Eating at least five grams of butter a day can reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes and heart disease

By PAT HAGAN

Published: 00:29 BST, 8 June 2025 | Updated: 00:29 BST, 8 June 2025

Spread the news – butter might actually reduce your risk of heart disease, according to scientists.

They found tucking into at least five grams a day – or roughly a teaspoonful – reduced the risk of Type 2 diabetes, a major cause of heart disease, by almost a third.

Butter also increased levels of so-called ‘good’ cholesterol in the blood and lowered those of harmful fats known to clog up arteries and lead to heart attacks and strokes.

 The findings, by researchers from Boston University in the US, fly in the face of decades of research showing saturated fats such as butter contribute to potentially fatal cardiac disease.

At the same time, popular margarines introduced as a ‘healthy’ replacement for butter had the opposite effect – raising the risk of diabetes by more than 40 per cent and heart problems by 30 per cent. 

Studies linking diets rich in dairy fats with cardiovascular problems first emerged in the 1960s, when scientists investigated the link between Western eating habits and soaring rates of heart disease.

As a result, medical advice has stressed the need to reduce the consumption of animal fats to protect the heart against damage.

But more recent studies have questioned butter’s connection with blocked arteries and found it contains ingredients which may actually be good for the heart.

Spread the news – butter might actually reduce your risk of heart disease, according to scientists

The Boston University team tracked almost 2,500 men and women over the age of 30 for several decades, recording what they ate and how many went on to develop diabetes or heart disease.

The results, published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, showed those who ate 5g or more a day were 31 per cent less likely to develop Type 2 diabetes – which is usually caused by poor diet and a poor lifestyle – than those eating little or no butter.

Meanwhile, those eating margarines faced a bigger risk of heart problems.

 Researchers stressed this was probably due to unhealthy trans fats being used from the 1970s onwards in margarines, but which have now largely been phased out of most spreads.

WHAT SHOULD A BALANCED DIET LOOK LIKE? 

Meals should be based on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates, ideally wholegrain, according to the NHS

• Eat at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables every day. All fresh, frozen, dried and canned fruit and vegetables count

• Base meals on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates, ideally wholegrain

• 30 grams of fibre a day: This is the same as eating all of the following: 5 portions of fruit and vegetables, 2 whole-wheat cereal biscuits, 2 thick slices of wholemeal bread and large baked potato with the skin on

• Have some dairy or dairy alternatives (such as soya drinks) choosing lower fat and lower sugar options

• Eat some beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins (including 2 portions of fish every week, one of which should be oily)

• Choose unsaturated oils and spreads and consuming in small amounts

• Drink 6-8 cups/glasses of water a day

• Adults should have less than 6g of salt and 20g of saturated fat for women or 30g for men a day

Source: NHS Eatwell Guide  

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Eating at least five grams of butter a day can reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes and heart disease

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