Butter

Studies in people

• Concern

  Risk of dying³

  People who ate the most butter were more likely to die during the study than those who ate the least.

• Concern

  Cholesterol levels in the blood⁴

  In people, eating butter daily raised LDL cholesterol more than coconut or olive oil did.

• Benefit

  Blood cholesterol and heart risk⁵

  Swapping butter for soft margarines changed blood cholesterol in ways that may lower heart risk, but hard margarines did not.

• Open question

  Cholesterol and blood fats⁸

  In healthy adults, butter and a butter blend did not differ in cholesterol, but the blend slightly raised blood fats.

• Benefit

  Heart attack risk⁹

  In women, replacing butter with tub margarine may be linked to lower risk of heart attack.

• Concern

  Post-meal blood fats¹⁰

  In women with type 2 diabetes, a butter breakfast raised ceramides in post-meal blood fats.

How it’s made and used

• Social class and diet⁶

  In Europe, studies found higher social classes often ate less butter, but results differed by country.

• Breast milk fats⁷

  In breastfeeding women, eating Alpine butter raised several fats and CLA isomers in their milk.

• Saturated fat in the diet¹¹

  Butter was the biggest single source of saturated fat in the average Polish diet.

The signal at the top counts the findings in people and in animal and lab studies. A concern in studies of people outranks animal and lab studies, and “No concerns” needs at least one finding in people. When most findings in people point one way, the page leans that way (“Mostly”), and every finding is still shown. Findings whose study type is not stated are shown but not counted. This page is a reference, not medical advice. It describes what regulators and published research say. Talk to a doctor or dietitian about your own diet.