From verywellhealth.com
Key Takeaways
- Vegan butter may contain saturated fats from sources like coconut and palm oil, which should still be consumed in moderation.
- The American Heart Association recommends that saturated fats make up only 5-6% of daily calories, while the USDA recommends up to 10%.
- Vegan butter with lower saturated fats can be a healthier option, but nutritionists recommend using non-tropical oils like olive and safflower oil instead.
Vegan or plant-based butter seems like a healthier alternative to traditional butter made with cow’s milk or cream, which is high in saturated fat and calories.
But is vegan better really better?
“Many vegan butters may contain coconut oil or palm oil, which are sources of saturated fat,” Christine Scarcello, MS, RD, CNSC, a clinical dietitian at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, told Verywell.
The American Heart Association recommends limiting daily saturated fat intake to 5% or 6% of your calories. If you’re eating 2,000 calories per day, you should aim for fewer than 120 calories from saturated fat sources, or about 13 grams of saturated fats per day.
The USDA’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans are slightly more generous: Limit saturated fats to less than 10% of total caloric intake.
One tablespoon of unsalted butter has about 7 grams of saturated fat, which can add up quickly if you use butter throughout the day. Depending on the brand, the same amount of vegan butter can have 3–8 grams of saturated fat.
“Just because something has a vegan label on it doesn’t automatically make it healthy. There are definitely components of these foods that may be healthier than their non-plant based counterparts, but it’s still important to recognize that there is saturated fat in vegan food.” Scarcello said.
While the ratio of unsaturated to saturated fats is generally better in vegan butter, the type of processing needed to make vegan butter and certain added ingredients, like emulsifiers, flavours, and colours, may have adverse health effects, according to Maya Vadiveloo, PhD, RD, an associate professor of nutrition at the University of Rhode Island.
How to Pick a Good Vegan Butter
The saturated fat in butter keeps it solid at room temperature. To mimic the solid consistency of traditional butter, vegan butter uses saturated fats like coconut, palm, and palm kernel oils, according to Jamie Mok, MS, RD, RYT, a registered dietitian and a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics based in Los Angeles.
Other plant oils in vegan butter, such as olive, canola, sunflower, and safflower oils, contain unsaturated fatty acids. These fats are liquid at room temperature, and studies have shown that replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats may help lower coronary heart disease risk.
“When comparing the nutritional profile between the two, there is arguably a slight advantage in choosing plant-based butter over conventional butter, but not significant enough to strongly side with one either way, per se,” Mok told Verywell.
Anyone who wants to use vegan butter instead of traditional butter should check the nutrition label and ingredients list first. Look for products with lower amounts of saturated fats and higher amounts of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, Mok said.
Swap Butter for Oil
Since most vegan butter has saturated fats, nutrition experts often recommend using non-tropical oils like olive and safflower oil instead.
Research has shown that replacing butter with olive oil has health benefits. A 2021 study analysed data from over 521,000 older adults and found that using corn oil, canola oil, or olive oil instead of butter or margarine was associated with fewer deaths from cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. Another observational study in 2022 also concluded that using olive oil over butter led to lower mortality risk.
“If you replace saturated fats with those healthy vegetable oils, you will see a really clear reduction in the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, which is a very established risk factor for developing heart disease,” said Qi Sun, MD, ScD, an associate professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health who co-authored the 2022 study.
Enjoy Your Favourite Butter in Moderation
Nutrition guidelines recommend limiting saturated fat intake, but that doesn’t mean you have to give up butter or vegan butter completely.
When toasting bread, Mok recommends brushing olive oil on it instead of spreading butter. “But it’s also about moderation, too,” she said.
People who generally eat a diet lower in saturated fats and higher in healthy, unsaturated fats can also enjoy butter in moderation, Mok added.
”Adding a little regular butter or vegan butter either way definitely can fit into that healthy diet,” Mok said.
What This Means For You
While vegan butter may offer some health benefits over traditional butter, it's important to check the nutrition labels for saturated fat content. For a healthier alternative, consider using oils like olive or safflower oil in your cooking and enjoy butter, whether vegan or traditional, in moderation.
https://www.verywellhealth.com/vegan-butter-vs-regular-butter-8680213
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