Dairy based butters are part of every household for decades. Earlier, with people taking full fat milk, butters used to be made at home. However, in today’s fast paced lifestyle and people preferring toned milks, butters are generally bought from the store shelf

We have eaten dairy butters for so long ?

We are eating milk-based butters since childhood hence there is no doubt on their acceptability or taste. At the same time, it's is a bitter truth that Cardiovascular diseases in India have seen a sharp increase. This has prompted lot of research into the diet patterns and lifestyle habits and one detailed point of research is Saturated fats.

Saturated fats are part of Fats group and have been a major component in animal-based products. There is strong & consistent relationship between saturated fat intake & blood cholesterol levels thus leading to Heart diseases.

Many health authorities such as the (1) Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, (2) British Dietetic Association, (3) American Heart Association, (4) the World Heart Federation, (5) the British National Health Service among others advise that saturated fat is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) in May 2015 recommends switching from saturated to unsaturated fats

Unsaturated fats (also called good fat) on the other side are liquid at room temperature and help provide the HDL Cholesterol which clears the plaque deposited in arteries and hence improves overall cardio vascular health

We will detail out the differences between Saturated and Unsaturated fats in separate article however for now let’s go back to butters

Nutrition values of a dairy butter

Below is the typical nutrition profile of a leading brand of Milk based butter

• More than 50% content is saturated fat
• Negligible protein
• Presence of trance fats
• Very low in micronutrients like Calcium, Iron, Potassium

There is no doubt that saturated fat is also a requirement of the body and 10-13 grams/day of this fat can be taken. However, with various foods taken during the day, most people exceed this threshold.  

Many alternates to saturated fat-based breakfast and snacks are being explored and this has resulted in popularity of nut butters.

Nut Butters

We will be honest that with this article, we are making people aware of 9GRAMS Nut Butters. However, the aim of this blog is also to make people know the world of nut butters which are tasty and healthy alternate to dairy butter

Nut Butters (in comparison to dairy butter) have: 

• 34% less calories
• 42 times more protein
• 80% less Saturated Fat
• 20% more Monounsaturated fat
• 5 times more Calcium
• Contains Iron unlike dairy butter

Not Just Peanut Butter

Earlier Peanut butter was the only alternative to the dairy butter, but over the years, development in the technologies and the consumer awareness about the plant-based butters, has led to the development of other nut butters like Almond, Hazelnut, Pumpkin Seed etc. All these are very good source of protein, fibre, essential fatty acids and other nutrients.

The term plant based (Nut/Seed) butter refers to a product that contains at least 90 % nut/seed ingredients whereas, the spread refers to a spreadable product having at least 40 % nut ingredients which can be added in various forms, e.g. as nuts or a paste

The change we need

Conclusion from above explanation is not to discard milk-based butter completely, but introduce nut butters slowly in your regular diet. Due to ease of packaging and spreadability, nut butters go very well on toast, on a bowl of oats or as a simple dip.

At least 2-3 days a week will also be a good start to develop taste for different varieties.  

With all these benefits, now you know Why Virat Kohli carries nut butter jar with him wherever he travels 😊