You betcha.
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| | When today's question came into our inbox, I immediately related. I, too, worship at the altar of butter. Butter on toast, eggs scrambled in butter, butter on rice — the list goes on. (But let it be known that snacking on sticks of butter is where I draw the line!) | | I also know that butter is particularly high in saturated fat, which is linked to several health conditions, including heart disease. And since I have big plans of living until I'm 100, my butter habit does occasionally give me pause. | | So, what are this reader and I to do about our buttery dilemma? Our pal Annie Hibbs, a registered dietitian at Healthline, is here to help us find balance. Her expert advice is below. | | | | Cheer up, buttercup!
Ginger Wojcik
Newsletter Editor, Healthline |  | | Written by Ginger Wojcik
April 16, 2024 • 4 min read | | | |  | | | Q: | I'm young and healthy and eat lots of whole foods and very little processed food. Do I need to be worried about eating butter daily? | | | A: | One of my favorite smells from the kitchen is melting butter. It's usually a signal that something delicious is being made! The main reason we hear a lot of fuss about butter is because of saturated fat. Butter is about 80% fat, and about 70% of that is saturated fat.
However, the research on saturated fat shows conflicting results: Some studies show it can raise your risk of heart disease, while others suggest that it doesn't increase the type of LDL cholesterol (small, dense LDL) that can negatively affect heart health.
So … what are we supposed to think until researchers get fully on one side or the other? Unless there's a medical necessity, I don't believe any food should be banned from our diet — it's good to have a balance! All foods carry their own mix of vitamins, minerals, nutrients, and how they interact with each other.
Besides fat, butter does offer calcium and vitamins A, E, B12, and K. But for how many calories it contains, it's not an overly nutritious food, so keep that in mind when thinking about your overall diet.
If you're not sure if you're eating too much butter, it might help to keep in mind the 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommendation to limit saturated fats to less than 10% of calories per day for people ages 2 years and older. For example, that would mean keeping it to less than 22 grams of saturated fat per day if you're eating 2,000 calories per day.
If you want to cut back on butter, try using extra-virgin olive oil instead. It's a nutrient-dense alternative that's linked to a huge array of health benefits. | | | | | Annie Hibbs, Registered Dietitian | | | Want to learn more about food, diets, cooking, or some other nutrition subject? Let us know at nutritionedition@healthline.com and we'll look into it for you! (Heads up, we may use your response in an upcoming newsletter.) | | | | | Like butter | | | | | | |  | | Stainless Steel Butter Spreader | | Cute kitchen gadget alert! Maybe you like to keep your butter in the fridge, or maybe a recipe calls for chilled butter — either way, this butter-spreading knife is going to make your life a lot easier! The edge of the spreader is lined with blade holes, allowing you to easily create thin curls of butter that will quickly melt on your food. | | | | Every product we recommend has gone through either Healthline's or Optum Store's vetting processes. If you buy through links on this page, we may receive a small commission or other tangible benefit. Healthline has sole editorial control over this newsletter. Potential uses for the products listed here are not health claims made by the manufacturers. Healthline and Optum Store are owned by RVO Health. | | | | | | | | | | | | What we're digesting | | 📲 Can a smartphone app detect early onset dementia? A new, small study has found promising results. | | 💪 How to defend against age-related inflammation. Learn how to make anti-inflammation part of your roadmap for aging well. | | 🩺 What's the difference between a heart attack and heart failure? Plus, steps you can take to protect your heart. | | 🫘 17 cheap and healthy sources of protein. Check out these affordable options! | | | Thanks for reading, friends. If you'd like to read more about how to keep your heart healthy, consider joining Healthline's Heart Health weekly newsletter. We'll be back with another Nutrition Edition on Thursday! | | | Until next time, |  | Take care of yourself, and we'll see
you again soon! | | | | |  | | This edition was powered by | | butter, duh! | | | | |
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