Know2eat

Butter

Also known as Sweet cream butter, Unsalted butter, Beurre

SaveCompare

Cream churned until the fat globules coalesce and separate from the buttermilk, leaving a product that is overwhelmingly fat. Cultured butter is churned from cream fermented first, which is where its tang comes from.

Heart HealthWeight Management

Potential health benefits

Best supported: Moderate

Ordered by how well the human research supports them — strongest first. A rating describes the state of the evidence, not how impressive the food is. How we rate evidence.

Blood lipid profile

Heart Health
Moderate evidence

Research suggests butter raises LDL cholesterol compared with unsaturated plant oils in controlled feeding trials. This is a claim about direction of effect rather than a benefit, and it is one of the more consistent findings in diet-lipid research.

What may be going on: Saturated fatty acids, particularly palmitic acid, downregulate hepatic LDL receptor activity and slow LDL clearance.

Moderate evidence. Several human studies point the same way, with real caveats.

2 sources

Deep research mode adds each paper’s own conclusion and stated limitations.

Cardiovascular risk markers

Heart Health
Limited evidence

Observational data on butter and cardiovascular events is weaker and less consistent than the lipid trial data would predict, which is a genuine and unresolved tension in this literature rather than a point in butter favour.

Limited evidence. Early human work, or mostly lab and animal research.

1 source

Deep research mode adds each paper’s own conclusion and stated limitations.

Body composition

Weight Management
Insufficient evidence

Evidence is limited for butter affecting body composition. Claims built on its conjugated linoleic acid content come from supplement trials using doses many times what butter supplies, and those trials themselves report small and inconsistent effects.

Insufficient evidence. Not enough human research to say anything useful yet.

2 sources

Deep research mode adds each paper’s own conclusion and stated limitations.

Ask about Butter

Ask about Butter

Answers are written only from the entries on this page — the same nutrients, compounds, claims and citations you can read above. Nothing is added from outside the database, and every answer lists what it was built from.

AI explanations are not switched on for this site, so there is nothing to ask here. Everything above is read straight from the database and does not need them.

Key nutrients

Nutrient content per 100 grams
NutrientAmount% DV
Macronutrients
Calories717 kcal36%
Protein0.85 g2%
Total fat81.1 g104%
Carbohydrate0.06 g0%
Fibre0 g0%
Total sugars0.06 g—
Water16.2 g—
Fats
Saturated fat50.5 g252%
Monounsaturated fat23.4 g—
Polyunsaturated fat3.01 g—
Cholesterol215 mg72%
ALA (omega-3)0.315 g—
EPA (omega-3)0 g—
DHA (omega-3)0 g—
DPA (omega-3)0 g—
Linoleic acid (omega-6)1.83 g—
Vitamins
Vitamin A684 µg76%
Vitamin C0 mg0%
Vitamin D0 µg0%
Vitamin E2.32 mg15%
Vitamin K7 µg6%
Thiamin (B1)0.0050 mg0%
Riboflavin (B2)0.034 mg3%
Niacin (B3)0.042 mg0%
Pantothenic acid (B5)0.11 mg2%
Vitamin B60.0030 mg0%
Folate3 µg1%
Vitamin B120.17 µg7%
Choline18.8 mg3%
Minerals
Calcium24 mg2%
Iron0.02 mg0%
Magnesium2 mg0%
Phosphorus24 mg2%
Potassium24 mg1%
Sodium11 mg0%
Zinc0.09 mg1%
Copper0.016 mg2%
Manganese0.0040 mg0%
Selenium1 µg2%
Other measured compounds
Beta-carotene158 µg—
Alpha-carotene0 µg—
Lycopene0 µg—
Lutein + zeaxanthin0 µg—
Caffeine0 mg—
Ash0.09 g—

Nutrient values are per 100 g of the USDA reference entry named on this page and vary with variety, growing conditions, storage and preparation.

Source record: Butter, without salt (USDA FoodData Central, FDC ID 173430).

% DV uses the FDA Daily Values for adults and children aged 4 and over. A dash means no Daily Value has been established for that nutrient.

Bioactive compounds

Compounds present in meaningful amounts. Presence is banded rather than quantified, because whole-food levels vary enormously with variety, growing conditions, storage and preparation.

How preparation changes things

Only effects with real support are listed. If a preparation method is missing, it is because nothing dependable is documented — not because it makes no difference.

  • cookedChanges milk solids and smoke point

    Clarifying butter removes water and milk solids, which raises the usable cooking temperature and removes most of the lactose and residual protein.

Things to know

Allergies, interactions and intake concerns. Every food gets this section — a reference where everything is uniformly good is not a reference.

  • Too much

    Saturated fat and LDL cholesterol

    Butter fat is dominated by saturated fatty acids, and controlled feeding trials consistently show it raises LDL cholesterol relative to unsaturated plant oils. This is one of the better-replicated diet-lipid findings.

  • Allergy

    Milk protein traces

    Butter contains small amounts of residual milk protein and is not reliably safe for people with cow milk protein allergy. Clarified butter and ghee contain less but are not protein-free.

  • Too much

    Sodium in salted butter

    Salted butter carries meaningful sodium, which adds up in baking and spreading. The USDA entry named here is the unsalted version.