Butter & I are in a relationship and ‘it’s complicated.’
We began our complex partnership in my younger years when I ate regular butter on toast.
In my teenage years we hit a rocky phase because I become skeptical. Everyone said: “butter is bad! Fat is bad!! Low-fat, no-fat-everything or it’s gross!”
So I cheated on butter with his arch enemy: substitute butter. I mean, technically I had to test the waters to eventually find my butter soulmate.
Canola oil butter ( << hello GMO’s! Barf! ), Earth Balance “butter” ( << full of soy, no thanks ), &/or ‘I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!’ ( which should actually be called ‘I Can’t Believe I’m Eating This Fake Bullshit!’ ).
Anyway after a relationship full of up’s & downs, butter & I came to a mutual understanding. We decided to start getting real. Like, really real.
Our latest status? I love butter. But the real deal, balls to the walls raw butter.
None of that artificial, sickie, chemical-filled fake ‘butter.’
So meet my main squeeze:
Reasons I’m obsessed with raw butter:
♡ It’s a good fat. And no, good fat is not an oxymoron. There’s such thing as a ‘good fat.’ It’s good for the heart! Some other healthy fats: avocados, seeds, nuts, & fish.
♡ Protects against tooth decay.
♡ It has probiotics/good bacteria.
♡ Contains laurie acid, lecithin, antioxidants, Vitamins E/K/D, & calicum.
♡ Aids with thyroid health.
♡ It’s a source of quick energy.
Bottom line: according to All Body Ecology, “the best butter you can eat is raw, organic butter because pasteurization destroys nutrients. Unfortunately, the sale of raw butter is prohibited in most of our states.You can, however, make your own healthy butter, and it is easier than you think. Look into our Body Ecology Culture Starter, which you simply add to organic cream. After letting this mixture sit at room temperature for 24 hours, chill it, beat it with a whisk, and voila! You’ll have healthy, probiotic butter that is delicious! Cultured butter is full of health sustaining good bacteria like lactobacillus planterum, and lactococcus lactis. These microflora are essential for a healthy inner ecosystem.”
P.S. if you don’t like raw butter, at least stick to grass-fed.
Nasty-ass downsides of fake butters:
♡ Margarines are a processed food/filled with GMO’s ( more here ).
♡ Contains trans fats ( << not ‘good fats’ ). Saturated fats are good for you & are part of every cell membrane in our bodies— they help prevent substances from oxidzing which provides the bod with valuable minerals & vitamins, boosts the immune system, & aids in heart/liver/adrenal gland function ( << helping to detox the body ).
♡ It’s filled with additives & preservatives…yuck x 10.
♡ Fake butters contain dactyl which is linked to Alzheimer’s.
The Wright Newsletter states, “people just don’t know about the dangers about artificial butters. We’ve been brainwashed to believe that ‘low fat,’ ‘low calorie,’ and ‘zero calorie’ are code for healthy. These companies throw in harmful food additives to make up for flavor loss and to keep things stable on the shelf, and they just assume we’re none the wiser. It’s time we woke up. I will always choose a small amount of organic butter over a spray laden with ingredients I can’t even pronounce.”
Basically when you read the ingredients in any product ( AKA fake butters ) & there’s a bunch of ingredients you can’t pronounce, BEWARE. I’d rather eat butter with one ingredient ANYDAY, then a fake butter with ten chemicals.
Thanks, but no thanks!
To address questions about cholesterol, I asked my nutritionist friend, Freddie. Here’s what he said: “cholesterol is an antioxidant & a mother steroid for most hormones in the body. Mother’s breast milk is the highest source of cholesterol & doesn’t do any damage to infants but rather the opposite. It allows for proper growth & increases the interigrity of an infant’s immune system. As for heart disease & other ailments, where presence of cholesterol is noted in the blood vessels & other tissues, jumping to the conclusion that cholesterol causes the actual sickness is like saying that a firemen causes fires because they’re present every time there’s a fire.” More can be found here.
Good info, right?
Oh, BTW: I love the brand Ghee & Organic Pastures ( pictured ). If Ghee is not avail in your city, click here to purchase it online.
Ok, so what’s your relationship status with butter?
X le
Great post! I totally agree. I never got those fake butters myself. Since I am lactose intolerant, I make my own ghee and I love it.
many people with lactose intolerance can actually tolerate raw dairy… milk naturally contains lactase, which is the enzyme that helps you break down lactose. when it is pasteurized, the lactase is destroyed but this doesn’t happen when it is kept raw. pretty cool that the natural form of many foods actually provides your body with what it needs to digest it. might be worth a shot if you’re in a state that allows raw dairy!
Yesss! I love butter. I’m obsessed with ghee butter. Scrambled eggs have never tasted better.
Def going to try raw butter now.
I have been wanting to get into butter for the longest time but I have a dairy allergy and so I cannot 🙁 I always feel though that trying raw butter may be my solution and since I live in Thailand I am able to access real raw butter as well as many other things the states bans! Lots of Love to You C
Oh my god I love this post. I’ve been trying to convince my fitness obsessed friends about this for ages haha. Thank you so much!
Thanks for posting this! Butter is one of the last items that I have yet to go all-natural on. I could never go butter-free and I’ve been putting it off because the natural/raw options in my state look pretty slim and/or disgusting.
