I, as a non-secretor, A+ was unable to process the massive phytic acid present in the typical vegetarian fare he promoted for that group. I incurred much expense from dental bills, due to the misinformation that he provided. The WAPF knows all about this, they have printed material on phytate in foods and how it is related to dental decay. However, I don’t think most people know that the reason why is because of the genetic variation of non-secretor status. So, for me as a type A, non-secretor, nuts/seeds/grains/beans are anathema. My teeth start hurting immediately after ingesting these foods. So, I am unable to get the nutrients such as magnesium, calcium, etc from most foods. But now, no thanks to Dr. D’Adamo, I have found that I can eat in a healthier manner in general, thanks to WAPF and their efforts and not incur dental caries. So, you might want to adjust the way you present this information, to blood type A secretors being able to tolerate a vegetarian diet, but non-secretors will not thrive whatsover.
And an addendum to my comment is:
Dr. D’Adamo claims that he modified his book “Live Right For Your Type” to represent the non-secretor issue. However, if you look at that book, he is still recommending things from the nut/seed/grain/bean categories. He obviously does not understand that non-secretors cannot handle phytate, and that those foods contain massive amounts of phytate. BEWARE!
Dana, check out the piece called Blue Zones Dietary Myths. He extensively goes through all aspects of those studies, esp. the history and how these studies are very much cherry picked and excludes that many of these cultures consumed high fat animal foods. Also these studies were epidemiological studies, meaning surveys/observational, not science based. It was a very informative read. Lots that I didn’t know and I was a vegan for 26 years.
Is there a point at which too much fat, even good fat , becomes too much for the gall bladder to process ?
I am always most satisfied after a meal that has adequate fat in it.
Laura, when we are consuming fermented foods with our meals, it helps to digest the fat. I also routinely drink the brine from my ferments on an empty stomach in the morning, which helps to cleanse the gut and clean out the gall bladder and liver of deposits. It’s a good way to start the day! Otherwise, if you feel particularly sluggish after eating a high fat meal, or you notice small cholesterol deposits under the surface of your skin, this is a signal that your body is not able to utilize the fat you are taking in, or that you do in fact need more ferments or bitters with meals to properly digest all your are consuming.
i live in the canary islands which belong to spain. we have great weather and sunshine every day of the year. this week i have tried to buy raw butter online and no company is able to ship the raw butter to the canary islands. they had to cancel my order and refund me . reason? either “to many problems with customs” or the transport company would charge 250 Euros for the shipping of the raw butter. You cant get raw butter either in any organic store or supermarket in all of the canary islands. This is living proof that they dont want us to be too healthy! There is no other explanation for this. In comparison: you can buy other milk products online as long as they are pasteurised. The same applies to raw honey. They wont let us buy raw honey from the internet but only pasteurised honey. We must re-gain our freedom of choice for healthy foods!!!
You mentioned that X-Factor – Vitamin K2 “is only present in butterfat from cows on green pasture” What about the fish liver oil like Skate and ratfish used by Green Pastures and Rosita recommended by WAPF.
I see in WAPF butter is highly recommended to cook with.
Yet my doctor gave me a smoking point for fats and it says you shouldn’t cook butter in over 250-300 degrees or it becomes toxic.
Can someone touch on this?
Regarding, the paragraph on Butter and Weight Gain, I was always under the impression butter causes weight gain. Thank you so much for sharing such wonderful news. Now I can enjoy buttered toast again!
But perhaps it’s the toast that could be a problem? Especially in the morning for breakfast or too many pieces too often. ?? I am not sure.
i believe here if you consume excess calories ( calorie surplus) anyways you will gain weight, bu i find it is hard to do this eating butter alone or with meat, when you mix it with carbs it is a lot easier to eat too much (calories)!
I was on a ghee only diet and eating way more ghee than what the Weston A. Price Foundation would consider healthy.
I developed nutritional deficiencies from lack of other foods.
I most likely did carcinogenic damage to my colon from the steatorrhea caused by eating too much fat.
And although butterfat is only 3% PUFA, at the amounts I was consuming, I ended up consuming way too much.
Butter should only be used as a condiment to up your caloric intake after you have gotten your nutritional and protein needs from meat and eggs if you tolerate eggs.
Fat has its limit just like protein, carbohydrates, nutrients, and fiber. Consume too much of something and it will become bad.
Peter, we never recommend a diet of a single food. Butter and ghee are wonderful fats for cooking and adding to finished dishes, but certainly we should not consume a diet consisting of only, or primarily, fat! No matter what the preferred food, you will always experience problems with such a restricted diet. A varied, nutrient-dense diet is always best!
