Catalyz Nutrition

Butter is not only delicious, but -- contrary to popular opinion -- is also highly nourishing.    Americans have lost sight of this fact in the past 40 years.   

According to Dr. Mary Enig, the esteemed U.S. fats researcher who was the first academic to sound the alarm on the dangers of artifically hydrogenated trans fats back in the 70s, we've got the butter story backwards.   In her article "Why Butter is Better," she writes:

"Heart disease was rare in America at the turn of the century.   Between 1920 and 1960, the incidence of heart disease rose precipitously to become America's number one killer.   During the same period butter consumption plummeted from 18 pounds per person per year to 4.    It doesn't take a Ph.D. in statistics to conclude that butter is not a cause.   Actually butter contains many nutrients that protect us from heart disease.   First among these is vitamin A, which is needed for the health of the thyroid and adrenal glands, both of which play a role in maintaining the proper functioning of the heart and cardiovascular system."

Butter contains a number of anti-oxidants (vitamins A and E chief among them) that protect us against the kind of free radical damage and inflammation that can contribute to cancer and weaken our arteries. Butter also is a very rich source of selenium, a vital anti-oxidant;  it contains more per gram than herring or wheat germ.   Butter is rich in the short- and medium-chain fatty acids that are proven to have strong anti-tumor and immune-strengthening effects.    These fatty acids also have strong anti-fungal effects, which means they contribute to gut health and help control candida overgrowth.

Many studies vindicate butter.   For example, a Medical Research Council study published in 1991 showed that men eating butter ran half the risk of developing heart disease as those using margarine.

More importantly to those of us striving to fit into last year's jeans, butter is not an enemy of weight loss.   According to Dr. Enig:

"The notion that butter causes weight gain is a sad misconception.  The short- and medium chain fatty acids in butter are not stored in the adipose tissue [that would be the tissue you do NOT want on your hips!] but are used for quick energy.   Fat tissue in humans is composed mainly of longer chain fatty acids.   These come from olive oil and polyunsaturated oils as well as from refined carbohydrates." 

To up the nutrient density of your butter, consider treating yourself to the ultimate in good taste and nutrition:   butter from cows fed grass at pasture, not grain in tight, dark industrial quarters.    Being outside, cows develop more Vitamin D in their flesh and milk, and eating the carotenes in grass, their Vitamin A levels skyrocket.    I buy my favorite "pastured" butter  twice a year in large quantities from a great farm in Minnesota (see http://www.pastureland.coop/products/butter) and freeze it.   Visiting dinner guests marvel at its otherworldly good taste.

Which leads to a few ideas on how to incorporate more butter into your (and your children's) diets. 

First of all, consider topping your cooked vegetables with butter; eating vegetables with fats enables your body to more fully absorb the vitamins and minerals in those vegetables -- and helps immensely on the taste front.    

Secondly, toss your microwave popcorn packets in the trash; they're riddled with unhealthy fats and flavor enhancers like MSG.   Buy a $19 air popper (yes, the kind you had in college!) and pop away.   Your kids will love filling the little "shelf" with butter and watching it melt as the popcorn flies into the waiting bowl.

Finally -- today's recipe, featuring (you guessed it) a very surprising but delicious way to use butter for a sweet, healthy snack or dessert.   I love recipes with 3 whole food ingredients or less, which take less than 10 minutes to make.   This one qualifies.

Take several peeled bananas or apples (or other kinds of fruit) and chop them up.    Toss in a pan on the stove, add 2-4 tablespoons of butter, and saute until the fruit is soft.     If desired, add a little honey, maple syrup, or stevia to sweeten.     Eat straight up in a bowl for an end-of-meal sweet.   Or top with (real) whipped cream if you happen to have it around.    This sauteed fruit also makes a great topping for pancakes or ice cream.