Butter Attacks! (a review of recent research)

There have been recent attacks on butter saying it makes you fat and increases bad fats in the body. Of course, butter has been highly recommended as an excellent choice for fat in the carbohydrate-controlled diet, provided it is from an organically grown, pasture-fed cow. So, how can this timeless tradition of a staple in mankind raise such an accusation? It appears to be focused on the body’s insulin response.

The hormone insulin is normally released in the body after consuming food, particularly after a carbohydrate-rich meal. It helps to lower the blood sugar and store the carbohydrates, fats, and protein in the body. If the body produces too much insulin, it will increase fat storage and lower fat breakdown, causing concern for weight gain, and increase production of triacylglycerols (TAG), which is a risk factor for heart disease if too high.

The first two accusations against butter point to studies that found the body released more insulin after eating high-protein foods than with high carbohydrate foods (http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/66/5/1264), and another with a high fat diet producing more than a high-carbohydrate diet (http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/73/5/878). In the first study, many of the results were quite variable, showing that each person will have different responses to food, especially since their regular diets were not all the same and were most likely proficient at eating the typical high-carbohydrate diets. In addition, fat and protein as a percentage of total intake were negatively correlated with the insulin score, saying that as fat and protein increased, the insulin score decreased. As for the second study, they only used 7 volunteers to make their claims on a diet lasting only 3 weeks with the carbohydrate still being high (40%). This does not give the body enough time to adjust to higher fat and is still not very low in carbohydrate. Finally, to top it all off, the first study did not even use butter, and the second used mostly unsaturated fat (oils) with only 13% more saturated than the high-carbohydrate group.

Another accusation was made directly at butter in relation to it causing a greater insulin response leading to the struggle with weight-gain in some low-carb dieters. The main study used in this claim ( http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/88/3/638 ) again had a low amount of participants of 14 but also gave a meal that was only 6% protein while adding the fat to pasta, bread, and skim yogurt. This makes it difficult to say what would happen in a typical carbohydrate controlled meal.

These claims cannot fully conclude that high fat diets including butter are going to raise insulin levels and, consequently, increase TAG and store fat. A study by Sharmen et al found quite the opposite and was, ironically, used to help try to support claims against butter (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12097663). They found that diets high in fat (61% with 25% saturated) and low in carbohydrate (8%) actually reduced TAG and blood fats after eating a high fat meal along with reduced insulin levels both after eating the meal and after several hours without food. They conclude that “the responses in serum lipids, insulin and lipid subclasses to the ketogenic diet were favorable in terms of overall cardiovascular disease risk profile.” It is very hard to make conclusions about any study and generalize it to everyone. If your body is not used to a high fat diet, then it is going to react to it differently than someone who is. Bottom line, give your body a chance to adjust and let the natural gift of butter be a part of it.