In recent years, butter has evolved. Yes, it’s still delicious—but its reputation has definitely transformed. Once shunned as an unhealthy indulgence, it is recently being rebranded as an essential superfood.
At least on social media, anyway. From elaborate “butter boards” to “butter coffee” to butter-stuffed dates, it seems people can’t get enough of the quintessential dairy product. And it doesn’t stop there. Recently, “carnivore diet” influencers have been promoting whole sticks of butter as the perfect, portable snack. “It’s really good for you,” exclaims the creator of one highly-watched video featuring gratuitous slabs of butter being showered over burger patties and large sticks of butter being bitten into like candy bars.
Of course, butter has long been a favorite food of many people—and, whether its being smoothed onto bread or melted into sauces, its exaltation isn’t exactly new. But are the recent claims that butter is a health food best consumed in large quantities actually true? Here’s what to know.
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Is a stick of butter a healthy snack?
“Basically, you can say that butter is not as bad as its reputation,” explains health and nutrition coach Tanja Maxeiner. However, she stresses that while butter can be included in a healthy snack, it should not be the whole snack. “It is not recommend to eat more than one to two tablespoons of butter a day,” she says, noting that thanks to butter’s high saturated fat content, it’s better to stick to moderate amounts of a high-quality olive oil instead.
As for the date-and-butter snack trend, Maxeiner says the fat in butter could help balance the potential blood sugar spike that might come from eating a sweet fruit, but there are far better snack options out there.
“A date filled with butter is not fundamentally bad, but from a nutritional perspective it is not suitable as a regular snack,” she says, adding that a healthy snack should contain less fat and more protein, antioxidants, fiber, and vitamins. (Think: hummus and crudités, for example, or even an almond butter-filled date.)
Butter, fat, and cholesterol
For a long time, butter was considered unhealthy mainly because of its saturated fat content, which can contribute to higher LDL (bad) cholesterol levels and ultimately heart disease. And guess what? That’s still true. And though there have been some recent studies to suggest that butter may not contribute to heart disease, the jury is out. Most experts (including the American Heart Association) agree that people who are watching their cholesterol should generally avoid consuming large amounts of butter and other foods that contain high amounts saturated fat.
