What Are The Benefits Of Switching To A Butter Substitute
“Transitioning to a more plant-based diet and opting for a ‘butter’ spread made from unsaturated, plant-based fats can be a great way to help improve cholesterol levels, promote heart health, and reduce inflammation,” says Palinski-Wade.
And before you turn up your nose at butter substitutes because of their bad rap, consider this: your classic trans-fat-laden margarine brands are a thing of the past. Now, healthy butter substitutes eschew partially hydrogenated oils for healthy fats. That’s a really good thing because a 2015 review of studies published in the British Medical Journal found that trans fats were associated with an increase in coronary heart disease and in the number of deaths caused by CHD.
How To Shop For A Healthy Butter Substitute
Despite how complicated it seems, there are plenty of smart alternative butter options on grocery store shelves if you know what to look for. That’s good news for all the people following specialized diets or trying to meet weight loss goals.
Nutritionist shared their three guidelines for selecting the healthiest butter substitute :
- Avoid trans fats. “Diet butters containing trans fats can be more detrimental to health . That’s because just one to two grams of trans fats per day can have a negative impact on blood lipids,” says Palinski-Wade, who adds that one to two grams is much more than what you would get normally from the saturated fat found in a standard butter spread.
- Compare with dairy butter. Gorin says when she chooses a diet spread or spray, she makes sure a one tablespoon-sized serving contains less fat and calories than traditional dairy butter . Aim for less than 100 calories and seven grams of saturated fat per serving, she recommends.
- Look for minimal ingredients. “I like for a plant butter to have an ingredient list made up mostly of whole-food ingredientsso no artificial preservatives or additives,” says Gorin. “For example, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! uses vinegar as a natural preservative.”
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Myth: Statins Are The Only Cholesterol
Truth: While statins are still the most popular, a new class of drugs called PCSK9 inhibitors show promise for sharply reducing levels of LDL cholesterol. A 2014 study published in the Lancet found that the drugs, which are currently undergoing clinical trials, reduced levels of LDL cholesterol up to 60 percent more than placebo medications. If proven safe, the drugs would be a welcome alternative for patients who can’t tolerate the side effects from traditional statins.
Jodi Helmer contributes health stories to AARP.
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Butter Nonsense: The Rise Of The Cholesterol Deniers
A group of scientists has been challenging everything we know about cholesterol, saying we should eat fat and stop taking statins. This is not just bad science it will cost lives, say experts
Butter is back. Saturated fat is good for you. Cholesterol is not the cause of heart disease. Claims along these lines keep finding their way into newspapers and mainstream websites even though they contradict decades of medical advice. There is a battle going on for our hearts and minds.
According to a small group of dissident scientists, whose work usually first appears in minor medical journals, by far the greatest threat to our hearts and vascular systems comes from sugar, while saturated fat has been wrongly demonised. And because cholesterol levels dont matter, they argue, we dont need the statins that millions have been prescribed to lower them. A high-fat diet is the secret to a healthy life, they say. Enjoy your butter and other animal fats. Cheese is great. Meat is back on the menu.
The advice from PHE, the World Health Organization, the British Heart Foundation , Heart UK and other institutions and top academics is consistent. Butter and cheese may be fine in modest amounts in a balanced diet, but the saturated fat that they contain is potentially risky. Too much of it causes the liver to overproduce bad LDL cholesterol, which is implicated in heart disease.
Pistachios Help Lower Blood Pressure Under Stress
Adding pistachios to your diet also has potential heart benefits. Previously, I discussed how our body and heart responds adversely to stress and how we respond to it with increased blood pressure. A study of people who ate approximately 1.5 0z of pistachios a day and were then exposed to mental stress found they had lower blood pressure rises than those who did not eat pistachios. In people with diabetes, eating pistachios lowers total and LDL cholesterol and can reduce the risk of diabetes-related disease in the arteries. In a four-week trial published in 2014 of patients who had diabetes, a diet rich in pistachios improved heart rate response to stress, 24-hour blood pressure measurements, and heart function and output. Total cholesterol also decreased for those who ate pistachios.
If you are looking to lower your blood pressure, improve your response to stress, and lower your cholesterol, consider adding pistachios to your diet.
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Blue Bonnet Light Soft Spread
Don’t fall for the myth here that anything labeled “light” must be healthy for you. This spread misses the mark on several of the nutritionists’ guidelines, particularly when it comes to its ingredient list: it contains soybean oil, a ton of preservatives, and artificial flavors. You’re better off with full fat butter, honestly.
Its Hard To Pinpoint Exactly When Fat Started To Become The Enemy On Our Plate But A Good Guess May Be January 13 1961
Keys work provided some hints about the culprit behind this yawning gap. He found that saturated fat consumption was strongly associated with regional rates of heart disease, but that total fat intake was not. Indeed, total fat intake in Crete was just as high as in Finland, which had the highest rates of heart disease at that time. Keys suggested that it was the type of fat, as well as the Mediterranean diet in general, that spelled the difference in heart disease risk.
