How can butter help you lose weight and get healthy, isn’t it fattening? Yes, butter has a lot of fat but it’s full of fat that actually helps you burn fat. Butter is also full of various nutrients essential to health and has been a staple in diets around the world for centuries.

Butter has a number of properties that are great for someone trying to improve overall health. The one I really like is the fatty acid, butyrate. Butter is rich in butyrate and this fatty acid is a great appetite suppressant. Your body also converts butyrate immediately into fuel for your muscles and organs which keeps your body from catabolizing these tissues. This is very important when losing weight since a lot of weight loss systems allow muscle loss. As well, this immediate conversion to fuel means it causes the body to burn more which is increasing metabolism. Butyrate is also an anti-inflammatory and has specifically been shown to decrease inflammation in the intestines which is especially great for those dealing with Crohn’s or Colitis.

Butter is rich in other fatty acids like lauric acid which is antifungal and great for digestive tract health. This fatty acid also increases your good, HDL cholesterol. As well, the cholesterol found in butterfat is essential for brain and nervous system function and essential for mood regulating hormone production. Butter also contains conjugated linoleic acid, which is a potent anti-cancer agent, muscle builder, and immunity booster. Better yet, all the saturated fats in butter have strong anti-tumor and anti-cancer properties.

Do you think butter is bad for your cardiovascular system? Think again. Butter has an anti-stiffness factor that helps prevent hardening of the arteries, cataracts, and calcification of the joints. The anti-calcification factor comes from the vitamin K2 found in butter, which moves calcium into proper areas of the body. Butter also has a lot of anti-oxidants that protect against weakening arteries. And we can’t forget that butter is rich in the most absorbable form of Vitamin A necessary for endocrine health, eye health, bone health and the health of many other tissues in the body.

I could go on further about the great health benefits of butter but I think the point has been made. Butter is one of your best friends when trying to lose weight and improve health. This is why we have made it a staple of the Protein Pantry diet system and why we really stress the importance of utilizing it in your daily diet regimen. So don’t be afraid of it. Butter has gotten a bad rap for no good reason. Enjoy that glorious, tasteful, satisfying butter. It does your body good and it is a great tool to help you, “Make It Happen.”

Sources: National Institutes of Health; Dr. Aleksandra Bananszkiewicz, MD

Food Is Medicine; Dr. Josh Axe, DC