Butter is a beloved ingredient in countless kitchens and a go-to fat source for those embracing the ketogenic lifestyle. Its high-fat content aligns perfectly with the keto diet's principles. But with so many options available, which butter reigns supreme in the keto world? This article explores the best butters for keto, their benefits, and how to incorporate them into your diet.
Understanding Butter and the Keto Diet
The ketogenic diet emphasizes consuming a high proportion of fats, moderate protein, and very few carbohydrates. This macronutrient distribution shifts the body into a metabolic state called ketosis, where it primarily burns fat for energy instead of glucose from carbohydrates.
Butter, created by churning cream or milk to separate milk solids from fat, fits seamlessly into this framework. It's naturally high in fat and low in carbohydrates, making it a keto-friendly staple. The precise amount of butter to consume varies depending on individual needs and overall daily calorie goals. A general guideline is to derive 70-80% of daily calories from fat. One tablespoon of butter provides approximately 11.5 grams of fat, allowing for easy macro calculation.
Top Butter Choices for Keto
Grass-Fed Butter
Opting for high-quality, grass-fed butter is widely considered the best choice for a keto diet. Grass-fed butter comes from cows that graze on natural pastures, resulting in a richer nutritional profile.
Benefits of Grass-Fed Butter:
- Higher CLA Content: Grass-fed butter boasts a significantly higher concentration of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) than butter from grain-fed cows. CLA is a fatty acid that may promote fat loss and potentially reduce the risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease. Studies show that grass-fed butter can contain up to five times more CLA.
- Increased Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Grass-fed varieties contain more omega-3 fatty acids, essential for brain health and reducing inflammation.
- Vitamins and Minerals: Grass-grazed raw butter, cheese and cream from grass-grazed cows contain vitamins A, D, E and K.
Raw Butter
Grass-grazed raw butter may be one of the healthiest dairy products on a ketogenic diet menu. Grass-grazed raw butter is basically pure raw fat; it has zero carbs, zero sugars and zero grams of protein. As you can see, most of butters' fat is saturated. If you're on a ketogenic diet, you probably already know that saturated fat is healthy.
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Ghee (Clarified Butter)
Ghee is clarified butter with milk solids and water removed. It's made by heating butter and skimming away the milk solids after they separate. Ghee has a deeper golden color and distinct nutty flavor before they’re skimmed and discarded.
Benefits of Ghee:
- Pure Butterfat: Ghee is almost pure butterfat, making it an excellent option for those sensitive to lactose or milk proteins.
- Higher Smoke Point: Ghee has a higher smoke point than butter, making it suitable for high-heat cooking methods.
- Extended Shelf Life: The removal of milk solids gives ghee a longer shelf life.
Other Keto-Friendly Butters and Alternatives
While traditional butter and ghee are excellent choices, other options can add variety to your keto diet.
- Nut Butters: Nut butter is essentially ground up nuts into a paste-like texture that can be used as a butter. Seeds can also be processed in the same way to produce a seed butter, like tahini (ground sesame seeds). Most nut butters are high in healthy fats - monounsaturated fatty acids, which have incredible anti-inflammatory properties. Macadamia nut butter comes top of the list because of its incredibly low carb content compared to all other nuts. Walnuts contain a significant amount of Omega-3 fatty acids - some of those healthy fats you want plenty of on Keto.
- Coconut Oil: Coconut oil is an excellent substitute for butter in baking recipes. It's rich in medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) that can boost ketone production and potentially increase metabolic rate.
- Avocado: Avocado is an excellent substitute for butter in recipes that call for a creamy texture.
How to Incorporate Butter into Your Keto Diet
Butter's versatility makes it easy to incorporate into various keto meals and snacks.
- Cooking: Butter is used in many cooking applications, such as sautéing, frying, and roasting.
- Baking: Butter is also essential in many keto baking mixes, such as our keto chocolate cake.
- Bulletproof Coffee: For those who follow a keto diet, bulletproof coffee is a popular choice for breakfast.
- Spread: Spread butter on keto-friendly bread, such as almond flour bread or coconut flour bread.
- Radishes with Butter and Flaky Salt: The classic French snack of radishes with butter and flaky salt?
Salted vs. Unsalted Butter on Keto
One of the considerations when choosing between salted and unsalted butter on a keto diet is the amount of sodium intake. Salted butter, as the name suggests, has added salt. While a small amount of salt can enhance the flavour of butter, excessive consumption of salted butter may lead to water retention and bloating in some individuals, especially if they already have a high-sodium diet. Therefore, those who want to keep their sodium intake under control may opt for unsalted butter to manage their overall sodium consumption better.
Considerations and Potential Drawbacks
While butter offers numerous benefits on a keto diet, it's essential to be mindful of a few factors:
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- Lactose and Protein Sensitivity: Butter is a dairy product, which means it contains lactose. Also, some people may have a sensitivity to the proteins in butter. Those with sensitivities should opt for ghee, which has milk solids removed.
- Calorie Density: Butter is a high-calorie food, and consuming too much of it can lead to weight gain. Moderation is key.
Fats to Limit on Keto
While fat makes up the majority of the calories on a ketogenic diet, not all sources of fat are good for your health - even if they fit into the macronutrient distribution of your diet plan.
- Artificial trans fats: Artificially produced trans fats are known for significantly increasing heart disease risk and should be avoided, regardless of the type of diet you’re following (26).
- Processed meats: Processed meats, such as deli meat, sausages, salami, hot dogs, and cured and smoked meats, are frequently advertised as keto friendly. While these foods technically fit into a ketogenic diet plan, several studies have found an association between high intake of processed meats and an increased risk of cancers of the digestive tract (29).
- Fried foods: Deep-fried foods are included in some ketogenic diet plans, but you may want to think twice before adding them to yours. Fried foods tend to be high in trans fats, which can increase your risk of heart disease (26).
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