Why Butter Helps You Lose Weight

author avatar Dr. Eric Berg 08/31/2023

If you were to go up to your family, friends, or co-workers and ask them, “Does butter help you lose weight?” you can imagine the answers you’d get.

“Absolutely not! It's full of saturated fat.”

“It will make you gain weight, not lose it.”

“Are you nuts? Butter has a million calories!”

But I want to show you some data that’s quite interesting.

Let’s dive in.

This Is The Reason Butter Can Promote Weight Loss

a picture of fresh butter on a cutting board garnished with a sprig of green leaves


Butter contains what’s called butyric acid, a short-chain fatty acid. Butyric acid is also directly synthesized by bacteria in your colon during the fermentation process for non-digestible fiber such as is contained in cooked spinach and raspberries.

Why is this important?

Because butyric acid has the capacity to improve Fat Storing Hormone resistance, which is a condition underlying weight gain (and is also a pre-diabetic state). When you are Fat Storing Hormone resistant, your Fat Storing Hormone levels are high. You can’t lose weight in Fat Storing Hormone’s presence, because it’s the hormone that instructs your body to hold on to fat. Therefore, anything that lowers Fat Storing Hormone or helps improve Fat Storing Hormone resistance will help you lose weight.

This is one reason why I strongly encourage you to adopt the ketogenic diet when you sharply limit your carbohydrate intake to 20-50 grams per day as one way to start to lower your Fat Storing Hormone levels. If you’re eating butter as part of the standard American diet with its sky-high amounts of carbohydrates, sugar, and protein, you won’t get the weight loss benefits that butter offers.

So, the best bang for your buck comes from a combination of the ketogenic diet - along with intermittent fasting. Eat butter as part of this weight loss protocol - the keto diet emphasizes healthy fats. Butter is a very healthy fat as long as it’s from grass-fed cows.

But wait, there’s more.

The Other Health Benefits Of Butter

Butyric acid also has the potential to reduce inflammation in your body. While inflammation is a natural process that helps your body heal and defend itself from harm, it becomes destructive if it’s chronic.

Chronic inflammation may last for weeks, months, or years, and has been linked to various health problems such as diabetes, auto-immune diseases, and even cancer. Thus, adopting the keto diet combined with fasting, and with grass-fed butter as a component, will go a long way toward reducing inflammation in your body as well as helping you lose weight.

As well, butyric acid supports the health of your gut. Most of the scientific research on its benefits focuses primarily on the gastrointestinal tract, where it seems to have the most significant effects. This makes sense because butyric acid comes mostly from food and from fermentation in the gut microbiome.

Studies have shown that butyric acid can have positive impacts on people with bowel disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn’s disease.

You can see how butter not only helps you lose weight but promotes significant additional health benefits too.

How To Use Butter On Keto

Most of us are used to slathering butter on biscuits, toast, or popcorn - all of which aren’t eaten on a keto diet. So, what are some ways you can eat it and remain adherent to keto?

You can:

  • Make ghee - clarified butter - or buy it at the store. Ghee has been used for thousands of years and is a delightful twist on the usual butter we’re used to. Melt it in a pan and cook eggs or saute vegetables with it.
  • Drizzle melted butter over steamed vegetables
  • Add it to your coffee
  • Use butter to cook your steaks in
  • Make a keto-friendly version of the classic Indian dish butter chicken

Simply type the phrase “keto recipes with butter” into your preferred search engine to discover hundreds of delicious recipes.

Time To Bump Your Weight Loss With Butter

I know there are people who find it hard to believe that butter promotes weight loss. They’ll skip over this advice without trying it.

But you’re not one of them. You now know the reason why butter supports your weight loss, and you can see other strong benefits that eating butter can provide.

As I mentioned, make sure you get butter from grass-fed cows in order to get its maximum nutritional benefits.

Then enjoy this delicious treat as part of a healthy keto diet.

You’ll be glad you did. Losing weight doesn’t have to mean you deprive yourself. Eat up!

ladie’s silhouette drawings from left to right going from fat to thin


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Disclaimer: Our educational content is not meant or intended for medical advice or treatment.

Editor’s Note: This post has been updated for quality and relevancy.

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