Food! Ah, one cannot live without it! It is discussed a lot…food and health, as if there was a connection…..
…..and indeed there is!
The food I think about today is butter, the real kind made with real cream, coming from real cows eating real grass!
My mother always added butter and cream to her cooked vegetables. We would slather butter on our corn on the cob. Her salad dressings were made with real cream. Strawberries -n- cream or peaches -n- cream were part of our desserts. This was how my grandmother cooked and her mother before that. And if you have read the delightful “Little House” series you will note it is also how Ma Ingalls used cream and butter. Going way, way, back to good ole Abraham in Genesis 18 you read that he served a fatted calf, butter, and milk, along with bread to his guests.
Today, butter has gotten a bad rap! When a person gets diagnosed with heart disease, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol, one of the first things the doctor tells you to eliminate from your diet is animal fats, which is what happened for my dad when his cholesterol levels were high. It was a sad day for him. He loved my mom’s good homemade butter!
Oh, and this scared people when the discovery was made that animal fats cause heart disease. So they all jumped on the low fat diet boat. Store shelves started to fill up with low fat this and low fat that.
Guess what the low fat diet offered us? Fat free products with more sugar and carbs in it, which causes fluctuations in blood sugar,which makes us hungry, which makes us eat more, which makes us bigger….
Before 1920 coronary heart disease was rare in America. By the mid fifties heart disease was the leading cause of death among Americans. Today, heart disease causes at least 40% of all US deaths.
IF, as we have been told “heart disease is caused by consumption of animal fats” one would find a corresponding increase in animal fat consumption. Actually, the reverse is true. Animal fat consumption in the American diet declined from 83% to 62%, and butter consumption dropped from 18 lbs. per person per year to 4!
The question is….. Are animal fats to blame?
The answer is, yes, and no!
Remember, by the mid fifties heart disease was the leading cause of death among Americans?
Well, prior to WW11 most US farms were small and diversified,(meaning they had cows, sheep, pigs, bees,etc, a little bit of everything) Cattle were out on pasture and supplemented with very little if any grain or corn, as their natural place in a diversified farm was to consume grass.
It wasn’t until after WW11 that cattle were first fed corn when American corn production skyrocketed. Farmers and ranchers turned to a new practice, that of fattening cattle on corn. At the same time dairy cows were also placed in “confinement” and fed corn and other grains which was cheaper and more efficient than grass.
But even before the war, feedlots for beef were in operation in OK. The first ones were opened in 1898 and were adjacent to the cottonseed oil company. The cattle were fed the cottonseed oil byproducts.
Ole Abraham’s cattle were all grass fed, as were Pa Ingall’s. My dad’s cattle were not, as most cattle are not in the US.
Studies show that people who eat grass fed butter have a lower risks of heart disease!
Let’s take a look at butter coming from grass fed cows versus butter from grain fed confined cows.
Grass fed butter has 26% more Omega 3 fatty acids than does regular butter. Our body cannot produce Omega 3 on it’s own so you must get it from your diet. It is so important for brain and heart health.
Grass fed butter is much richer in vitamin K. Vitamin K is less common in diets but, it’s very important for your overall health. It plays a key role in your bone and heart health by regulating your calcium. It signals your bones to absorb more calcium.
It is a good source of vitamin A, which is necessary for vision, reproduction, and optimal immune function. It also plays an important role in growing and maintaining healthy teeth, bones, and skin.
Our second son was born with cleft lip and our son in law was born with club feet. The question always comes up, “Are these deformities inherited?” Studies now show it is a lack of vitamin A in the mother’s diet during pregnancy.
Higher amounts of beta carotene are found in grass fed butter. This helps to reduce risks of several chronic diseases, one of which is type 2 diabetes.
Unsaturated fats are higher in grass fed butter, which are linked to heart health benefits.
Another helpful acid found in grass fed butter is conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) which helps to prevent type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers.
A quick look at what butter or cream does for you when you add it to starchy veggies such as corn or potatoes. It helps to curb those hunger inducing blood spikes because you don’t have the sugar jetting up your blood. That way you end up eating less, because your mind and body are satisfied. It works the same way when you put butter on your bread!
That’s why fats are your friends! They help keep those cravings in check!
Here is another amazing thing!
The presence of fat in the diet increases the absorption of fat soluble vitamins in other foods, which simply means (If you’re like me you like things explained simply:) when you add butter to your corn, not only will it help to avoid a sugar spike, you will also absorb more nutrients from the corn!
The question again, “Are animal fats to blame?” I think the answer is……”Depends on how they are grown!
From my heart to yours-Louise