Maureen, I have been drinking raw milk from pastured cows for over 20 years. Every year I get a physical which obviously includes a complete blood test. All line items for those past 20 years have been normal and within range. I cannot remember the last time I had a cavity and I get my teeth checked every year with xrays every 2. I can count on one hand over those past 20 years when I may have had slight cold. My blood pressure has been normal over the past 20 years. My. father and grandfather and his brother all died of heart attacks. My father at the age of 49. I am currently 67 years of age and have more energy than most 20 year olds. I do exercise but thank god I met a woman 20 years who intro’d me to raw milk and Sally Fallons book. Go raw milk and butter
If you were on a diet of only butter, you’d eventually die and it probably wouldn’t take that long. Your body needs a certain amount of protein, if nothing else. You can’t survive without protein. You can eliminate all carbs and be fine, but lacking protein is a deal breaker. Such a diet would be insane!
So good to see all this advice. My supper has just been
3 ounces of Wensleydale Blue cheese (which Wallace and
Gromit might like), one small oatcake with organic butter,
3 tiny tomatoes. Yum.
Does organic ghee have all the benefits of organic butter?
So good to read “If you wish to reestablish America as a nation of prosperous farmers in the best Jeffersonian tradition, buy organic butter, cream, whole milk, whole yoghurt, and barn-free eggs. These bring good and fair profits to the yeoman producer without concentrating power in the hands of conglomerates” with essentially one exception as I’d substitute “grass-fed” for “organic.”
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But what if the grass/pasture is prayed with chemicals? Most dairy farms grow their own corn which are normally gm and therefore require glyphosate. Grass could become contaminated in the process. I wish there was organic & grass fed all in one. Haven’t found one yet.
So is a butter from non pasture (non grassfed) cow’s from barns that are feed with corn and soy .. still healthy and have same nutrients as grassfed or is that butter bad? Becouse food turns into a fat and if cow eat bad food that cow will give bad fat (butter)..wright?
Yes Adi, you are correct. The nutrient content, and toxic load, will be vastly different between pastured and conventional butters. Always preferable to use grass-fed products!
I love butter and I eat lots of it. My only concern is that the organic butter I buy contains 0.3g of trans fats…I checked another brand at the store which is grassfed but not organic. It also contains trans fats. Is that normal for all butter? I unfortunately don’t have access to raw butter. To my knowledge any amount of trans fat is harmful..help?!
There are health trans fats that animals naturally produce. And there are unhealthy trans fats that are the byproduct of the industrial processing of seed oils. Even the best cold-pressed canola oil will have a fair amount of unhealthy trans fats. Sally Fallon Morrell discusses this in one of her more recent books, Nourishing Fats.
Thanks very much for this for this great article. As someone with low progesterone, I’m concerned about the estrogen level of dairy, as the cows are pregnant 9/12 months of the year. I heard goats milk is lower in estrogen. What are your thoughts?
When Grass Fed butter is not available how bad is it to use non grass fed – or is it better to wait till grass fed is back on the shelves?
When I went on low-carb diet my cholesterol levels rose, BUT the HDL – LDL ratio got better!
I haven’t been able to find sources of raw butter, let alone raw milk, where I live, thanks to it being illegal. Should I forgo dairy entirely? Or is it still better to have a grass fed but pasteurized butter, and an organic non-homogenized but pasteurized milk? These are the best options I’ve found so far.
Move to a non-communist state that allows you to consume healthy raw dairy products of any kind… =..)
Hi there, I’m not sure if anyone here can answer, but I thought I’d give it a shot. I use nothing but raw milk sourced from a dairy in NW South Carolina and make all cheese and butter at home. It’s wonderful. I know from Weston Price and others that the best butter will be more yellow than white, indicating higher Vitamin A. So far this year all my dairy has been from fast growing grass because we haven’t had real hot weather yet. But, my butter and soft cheese have the most lovely faint pink tint. Some has been golden, but the most common has been this light pink. The only thing I could think of that imparts reds would be oxidized iron and bacteria/fungus, and it doesn’t seem likely it’s either. The cows are pastured and unfooled around with. Anyone know what causes the pink instead of the yellow? Thanks for any ideas!
Unfortunately I can’t get raw butter in my area. Is grass-fed pasteurized butter ok?
I have the same problem. Absolutely NO raw dairy where i live. I have gotten butter from other countries, but now some wont ship it, and others are so pricey its rediculous.
As a dentist, I watched butter stop cavities in over 40 kids …. whom we took of of margarine and gave real butter …. all the teeth hardened and cavities stopped … whether they brushed or not …
As usual: real food nurtures us, while artificial muck kills us.