RAW BUTTER AND ITS BENEFITS

Avec du Beurre, C'est Meilleur!

"Avec du beurre, c'est meilleur" is a phrase my grandma remembers me saying often when I was a child, very very very often! This literally means "with butter, it tastes better". She still talks about it now: how amusing it was to hear a 4-year old speak so passionately about butter- the all-singing and dancing hallmark of Breton culture, after all. At every meal, I would reach for the beurre and generously slather some on to my little piece of baguette, my petits pois or whatever food of the moment and munch away very happily. Decadently creamy butter melting on toasted sourdough with its accompanying crunch of sea salt crystals under the tooth is a real taste of home and the ultimate comfort food for me.

With my strong French heritage, butter has formed an integral part of my upbringing. Real Full-Fat Butter made from the milk of grass-fed cows could always (and still can) be found at the table in my home, as this sort of butter is otherwise known in France as normal good quality butter, nothing special. Never did any margarines or spreads appear in our home! I tried it at friends' homes but never liked the taste and always longed for my "Beurre Cru au Sel de Guérande" before I even knew that RAW FULL FAT BUTTER WAS ACTUALLY A HEALTH FOOD!

So some of you are asking: "What is raw butter? I thought all butter was raw as it's cold." Raw butter is butter made from the unpasteurised milk of grass-fed cows. Unlike pasteurised and ultra-high-temperature (UHT) milk, raw milk is a living food full of natural goodness including beneficial bacteria, food enzymes, natural vitamins and immunoglobulins that are all heat-sensitive. These health-promoting components of natural, raw milk are destroyed by heating and therefore not present in pasteurised milk.

So why has butter been vilified as the cause of heart disease, obesity, high cholesterol... in recent decades? The origins of butter go back thousands of years to when our ancestors first started domesticating animals. For millennia, people around the globe have prized butter for its health benefits.

The heart disease epidemic started around 1920-1930 and is currently the world’s leading cause of death. Somewhere along the way, nutrition professionals decided that foods like butter, meat and eggs were to blame. According to them, these foods caused heart disease because they were high in saturated fat and cholesterol.

But we’ve been eating butter for thousands of years, since long before heart disease became a problem.

Blaming new health problems on old foods makes no sense.

As consumption of traditional fatty foods like butter went down, diseases like heart disease, obesity and type II diabetes went up. Yet the notion that a healthy diet is one with minimal fat, particularly saturated fat, has persisted. However, while the West drastically reduced their intake of natural animal fats like butter and meat, the processed food industry, particularly the low-fat food industry, proliferated.

The truth is, natural foods like butter have nothing to do with heart disease. In fact, real full-fat butter that comes from grass-fed cows is one of the most important foods you can eat for a healthy heart and overall health.

See below more details on the Health Benefits of Butter:

(Adapted from the one and only Dr. Joseph Mercola, the World's #1 Natural Health Website)

1. Heart Disease- Butter contains many nutrients that protect against heart disease including vitamins A, D, K2, and E, lecithin, iodine and selenium. A Medical Research Council survey showed that men eating butter ran half the risk of developing heart disease as those using margarine (Nutrition Week 3/22/91, 21:12).

2. Cancer- The short- and medium-chain fatty acids in butter have strong anti-tumor effects. Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) in butter from grass-fed cows also gives excellent protection against cancer.

3. Arthritis- The Wulzen or "anti-stiffness" factor in raw butter and also Vitamin K2 in grass-fed butter, protect against calcification of the joints as well as hardening of the arteries, cataracts and calcification of the pineal gland.

4. Osteoporosis- Vitamins A, D and K2 in butter are essential for the proper absorption of calcium and phosphorus and hence necessary for strong bones and teeth.

5. Thyroid Health- Butter is a good source of iodine, in a highly absorbable form. Butter consumption prevents goitre in mountainous areas where seafood is not available. In addition, vitamin A in butter is essential for proper functioning of the thyroid gland.

6. Digestion- Glycospingolipids in butterfat protect against gastrointestinal infection, especially in the very young and the elderly.

7. Growth & Development- Many factors in the butter ensure optimal growth of children, especially iodine and vitamins A, D and K2. Low-fat diets have been linked to failure to thrive in children.

8. Asthma- Saturated fats in butter are critical to lung function and protect against asthma.

8. Weight Problems and Obesity- CLA and short- and medium-chain fatty acids in butter help control weight gain.

9. Fertility- Many nutrients contained in butter are needed for fertility and normal reproduction.

Good news! It is so easy to get your hands on raw butter in the UK. Just head over to Waitrose or Ocado for the most delicious butter you have ever tried (pictured above): Isigny Sainte Mère Beurre Cru au Sel de Guérande. Or go to Hook & Son for a local option and buy raw milk, raw butter and raw ghee direct from their farm in East Sussex.

Find out more on the Principles of Healthy Diets from my foodie hero Weston A. Price.