What You Should Know About Butter
By Sara Butler
Butter is everywhere. Not just in your favorite baked goods, but also as a part of healthy diets. It's made of butterfat, milk solids, and water that are separated from milk then churned into the delicious creamy spread you've come to love. While it is high in saturated fats, it also has some benefits to your health. Here's what you need to know about butter and how to make it a healthy addition to your diet.
Just the Butter Facts
One tablespoon of unsalted butter delivers 7 grams of saturated fat, and 11.5 grams of fat but also has no carbs, sugar, or protein -- as well as 120 calories. But that's not all you need to know about butter. It's also rich in Vitamin A and comes in different varieties that have a different flavor and health profile.
These different varieties include:
- Unsalted versus salted - The difference between unsalted and salted butter is, as you probably guessed, salt. You're better off using unsalted butter in your daily life since added salt can have negative health consequences such as high blood pressure.
- Grass-fed butter - This type of butter is made from the milk of cows that spend their days grazing green pastures. This type of butter is usually more nutritious and higher in beta carotene and omega-3 fatty acids, too.
- European versus American butter - European-style butter contains more butterfat than American-style butter, 82 percent versus 80. That makes European butter a bit easier to spread and creamier in texture, best used in cooking.
- Cultured butter - This isn't butter that's been taken to the opera but is actually butter treated with the same kind of active cultures you find in yogurt. It has a tangy flavor much like yogurt that some people really like.
- Clarified butter - This is also called ghee and it's basically butter that doesn't have milk solids or water in it anymore. It's great for cooking at high heat because it has a higher smoke point.
Butter Substitutes
Butter is good and can be good for you -- in moderation! But it's still a good idea to swap out the butter in some recipes to lower your intake saturated fats. So, the next time a recipe calls for butter, consider using:
- Greek yogurt - Use half the amount of yogurt as the recipe calls for in butter
- Bananas - Sub smashed bananas in a one-to-one ratio for butter in your recipes
- Pumpkin - For every cup of butter in a recipe you can use three-quarters of a cup of pumpkin puree
Remember, butter might be good for you, but it's also still saturated fat and you need less of it in your diet.
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