The bad reputation of butter melts. The latest reviews of studies and scientific evidence point to its consumption is not so related to cardiovascular problems and cholesterol as has been thought for years.
At the same time that this product that gets (or should) mostly milk fat clears its reputation, its demand increases: in 2017, world consumption increased by 5%, while production only increased by 2%. But-just as with ham, turkey, or cheese-not everything on the market that is sold as butter actually is.
Between 41% and 90% milk fat
To get a kilo of butter you need no less than 25 liters of whole milk. At least, if it complies with European Union regulations, according to which this product must have "a content of milk fat equal to or greater than 80% and less than 90%, and maximum water contents of 16%, and of non-fat dry dairy material of 2% ".
However, in the market it is possible to find, also according to the regulations, butter with half milk fat. For example, the so-called "butter light", since the law allows the mentions "of 'low fat content', 'light', or 'light' for products with a proportion less than or equal to 41%."
According to Gemma del Caño, a pharmaceutical expert in the food industry, "they usually stick to this 41% because it is the maximum allowed." So, if you carry half the fat, what have you added? "So that they have the same consistency, they replace the fat with water with emulsifiers, which are usually mono and diglycerides of fatty acids (additives E-471), which prevent them from becoming enranged," clarifies this expert: "They also add some preservative" .
What is the "butter delight"?
There is still more: you can find products with similar appearance to this dairy derivative, but if you look at the ingredients, you will discover that, of butter, only a pinch. The regulation calls them "compound fat materials" and they are a mixture of vegetable fats -soja, sunflower, palm, coconut, etc.- or animals: "With a fat content of milk origin between 10% and 80% of the fat content ", says the regulation. That is, they can only carry 10% of the characteristic ingredient of butter.
In some cases it is possible to find them without the denomination "butter" or under peculiar names, such as, "butter delight". "They can use the word in the denomination if in the labeling they specify the percentage of butter that it bears", points out Gemma del Caño.
In short, if you're looking for pure butter, look at the composition more than the denomination.
Why vegetable fats can be worse
The mixture of vegetable fat with animal can be an option for those who want to reduce the intake of the second. The question is: which is healthier? It all depends on the type of vegetable fat. The most questioned are those of coconut and palm.
Although both are saturated, like butter, its effect on the diet hides nuances: "Palm or coconut vegetables include more harmful fatty acids because they increase the LDL (bad cholesterol) formed by smaller particles, which are the ones that accumulate in the arteries ", explains Javier Fontecha, biochemist and scientific researcher at the Research Institute in Food Sciences (CIAL, CSIC-UAM). He adds: "The fatty acids in butter behave metabolically better because they increase the larger LDL particles, which are less dangerous."
If, in addition, vegetable fats are hydrogenated (in solid form by the application of hydrogen), the risk of cardiovascular disease increases: "Hydrogenated or trans vegetable fats increase LDL of small size and, in addition, lower HDL (good cholesterol) ), so they increase cardiovascular risk markers, "says Fontecha.
How much butter can be consumed per day
"The recent scientific evidence does not show that a moderate consumption of whole milk products (with all the fat) increases the risk of cardiovascular disease in young people or healthy adults," explains the CSIC expert.
Fontecha, which specializes in lipids (fats), refers to a review of studies conducted in 2016 where it is concluded that moderate consumption of butter (14 g / day) is not associated with increases in the risk of cardiovascular disease or diabetes type 2 or mortality in general. As for cholesterol, there have also been changes in the recommendations: "Only between 10% and 15% of circulating cholesterol in the blood comes from the diet, most comes from the liver," contributes this researcher.
20 times more vitamins than in milk
In fact, since 2015, most of the health promotion agencies around the world have been suspending the dietary restrictions of the cholesterol "Nutritional recommendations in the United States have stopped considering dietary cholesterol as a risk component of cardiovascular disease," adds Javier Fontecha. Among the healthy properties of butter, the high concentration of fat-soluble vitamins stands out: A, which contributes to the normal functioning of the immune system; the D that helps the absorption of calcium; E, which has an antioxidant effect; and K, which intervenes in the coagulation process and in the maintenance of bone mass. When making butter, according to Javier Fontecha, a concentration of these vitamins is 20 times higher than in milk. One more reason not to exclude this fat from the diet without medical indication.