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BUTTER! I love butter.

Real butter. And when I’m cooking, I don’t skimp.

When I was growing up in the 1970s it was totally uncool to eat butter. We ate margarine instead.

Why?

Because that’s what the margarine-manufacturing companies told us would be healthier. They promised us it would reduce our saturated fats. And it did. But, unfortunately, the rates of obesity and diabetes only increased. Yikes!

Human beings have been eating butter for thousands of years. Why, all of a sudden, was butter bad for us? I hate to say it, but it comes down to money. Companies could make more money manufacturing something that is quasi-plastic and selling it to us as a butter replacement.

THAT’S uncool.

Butter, on the other hand is über-cool.

Especially this Irish butter than we’ve been getting lately. The brand is Kerrygold, and it is amazingly good.

It’s a deep, rich yellow. Not like those pale sticks that are oh so common today.

Butter… Yum!

If you want to learn more about how good real butter really is for us, then check out The 20 Health Benefits of Real Butter.

I also want to invite you to check out Real Food Wednesdays, hosted by Kelly The Kitchen Kop and CheeseSlave.

Here’s a taste of what you will find over at BodyEcology.com about the benefits of butter:

  1. Butter is rich in the most easily absorbable form of Vitamin A necessary for thyroid and adrenal health.
  2. Contains lauric acid, important in treating fungal infections and candida.
  3. Contains lecithin, essential for cholesterol metabolism.
  4. Contains anti-oxidants that protect against free radical damage.
  5. Has anti-oxidants that protect against weakening arteries.
  6. Is a great source of Vitamins E and K.
  7. Is a very rich source of the vital mineral selenium.
  8. Saturated fats in butter have strong anti-tumor and anti-cancer properties.
  9. Butter contains conjugated linoleic acid, which is a potent anti-cancer agent, muscle builder, and immunity booster
  10. Vitamin D found in butter is essential to absorption of calcium.
  11. Protects against tooth decay.
  12. Is your only source of an anti-stiffness factor, which protects against calcification of the joints.
  13. Anti-stiffness factor in butter also prevents hardening of the arteries, cataracts, and calcification of the pineal gland.
  14. Is a source of Activator X, which helps your body absorb minerals.
  15. Is a source of iodine in highly absorbable form.
  16. May promote fertility in women.9
  17. Is a source of quick energy, and is not stored in our bodies adipose tissue.
  18. Cholesterol found in butterfat is essential to children’s brain and nervous system development.
  19. Contains Arachidonic Acid (AA) which plays a role in brain function and is a vital component of cell membranes.
  20. Protects against gastrointestinal infections in the very young or the elderly.

So, load up on some delicious butter and…

Bon appetit!

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Photo courtesy of Miss Shari on Flickr.com.