Butter vs. seed oils: New evidence

Alien's Guide to Blending in on Planet Earth: Butter vs Plant Oils

If an alien was planning on visiting planet Earth, they might spend a bit of time on social media finding out what makes us tick. For instance, they might try to learn about our dietary habits to ensure they don’t make a fool of themselves when trying to blend in. But if social media was their only source of information, this hypothetical alien would be very confused. Depending on the algorithm, they might be convinced that humans thrive when they eat butter with every meal but develop heart disease and obesity if they ever touch seed oils.

In previous articles, we’ve written about butter and its health risks and outlined the scientific evidence showing that seed oils, when eaten in normal amounts, are linked to health benefits. So, we won’t go over them in detail again here. Instead, we’ll summarize a fascinating new, large-scale study published in JAMA Internal Medicine that directly compares butter with plant oils.

Why Another Study?

Although many studies have looked at the health effects of specific types of fats, like saturated fats and unsaturated fats, people don’t eat fats, they eat foods. So, in this study, the scientists looked specifically at the items consumed — butter and plant oils.

An important question to ask in nutrition science is “instead of what?” If someone decides to cut out a particular food item, they need to replace it with something else. If that something else is just as bad or worse than the thing they’re cutting out, they won’t see any benefits. So, in this study, the researchers also investigated how swapping butter for plant oils would impact health.

What the Study Found

The researchers accessed data from three large studies: the Nurses’ Health Study, the Nurses’ Health Study II, and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. This included data from 221,054 adults who were followed for around 33 years. Every 4 years, participants completed food diaries. The researchers also had access to information about which participants died and why.

When the researchers looked at the overall mortality risk, they found that those who ate the most butter had a 15% higher risk of dying during the study’s follow-up than those who consumed the least butter. On the other hand, those who ate the most plant oils had a 16% lower risk of dying during the study’s follow-up than those who consumed the least plant oils.

Implications and Recommendations

The study found that substituting 10 grams of butter per day with an equivalent amount of plant-based oils was associated with an estimated 17% reduction in total mortality, 17% reduction in cancer mortality, and a 6% reduction in cardiovascular mortality. This highlights the potential health benefits of incorporating plant oils into your diet.

So, if you are the hypothetical alien we mentioned in the introduction, this study is a sign that you need to better curate your social media feed. Enjoy butter occasionally, but cooking with seed oils can actually support your health. Remember, nutrition and its impact on health are complex, so it’s important to stay informed and make choices that benefit your well-being.

Now, enjoy your stay on our planet!