Is Butter Keto-Friendly? Benefits of Butter on Keto

Butter is rich in anti-inflammatory butyric acid, conjugated linoleic acid, and unsaturated fats, which are linked to various health benefits. 

But is butter keto-friendly? Yes, butter contains no carbs and is safe to enjoy on a keto diet.

Learn why grass-fed butter is the best option for a nutritious ketogenic diet, and discover why eating butter won’t significantly raise your cholesterol levels.

How many carbs are in butter?

Butter is a staple in many keto meal prep routines and a perfect ingredient for a low-carb diet. 

One tablespoon (14 grams) of butter contains around 0.02 grams of carbs, which isn’t enough to impact blood sugar or insulin levels.

However, it’s important to remember that some butter products may contain carbs.

While salted and unsalted butter is typically carb-free, flavored or sweetened butter spreads can contain up to ten carbs per tablespoon, which can be enough to kick you out of ketosis.

Always check the nutrition label for the carbohydrate content of the butter product you plan to use.

Watch the video below to discover the amazing benefits of eating butter on keto. 

Is butter keto-friendly?

Yes, butter is keto-friendly and a perfect addition to a nutritious low-carb diet like Healthy Keto®. 

It’s rich in health-promoting fats and a staple keto ingredient that’s ideal for pan-frying and sauteing vegetables. Butter works in a wide range of keto recipes, from Keto Buttercream Fat Bombs to Keto Garlic Lemon Butter Steak. 

Butter is also essential for making keto butter coffee, known as Bulletproof coffee. 

Drinking coffee mixed with butter and coconut oil–a rich source of medium-chain triglycerides–promotes ketosis and can help to extend fasting periods.

Butter and cholesterol on keto

You may have heard that consuming butter can raise cholesterol levels and increase the risk of heart disease. This is a common misconception.

Butter contains saturated fats, and it has previously been thought that this type of fat can elevate cholesterol. 

However, a recent study published in Progress in Cardiovascular Disease has since refuted this claim and found that saturated fat intake doesn’t elevate low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the type of cholesterol associated with an increased risk of heart disease.¹

In fact, the study found that high-carb diets, not saturated fatty acids, are linked to increased cholesterol production and cardiovascular disease, which explains why a ketogenic diet can lower cholesterol levels and promote heart health.  

Consuming carbs and sugars stimulates enzymes in the liver to produce cholesterol, which can cause significantly elevated blood cholesterol levels. In contrast, fatty acids don’t stimulate hepatic cholesterol production.

What’s more, one tablespoon of butter contains around 30 milligrams of cholesterol, which is minimal compared to the 1500 milligrams of cholesterol produced in the liver daily.  

Five benefits of butter on keto

Butter contains a complex mix of more than 400 fatty acids and phospholipids, including butyric acid and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), two potent anti-inflammatory food compounds with impressive health benefits.

“Regularly consuming butter helps you lose weight, may lower your risk of colon cancer, and has been found to improve metabolic health and insulin sensitivity,” explains Dr. Berg. 

Here are five reasons why you should eat butter on keto!

1. Nutritional powerhouse 

Butter, especially grass-fed butter, is a rich source of several nutrients needed for cellular functions, energy production, growth and development, and hormonal balance.

Butter is an excellent source of:

• Vitamin A 
• Vitamin E
• Vitamin K
• Beta-carotene 
• Phosphorus
• Magnesium
• Potassium
• Calcium
• Conjugated linoleic acid
• Butyric acid 
• Antioxidants   

2. Promotes metabolic health 

Butter can enhance the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar and insulin levels, a crucial aspect of metabolic health.

Both butyric acid and CLA have been found to promote insulin sensitivity, a measure of how well your cells respond to insulin. This can significantly lower the risk of insulin resistance, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and fatty liver disease.   

3. Aids weight loss

Butter is rich in healthy fats, promotes satiety, and may boost fat-burning, which explains why eating butter can make you thin.

CLA is needed to transport fats within the body and increases the activity of enzymes necessary to break down and utilize fats for energy production.

This fat-burning effect of CLA has been studied extensively, and research published in The Journal of Food Science found that “CLA may be effective at protecting against fat mass regain following weight loss.”²

4. May lower the risk of cancer

Evidence published in Agricultural and Biological Sciences suggests that eating butter may play a role in reducing the risk of colorectal cancer.³

Butyric acid in butter has been found to promote normal cellular function and may inhibit the growth of cancerous cells in the colon, which is linked to a lower risk of colon polyps associated with cancer development.

5. Natural antimicrobial

Butyric acid is an antimicrobial short-chain fatty acid that may be effective against bacterial strains linked to food poisoning and gastrointestinal infections such as E. Coli and Salmonella.

In addition, butyric acid is a fuel source for friendly gut bacteria, which promote balanced immune responses and lower the risk of intestinal health issues, including inflammatory bowel disease and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO).    

Best type of butter to have on keto

Grass-fed butter has more nutritional benefits than grain-fed butter and is an excellent choice for Healthy Keto. 

Grass-fed cattle have access to pasture and forage on a natural diet of grasses and weeds, which results in butter that contains more nutrients such as beta-carotene and vitamin K and has more unsaturated fatty acids than conventional butter.

Grass-fed butter also contains omega-3 fats, making it a great alternative to salmon and mackerel for people who don’t like the taste of fatty fish.

How much butter can you have on keto?

Butter contains no carbs and won’t kick you out of ketosis. However, it’s an energy-dense food that’s high in calories, and eating too much butter can slow down your weight loss.

The liver utilizes dietary fats before breaking down stored body fat. Consuming large amounts of butter can shift your metabolism away from burning body fat as an energy source, which can hinder weight loss.

How much butter you can consume on keto also depends on your daily caloric needs and metabolic health.  

One tablespoon of butter contains 14 grams of fat, which can be as much as ten percent of your daily fat requirements.   

FAQ

Sources

1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26586275/ ?
2. https://ift.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1750-3841.2007.00477.x ?
3. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/nursing-and-health-professions/butyric-acid ?