Butter increased total and LDL cholesterol compared with olive oil but resulted in higher HDL cholesterol compared with a habitual diet

Abstract

Background: Butter is known to have a cholesterol-raising effect and, therefore, has often been included as a negative control in dietary studies, whereas the effect of moderate butter intake has not been elucidated to our knowledge. Objective: We compared the effects of moderate butter intake, moderate olive oil intake, and a habitual diet on blood lipids, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), glucose, and insulin. Design: The study was a controlled, double-blinded, randomized 2 3 5-wk crossover dietary intervention study with a 14-d run-in period during which subjects consumed their habitual diets. The study included 47 healthy men and women (mean 6 SD total cholesterol: 5.22 6 0.90 mmol/L) who substituted a part of their habitual diets with 4.5% of energy from butter or refined olive oil. Results: Study subjects were 70% women with a mean age and body mass index (in kg/m 2 ) of 40.4 y and 23.5, respectively. Butter intake increased total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol more than did olive oil intake (P , 0.05) and the run-in period (P , 0.005 and P , 0.05, respectively) and increased HDL cholesterol compared with the run-in period (P , 0.05). No difference in effects was observed for triacylglycerol, hsCRP, insulin, and glucose concentrations. The intake of saturated fatty acids was significantly higher in the butter period than in the olive oil and run-in periods (P , 0.0001). Conclusions: Moderate intake of butter resulted in increases in total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol compared with the effects of olive oil intake and a habitual diet (run-in period). Furthermore, moderate butter intake was also followed by an increase in HDL cholesterol compared with the habitual diet. We conclude that hypercholesterolemic people should keep their consumption of butter to a minimum, whereas moderate butter intake may be considered part of the diet in the normocholesterolemic population. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials. gov as NCT02116829.Am J Clin Nutr 2015;102:309-15.

Randomised trial of coconut oil, olive oil or butter on blood lipids and other cardiovascular risk factors in healthy men and women

“…In this trial, the difference of 0.33 mmol/L in LDL-C on butter compared with olive oil is consistent with previous studies. 25 …”

Dietary Patterns in Relation to Cardiovascular Disease Incidence and Risk Markers in a Middle-Aged British Male Population: Data from the Caerphilly Prospective Study

“…These discrepancies could be partly attributed to diet-disease relationships being dependent on the foods that replace SFA and possibly the specific food sources of SFA [ 46 ]. More specifically, diets high in SFA from butter were consistently associated with increases in plasma total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol in well-controlled randomised trials [ 47 , 48 ] and SFA replacement with unsaturated fats was associated with significant reduction in CHD [ 42 , 43 ]. In the present study, consumption of butter and lard were the main contributors to the high SFA intake, which is in agreement with previous CaPS findings showing that butter consumption was associated with multiple markers of increased CVD risk, in particular BP and vascular stiffness [ 49 ].…”

Food intake patterns and cardiovascular risk factors in Japanese adults: analyses from the 2012 National Health and nutrition survey, Japan

“…In spite of high HDL-C levels, we speculate that these certain number of subjects with CETP deficiency had increased risk of dyslipidemia. Furthermore, this direct association of increased HDL cholesterol with the Westernized pattern might be mediated by lower carbohydrates [ 41 ] and higher saturated fat intake [ 42 ] and butter [ 43 ] among those in the highest quartile of the Westernized pattern.…”