Study says butter not bad for health, but foods it is spread on such as bread & potatoes could be bad

A new study done by a researcher at Tufts University confirms the new US Department of Agriculture guidelines, issued in January 2016, that declares butter as safe. Dr Laura Pimpin, author of the research, found little or no link between butter consumption and chronic ailments or total mortality.

However, academics warn that food often associated with butter, such as potatoes and bread, could be bad for health, notes The Telegraph. Pimpin’s research reviewed nine studies that had over 600,000 people. Recent studies, including the DA guidelines, reverse dietician’s caution on people to reduce animal fats, including butter.

While people who eat more butter general have worse diets and lifestyles, overall, butter is a neutral food, says Pimpin who did the research when she was with Tuft’s Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. Now a data analyst for UK Health Forum, Pimpin says, “This suggests that butter may be a ‘middle-of-the-road’ food: a more healthful choice than sugar or starch, such as the white bread or potato on which butter is commonly spread and which have been linked to higher risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.”

The study, with a total of 6.5 million person-years of follow-up, included 28,271 deaths, 9,783 cases of cardiovascular ailments and 23,954 new-onset type 2 diabetes. Butter was listed as a food to avoid in the 1950s when other studies suggested a connection between deaths from cardiovascular causes and intake of high dietary saturated fat.

Dr Dariush Mozaffarian, dean of Friedman School, explains, “Overall, our results suggest that butter should neither be demonized nor considered as a route to good health.” He adds more research needs t be conducted for a better understanding of the observed potential lower risk of diabetes by consuming butter.

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