If you’re a fan of pastries and other types of delicious baked treats, you may have recently tried to avoid butter because of the effects that fat can have on the body.
However, not all fats are harmful. Fats such as monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fat is actually healthy and needed by the body, and can help important bodily functions. Certain saturated fats can also be healthy when in moderation.
In fact, here are the various health benefits butter can give you when eaten in moderation:
1. It has a lot of fat-soluble vitamins
You can find a lot of fat-soluble vitamins, such as A, D, E, and K2, in butter. If you’re considering going vegetarian, adding butter can make up for a lot of the nutrients you would only get in eating meat.
While the first three are nothing new to you if you’re already eating healthy, K2 (which aids in breaking down calcium to be used in the body) is can be hard to find outside of grass-fed butter.
Selenium, which is responsible for enhancing antioxidant effects in your body, is another fat-soluble mineral present in grass-fed butter.
2. Lowered heart attack risk
Saturated fats can also be healthy, and when consumed in moderate amounts, can help the body perform its various functions.
For instance, saturated fats have been shown to help raise a person’s good cholesterol count, while at the same time neutralizing a good portion of a person’s bad cholesterol. This decrease in bad cholesterol can help prevent the onset of cardiovascular diseases later on.
Another way that moderate amounts of butter can lower the risk of heart disease is the additional introduction of vitamin K2 into the bloodstream.
3. Butter is rich in butyrate
Butyrate is a fatty acid created by bacteria when they are exposed to dietary fibers. For humans, this acid is highly beneficial to the digestive system because of its anti-inflammatory and protective effects.
This makes it more effective as a health food than margarine, which is perceived as a “healthier” low-calorie alternative to butter.
4. Certain fats in butter contain anti-cancer properties
While this may sound like a stretch at first, it turns out that grass-fed butter does in fact contain significant amounts of conjugated linoleic acid, which not just boosts your immunity and build muscle mass, but also prevents the development of cancer cells.
5. Butter improves the mood (and the mind)
Additionally, while it seems that cholesterols are the bane of any healthy diet, it turns out that low cholesterol levels can be linked to a higher risk of conditions such as depression, dementia, and even Alzheimer’s.
With just a small helping of butter included as a food ingredient, the risk of these conditions go drastically down.