10 Health Benefits of Butter

10 Ways Butter Can Improve Your Health

Butter is a dairy product mainly made from fats and protein present in milk. People around India mostly use cow or buffalo milk-based butter, but in many other places, it is also made from other sources such as goat, sheep, and yak milk. However, there is always good cholesterol and bad cholesterol, and when we talk about butter, it is a source of good cholesterol. When it comes to kids, we think a lot before adding butter to their meals, but adding a moderate amount of butter to their diet is essential for boosting their nutritional requirements, like minerals, vitamins, and other fatty acids.

How is butter produced?

Butter is a result of crunching cream or milk. The first step of producing butter it to separate cream from milk, it makes the process easy. Cream rises up to the surface as cream is lighter than other milk components. That’s how butter is a nutrient-dense dairy product, and it contains 80% of the residual fat or milk solids and rest 20% is water.

After separating cream from milk, the cream goes through the churning process, which involves shaking the cream until the butter or the milk fat clumps together and separates from milk/ buttermilk. Once the buttermilk is drained properly, it goes through two different processes. First, the butter is churned further until it is ready to pack, and second, after the buttermilk is drained properly, it is heated up until it changes into ghee. However, Making ghee at home is a very common process in Indian households. Ghee, on the other hand, has a higher smoke point than butter.

10 Health benefits of butter:

Butter has many health benefits when consumed in a moderate amount. Here, we are going to discuss some of the benefits:

1.Nutritional values of butter.

Butter is a source of fat and is mainly high in calorie food. It is high in essential minerals and vitamins, which promotes better health. Butter is great in many fat-soluble vitamins like Vitamin A, D, E and K. Each vitamin have it’s own benefits to your body such as Vitamin A promotes healthy skin and hair condition with proper vision. On the other hand Vitamin E is an antioxidant and helps body in removing toxic substance in the blood.

Butter is also a great source of vitamin K. Vitamins K1 and K2 in butter mainly promote proper blood circulation and also help decrease the possibility of heart stroke and cardiovascular diseases. However, Vitamin K2 also provides cartilage and bone stability and promotes tissue elasticity in bones. Vitamin B12 in butter helps increase haemoglobin levels in the blood and helps in the exchange of oxygen, but it is mainly present in fish, meat, eggs, and dairy products.

2.Improve bone health and prevent tooth decay. 

Vitamin K2 is formed from Vitamin K1 in our body, but the formation of vitamin K2 is very small in proportion. An easiest and better way to get K2 would be just consuming butter. However, we get vitamin K1 from green veggies like spinach, Swiss chard and kale. However, for bone health and tooth decay, vitamin K2 have potential at reversing arterial calcification.

3.Good source of vitamins and minerals.

As we all know, some vitamins are fat-soluble, which means that we can only absorb them through fat. Since our body needs this vitamin to grow and function properly, we must consume fat in order to get it. On the other hand, butter is not only the source of this vitamin but also the best source! And easy to consume. Vitamins like vitamins A, D, E and K are fat-soluble and getting them from consuming butter is the easiest way for you.

Butter even contains a hint of vital minerals like zinc, manganese, copper, lauric acid, selenium and chromium. These minerals work as antioxidants and protect you from harmful infections. The lauric acids in the butter help your kid fight against fungal infections.

4.It helps in improving the immune system.

A portion of butter contains a medium- and short-chained fatty acid. These saturated fats contain antimicrobial, antioxidant, and immune-strengthening properties that help remove toxins from the body. Antimicrobials help kill the growth of microorganisms. The lauric acid in butter is a fatty acid that is most commonly found in animal fat; it helps in treating bacterial, viral and fungal infections. Breast milk, coconut oil, and butter are the only sources of natural lauric acid, even though it is said that breast-fed babies have less chance of getting any kind of infection. Butter is an amazing source of antioxidants that help counter the attack of free radicals. It even has resveratrol, which helps in fighting serious diseases.

5.Helps in managing weight.

Butter has long-chain fatty acids, which do not make you fat. But it is a rich source of mineral iodine in a way that the human body can absorb. These fatty acids present in butter need not be broken down by your gut, as they get absorbed by the small intestine into the liver and then convert into energy your human body uses for metabolism.

6.Improve digestion.

If you add best quality of homemade ghee or butter to your food, and cooking it will give you natural support for hassle-free digestion. The best impact of butter or ghee on your indigestion is the secretion of gastric juice, it mainly help in quickly breaking down the food in your stomach and helps with better and fast digestion.

7.Manage gastrointestinal function.  

Butter is the naturally available richest source of short-chain fatty acid and butyric acid, which helps maintain better gut health and protects against gasto-intestimal infections, which mostly affect elderly people and children. It keeps the gut lining healthy and sealed and prevents a leaky gut. However, the human body actually needs dietary cholesterol to help maintain the cells in the intestinal wall, and having a strong digestive system can do that job properly.

8.Good for skin and hair.

Butter has some essential nutrients present in it, which promote a cure for sunburned skin, proper blood flow to your scalp, enhancement of glowing and shiny skin, and prevention of premature ageing. Butter is an incredible source of vitamin E and selenium and works as an antioxidant that smooths the facial skin, reduces hair loss and promotes nail regrowth.  

9.Good for physical development.

Butter is filled with nutrients that are essential for human growth and development, especially in children. It also helps in bone marrow development. Butter has Omega06 and Omega-3 fatty acids, which are mainly present in fish, so butter can be an amazing option for vegetarians to consume Omega-3 in an easy way. However, Omega-3 fatty acid is great for brain development and nervous system functions. Butter is also very helpful in the physical development and growth of the body, as it contains a good amount of proteins that help in stronger muscles.

10.A good source of healthy cholesterol. 

Butter is a rich source of healthy cholesterol and filled with immanence nutrients that are crucial for proper growth and development of human body, especially for children. Butter helps in synthesize all the naturally occurring steroids in the human body and also protects you from serious diseases like mental illness, heart disease and even cancer.  

Conclusion: 

Butter is a dairy product which is produced from cream or milk fat. Butter is rich in nutrients like fat-soluble vitamins and minerals. It contain vitamins like, vitamin A,D,E and K2. Butter have high amount of calories and should be consumed in moderation. It is healthy for you gut, digestion and have many more health benefits. Adding butter in moderate amount in your diet is suggested.