PS: Via the link to your Ghee page, you are so tan in one of the photos! I’ve read about how you avoid sun at all costs, so do you use a self-tanner?
So great to hear about this – could not agree more! loving butter and in moderation, it is so fab! It would be great if you’d like to check out my little slice of the internet at http://favouringnatural.blogspot.co.uk/ 🙂 xxx
You are entitled to your own opinion, but I find it worrisome you are promoting the use of raw dairy products without addressing the harms. I am a zoonotic disease epidemiologist. Zoonotic disease are transferred between animals and humans. In many instances, animals will be asymptomatic and the animal will still be used for milk production of raw milk. Many raw milk products states on the packaging that you should pasteurize it at home so you do not become infected with the many potential pathogens found in the raw milk product. Again, I am not slamming your opinion at all. I just think there are younger people that read this blog that may not be aware of potential harms and will just go out and buy it just because you mentioned it. Potentially getting them ill. Thank you for listening.
I never consider the butter I use, but this was really interesting and I will definitely look into a more healthier, real butter 🙂
Jenna || Jennafifi.co.uk
Yesssss!!!!!!
I use organic ghee (exact one pictured)! Note on ghee: if it seperates, it’s not real ghee. That’s what I have heard anyway.
Hey! Just wondering something. Butter is an animal fat and contains cholesterol and saturated fat. This raises cholesterol levels and the risk for heart disease. I’m wondering why this is a good thing? I’m seriously wondering, it’s the medium chain fats that are healthy?
Hi Laura! As my nutritionist friend, Freddie stated: “cholesterol is an antioxidant & a mother steroid for most hormones in the body. Mother’s breast milk is the highest source of cholesterol & doesn’t do any damage to infants but rather the opposite. It allows for proper growth & increases the interigrity of an infant’s immune system. As for heart disease & other ailments, where presence of cholesterol is noted in the blood vessels & other tissues, jumping to the conclusion that cholesterol causes the actual sickness is like saying that a firemen causes fires because they’re present every time there’s a fire.”
LMK if that answers your questions! xx.
This is so true! I pretty much never use butter but when I do I always try to use the good stuff
http://poorgirlrichlifeblog.com
You can actually use fresh cream, we get ours from the local dairy, and whip it in your stand mixer. They even give out little plastic shakers of cream to the kids. You have to shake the little container for about 20 minutes, and voila butter.
Can’t find raw butter here in Brazil. 🙁 🙁 🙁 “Healthy eating” is one of the main reasons I’m excited to move back to the States in June. You wouldn’t believe how unhealthy Brazil is!
Fake butters are SO gross! Unhealthy oils and chemicals – and they don’t even taste good! I do love grass-fed whipped butter – so creamy and NATURAL!
I have to say, I love real butter and always have, I’m going to have to try the raw butter if I can or ghee, although I will say that if I’m baking that would be a bit difficult (mostly due to cost). And if I’m trying to keep my meal vegan I will reach for Earth Balance, but it’s not my go to.
I’m vegan, so I don’t eat any butter. But purely from a health standpoint, if someone is going to use butter, I’m definitely on your side here. REAL, whole fat, raw, grass-fed butter is the way to go. Even though I don’t eat butter as a vegan, I would never eat vegan “butter” a.k.a. margarine. Disgusting. I can’t believe there are still people who think substitutes are healthier than the real deal.
Thanks for this post! I used to use that I can’t believe it’s not butter once and then I saw one of your previous posts about it and decided not to use it anymore. Also I looked at the ingredient list and couldn’t believe I was putting that crap in my body it now I look at all food ingredient lists.
This made me giggle so hard.
A perfect blog post.
A perfect diet.
And your bod and attitude are proof of that!
Thanks for entertaining:) xo
Why is real butter prohibited in most states?
Do you think this is better than grass fed butter? I saw that same raw butter at Jimbos the other day and contemplated buying it.
And on a side note, I know you work out a lot. I just started working for a local activewear company called Graced By Grit. Come try on some of the clothes! The fabric is amazing.
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Or call and we can set up an appointment for you to come check out the clothes!
So, where in the states does one find raw butter or even ghee? I haven’t seen it – although, admittedly, I’ve only gone to a few stores.
Yes! Whole Foods has it : ) you can also purchase it online here: http://bit.ly/1nv2uRA. xx.
Watch forks over knifes! Such a good documentary. Id love to hear your views on it.
I’m pretty sceptical to dairy as a whole, but obviously the less processed and organic the better.. 🙂
I also used to be a “Can’t Believe it’s not Butter” fan. Then, I learned about all the yucky stuff in it and went back to real butter, just in moderation which is how everything should be right?? Theeeen, I discovered how super duper easy it is to make your own butter. I buy organic cream that is batch pasteurized (at a lower temp for longer which preserves more of the good stuff while still killing the potentially harmful stuff) and, like someone above mentioned, I throw it in a chilled stand mixer bowl and cover the top with saran wrap (it gets messy!) and put it on high for about 8- 10 minutes until clumps start to form and then strain it and press the butter together. You also get homemade buttermilk out of the deal. And it makes me feel like my great-grandma, you know, except for the whole cheating with an electric stand mixer part … 🙂
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Oh and I’m not against raw milk/cream/butter but I haven’t been able to find a reliable, consistent source in my area so I use the batch pasteurized.