Keys delivered his opinions with the force of fact. He found that nations where people ate lots of saturated fatthink of the Finns smearing butter on their cheesesuffered higher rates of heart disease. Keys work also suggested that diets high in saturated fat and cholesterol increased total cholesterol levels.
Yet based on the well-recognized limitations of cross-country studies, Keys was smart enough to conclude that this early evidence did not prove cause and effect, but rather suggested a need for further research, especially in cohort studies examining individuals within populations. Indeed, many better-designed studies have since proven that total dietary fat has no effect on heart disease.
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What Is The Fastest Way To Lower Ldl Cholesterol
A few changes in your diet can reduce cholesterol and improve your heart health:Reduce saturated fats. Saturated fats, found primarily in red meat and full-fat dairy products, raise your total cholesterol. Eliminate trans fats. Eat foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Increase soluble fiber. Add whey protein.
How Diet Impacts Cholesterol Levels
Whether you’re genetically at higher risk of developing hypercholesterolemia or not, making some tweaks to your diet to balance the LDL and HDL levels in your blood is always encouraged.
LDL rises when you eat trans fats and excessive amounts of saturated fats, says Westbrooks. Saturated fats are found in animal-based foods, and trans fats are mostly in processed foods. The American Heart Association recommends that only 5 to 6 percent of your total dietary caloric intake consists of saturated fats. This is equivalent to 13 grams of saturated fat per day if your total caloric intake is 2,000 calories per day. Using this example of 2,000 calories, a person should aim for 2 grams or less of trans fat per day.
You might assume limiting dietary cholesterol is the best approach. But, interestingly, experts advise it’s less about reducing dietary cholesterolinstead, it’s high saturated fat intake that has more impact on your LDL levels. Even if dietary cholesterol does have some impact, there’s no additional dietary guideline you need to follow. “The moment you start reducing animal fats , you’re naturally going to start decreasing the amount of dietary cholesterol you eat, since cholesterol is only in animal foods,” says Cabrero.
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Peanuts And Food Poisoning
Peanuts are frequently contaminated by the fungal species Aspergillus flavus, which can produce the aflatoxin. This infection can occur during transportation or storage of peanut meals. Aflatoxins are highly toxic and carcinogenic secondary metabolites of concern in food safety . Infection and aflatoxin concentration in peanut can be related to the occurrence of soil moisture stress during pod-filling when soil temperatures are near optimal for A. flavus. These relations could form the basis of a decision-support system to predict the risk of aflatoxin contamination in peanuts in similar environments .
A survey was carried out to assess the mycotoxin contamination in locally grown peanuts. A total of 72 samples of raw, roasted and salty peanuts were collected randomly from the Pothohar Plateau of Pakistan. The results indicated that aflatoxins were present in almost 82 % of the samples tested, with levels ranging from 14.3 to 98.8 g/kg. This reflects that optimal conditions for fungal growth and mycotoxin contamination are frequent in peanut crop fields as well as in storehouses .
What Is The Best Butter To Use If You Have High Cholesterol
butter whengoodcholesterol whenSubstitutes for butter as a spread
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Is Vegan Butter Healthy
Pure fat, regardless of source and whether its animal or plant-derived, has 9 calories per gram.
Since vegan butter and real butter have roughly the same composition of fat and moisture, their calorie count is the same at roughly 100 per tablespoon. The health benefit of vegan butter like Earth Balance is that its cholesterol-free. Only animals produce cholesterol, so theres zero in plant-based foods.
While original Earth Balance does contain soy, they do make soy-free versions. Many other vegan brands are soy-free by default. Since all of them are dairy free, theyre suitable substitutes for those with a milk allergy, or who are lactose intolerant. Overall, vegan butter is good for people with food allergies.
The disadvantage that both vegan and real butter have is that they are so calorically dense. Eating too much is easy to do.
Thats why high-fat foods can contribute to weight gain. Not because eating fat makes you fat. Rather, because you may not realize the high number of calories youre consuming when you eat high-fat foods.
Beyond the nutrition facts, there are side effects to these high-fat foods that not even most nutritionists and doctors are aware of.
Ketogenic diets are those high in fat with almost no carbs. The keto diet is all the rage right now, yet many followers are unaware of the age accelerating effects it may be having on their body.
Higher AMPK activity is linked to longevity and health in old age.
Is Butter Really Better
Like stonewashed jeans and the royal family, butter is back in fashion. Many people love that it’s ‘all natural’, containing just cream, milk and sometimes salt. But all natural doesn’t always mean healthy, especially if a food is consumed with abandon.
Here are the facts about butter, table spreads and other, natural alternatives so you can decide what’s best for you.
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Is Lurpak Butter Healthy
Lurpak is one of the leading brands of butter sold in the UK. While more than 800,000 packets are sold each year, butter is traditionally thought of as bad for you, rather than good. But what is the truth about Lurpak butter? Is it healthy?
In this article, we investigate this popular brand of butter and look at the butter variants they sell, including the spreadable versions, to see just how healthy Lurpak is.
