Butter: Good Fat or Bad Fat?
People are often shocked when they see how much butter I use and eat in one day. But I know the real truth; Butter is a good fat and can actually help you lose weight.
Unfortunately, people thinking butter is unhealthy is a very common misconception. People still think that butter and saturated fats are the reason heart disease is one of the top killers in this country (and now in many other countries as well). The truth is that it’s not the natural fats that are causing this epidemic, its the sugar, processed and packaged foods and overconsumption of refined oils that are causing so much disease (and you can add Diabetes, High Cholesterol and High Blood Pressure to this list as well).
I go into this topic in much greater detail in the Fats Chapter of the Diet Solution Program but here are a few nuggets of info to ponder:
1. Did you know that during the 60 year period from 1910-1970, the proportion of traditional animal fat in the American diet declined from 83% to 62%?
2. During this same time butter consumption plummeted from 18 pounds per person each year to 4 pounds per person each year.
3. During the past 80 years, the consumption of dietary cholesterol intake has increased only one percent.
So where is the problem? Why all the heart disease?
1. During the same period, the average intake of dietary vegetable oils (margarine, shortening, and refined oils) increased by about 400%.
2. During the same period, the consumption of sugar and processed foods increased by about 60%
Those are the facts, but there’s never better proof than the results I see with my clients and my readers. When people finally stop eating margarine, refined oils, “fake” butters, sugar and processed foods, their health sky rockets! (and by sky rockets I mean, gets better, greatly improves, elevates to whole new levels). Not to mention all the body fat they lose off their body (now isn’t that just an awful side effect?)
It’s important to mention that the butter I use is organic and grass fed. It has this beautiful deep yellow color and is not white like most conventional butters. It has gone through minimal processing and has no added growth hormones and antibiotics. I get all my butter from www.grasslandmeats.com
Now that I told you butter is ok to eat, here is a delicious chicken recipe you can enjoy:
(Please remember that the mad scientist in me sometimes forgets to document the exact amounts so you may need to play around with this a bit.)
Chicken with “I’m not afraid of butter” dressing
Ingredients:
2 large chicken breasts (approximately 1 lb of chicken)
6 Tbsp of melted butter
lemon juice from 1/2 large lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste
Directions:
Melt 1 tbsp of butter in a large pan. Season chicken breasts with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Cook chicken breasts in butter covered on very low heat. Do not let the butter get brown. Pour lemon juice in a seperate bowl. Slowly stir in the remaining melted butter as you stir mixture. Then slowly add the olive oil as you stir mixture. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
Once the chicken is cooked through, served on a plate and pour the “dressing mixture” over your cooked chicken breasts.
Don’t be surprised if you are tempted to pour this dressing on your veggies and just about every other food item you can think of. It’s delicious!
Find out the real truth behind healthy fats and get started on your own fat loss goals right away with this complete Weight Loss Program.
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I also beleive butter is better than any other margarine, saturated fats, inm reasonable daily consumption…
I limit the amount of saturated fat I eat but I have always said that I would rather have butter than margarine and all of the fake manufactured stuff. Sticking to natural ingredients and whole foods is so much better for our bodies.
butter melts at body temperature. Margarine doesn’t. It is not rocket science…how do so many people get sucked into believing that margrrine is good for them. It doesn’t even taste good.
Hooray! someone talking sense on this matter!
My grandparents lived well into their 80s on LOTS of butter – My Granny wouldn’t touch margarine. Neither had heart trouble.
Butter is also a natural source of fat soluble vitamins, anti-carcinogenic substances and antimicrobial fatty acids.
Check out Udo Erasmus if you want all the nittygritty chemical backup
I gues thats why Paula Deen uses tons of REAL butter on most of her recepies…. and are deliciouse!
Hi, was just wondering if people with high blood pressure and high cholesterol are able to go on “the diet solution program” ?
I also use butter…I didn’t tell many people for fear they would think I was not eating healthy! I remember helping my Grandma make butter from the cream off the top of the milk! I have her butter churn and paddle. My blood work always comes back “good” for the good and bad chloresterols!
It’s funny, I grew up on a dairy farm consuming raw full fat creamy unpasteurised milk, porridge, fried breakfasts cooked in lard, real butter on bread, roasts etc. None of my family have or have ever had weight issues, quite the opposite really. It’s an easy equation, eat natural real food, not too much and exercise.
Monica, Paula Deen may use butter in her recipes, but make sure that the butter YOU are using is organic – it is important to avoid all the things that are added to the butter people typically consume.
Marie, I would suggest talking to your doctor about it first, but people with high blood pressure and high cholesterol tend to benefit from following the DSP. Check out our Facebook page to hear from people concerning blood pressure and cholesterol [www.facebook.com/thedietsolution].
Strangely enough, all articles teach us to stay away from dairy products and then … recommending recipes with tones of butter because, “it’s good for you.” Could you please advise me where could I buy butter, which is not dairy product? Also, what about people (like me) who get very sick and bloated from dairy, including butter and low fat yogurt. Cut this madness with butter and use extra virgin (cold pressed) olive oil; it’s tastier and healthier than any butter, lard or margarine!
I sympathize with the woman who cannot eat dairy; I am allergic to cow’s milk and all derivatives. I use olive or canola oil, but also small amounts of bacon grease and I eat whole eggs.
I know how natural butter gets its yellow color: IT IS ADDED, but carrot extract is a traditional souce of natural color for butter. Otherwise natural butter is quite pale. My source for this information is the Little House books, old cook books, and my aunt who used to churn the butter on a farm.
I remember at 8yrs old making butter in a quart jar (now 33) it is very white. And if u heat up olive oil it changes to trans fats. I love the coconut oil that looks like old fashioned lard and melts very easy. The good old days of on the farm. Everyonr need 2 find a farm friend family
What should the ingredients list be for natural butter?
RoseB, if you read carefully, carrot extract was used for WINTER butter, when the caws had to be inside fed hay, because all the good summer grass was under feet of snow.
In summer, butter will naturally be bright yellow, almost school-bus yellow, from all the nutrients in the grass the cows are eating in the pasture. Assuming you are getting milk from pastured cows, not cows kept in a factory-farm and fed grain.
Alex, ideally, the butter you use will have no extra ingredients – just the cream that is the base of any type of butter.
I THINK COOKING WITH BUTTER IS THE BEST AMONG THE OTHER FATS.
Isabel, I am wondering if you have read Sally Fallons book “Eat fat, Lose fat” … I read an overview and it mentioned her emphasis on butter and how essential it is even in weight loss. I haven’t read the book but she seems to have similar theories.
Also… I made this recipe and it blew my mind. Incredible!
Are their any MDs or dieticians out there who can tell me if butter is bad for people like me who have moderate high blood pressure, also is brown sugar healthier than white sugar?
You said cook chicken breasts in butter covered on low heat. In the oven in a pan or in a frying pan??
I have switched to Real foods and the butter part has to be my favourite – who wouldn’t want to enjoy the flavour..
And I have lost weight since switching to coconut oil as well and everyone in the family loves the flavour it gives to all types of foods..
Yeah i agree butter is the best. I remeber i used to make butter with my grandparents we used tons of butter,whole eggs,lard,but never MARGARINE!!!! (YUKKKKK.) well anyway we have great cholesterol leves eating natural fats than processed chemicals
How bout these Organic Non-Hydrogenated Margarines ? Did I already post this?