Peanuts And Cholesterol The Secret Is The Monounsaturated Fats
In the past, health experts gave peanuts a bad rating because they contain fat. However, peanuts moved back into the healthy food column once it was understood that the fats they contained were heart healthy monounsaturated fats.
All fats are not created equal concerning the health of your heart. You want to lower the amount of saturated fats you consume. This means eat less red meat and foods from other animal sources such as bacon. Consuming these fats can raise your bad cholesterol count.
You can replace saturated fats with monounsaturated fats such as peanut oil or polyunsaturated fats that come from plant sources such as safflower oil, cottonseed oil, and soybean oil. These types of fats lower your cholesterol level.
You do need to understand that even though monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are good for you, you cannot eat them without limitation because they are packed with calories. Eat peanuts and other nuts in moderation to avoid weight gain, which is a risk factor for heart disease.
You may be reading about this link between peanuts and cholesterol and be wondering if peanuts contain cholesterol. The answer is no. You do not get cholesterol from eating peanuts. In fact, your liver produces most of the cholesterol in your body, and this leads to an additional benefit of peanuts having to do with their fiber content.
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What Does The Evidence Say
- Replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat decreases LDL cholesterol cholesterol and the total/HDL cholesterol ratio
- The World Health Organization found convincing evidence that substituting saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat reduces the risk of heart disease
- It has been estimated that replacing 5% of energy from saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat reduces risk of heart disease by 10%
- Replacing saturated fat with refined carbohydrate foods does not have any heart health benefits.
Does Kerrygold Butter Improve Hdl And Ldl
More: Greg used Kerrygold butter in the results given below. I now see that he omitted data from other butters that did not agree with his conclusions. This makes his results considerably more doubtful and his whole post misleading. I have changed the title of this post to reflect this.
A New York lawyer named Greg reports remarkably clear evidence about the effect of butter on blood lipid levels: It improved them. For a few years he measured his HDL and LDL regularly with a home cholesterol device. For unrelated reasons, he started eating more butter. He ate a half stick /day, like me. Heres what happened.
The first five measurements are from lab tests. The rest are from his home machine.
I asked Greg for details.
I asked what the reaction to this data has been.
Most people Ive spoken to have been receptive to the idea , but I got no sense that they would be willing to try it for themselves. Most people I know seem to be quite willing to accept the fact that the old stories about cholesterol are not true. In contrast, one conservative cardiologist said I must have unique genetics.
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Should You Switch Back To Butter
Butter comes in two major forms: stick and spread. It is primarily made up of saturated fat and cholesterol. If you look at the ingredients label on the back of a butter product, one tablespoon, the equivalent of a pat of butter on your corn on the cob, contains almost half the recommended amount of saturated fat and cholesterol each day. Bottom line: It’s very easy to overdo it with butter as you probably know if you’ve ever drizzled some on a bowl of hot popcorn fresh out of the microwave.
One tablespoon of butter contains roughly 30 milligrams of cholesterol and 7 grams of saturated fat the maximum amount allowed daily is 200 milligrams and 10 milligrams, respectively. Additionally, because both of these types of fats are linked to raising cholesterol and risk of heart disease, butter is recommended to use only sparingly.
Since butter comes from milk, if it’s not organic or specifically labeled as free of bovine growth hormone , it may contain rGBH. This substance can cause harm to cows and the verdict is still out as to whether it harms humans or not. In addition, butter from grass-fed cows is higher in omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential for heart health, making it nutritionally superior to the more widely sold butter from conventionally-raised animals. If you do want to consume butter occasionally, do your best to get the healthiest sources.
What Are The Ingredients In Lurpak Butter
First, lets look at the ingredients for clues about just how healthy Lurpak butter is.
There are several different types of Lurpak. These include salted butter, unsalted butter, Lurpak Block Butter, Lurpak Spreadable, Lurpak Lighter, and Lurpak Lightest. In this article we are mostly concerned with Lurpak Spreadable as this is the type of butter people feel most confused about.
Lurpak Butter was launched in the UK in 1985. Originally a Danish Company, the Lurpak brand was formed by an amalgamation of Danish farmers who joined forces to sell more butter. In other countries, you also get Lurpak with Crushed Garlic, Lurpak Margarine, Lurpak Olive Oil spread, and Lurpak Cheese Spread.
Ingredients in the slightly salted Block Butter version of Lurpak include:
- Butter
- Lactic Culture
- Salt
Unsalted Lurpak contains butter and Lactic Culture. In its spreadable form, unsalted Lurpak contains both rapeseed oil and water to soften the mix.
Lactic cultures are bacteria added to dairy products to help with the fermentation process. They also help to create a richer flavour.
The Lurpak Lighter Slightly Salted block butter contains only butter, water, and salt.
Both the Lurpak Slightly Salted Spreadable version and the Lurpak Lighter Slightly Salted Spreadable version contain:
- Butter
- Lactic Culture
- And salt.
The difference between these two is that the Lighter version has only 40% butter, while the Slightly Salted Spreadable Lurpak has 64% butter.
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