Butter and milk -- real vs. substitutes?

[twoolf]

A post in another thread got me thinking, and in honor of Thanksgiving, I thought I'd ask what people on this board think about butter and milk.

Do you use real butter, or do you prefer a substitute like Smart Balance? Why? Real milk, Carb Countdown milk substitute, or no milk at all? Whole, two-percent, or skim? Why?

My personal opinion/approach: I like real butter and whole milk. My general approach to diet is, food should be as natural, unprocessed, and un-fouled-up as possible. Given a natural food or a man-made substitute, I'll take the natural food, and if calories are a concern, I'll eat less of it.

Along those lines, I'm big on grass-fed meat and dairy from grass-fed animals for a variety of reasons, including health. I check the company ratings on The Cornucopia Institute and buy butter, milk, and cream from reputable farms. PatureLand butter is fantasitic. Butter from a grass-fed cow is a rich, deep yellow, and tastes much better than typical grocery store fare. (While I buy pastured and organic, I don't go the extra mile to get raw milk -- that, for me, is too much trouble for not enough benefit -- though my family drank raw, un-homogonized milk from a local dairy for years when I was growing up.)

I'm not woried about fat content; a lot of research indicates that saturated fat isn't the boogeyman it's long been portrayed as. I'm too lazy to look up scientific citations right now, but I'll link to Adam Campbell and Jeff Volek's short piece at Men's Health, and another pretty good article from the same magazine as supporting docs.

So, that's me. What about other folks? Any nutrition gurus want to chime in?

[drs]

Alan wrote a nice article on milk in the December 2008 edition of Men's Health that you may want to look at. I drink skim milk. I'm getting plenty of saturated fat from other sources.

[Lost Dog]

I don't drink much milk, but I think it's fine if you can fit it into your diet.

Butter or canola/olive oil margarines are decent choices as long as the don't have hydrogenated oils in them.

Smart Balance spread is a marketing ploy and should be avoided. The number one ingredient is soybean oil, which is rich in Omega-6s. You get far more than you need of that, already. The fact that it also contains some Omega-3s is meaninless, as the 3:6 ratio is more important than the actual amounts. Lowering 6 intake is usually better for you than just adding more 3s.

[twoolf]

Originally Posted by Lost Dog

Smart Balance spread is a marketing ploy and should be avoided. The number one ingredient is soybean oil, which is rich in Omega-6s.

That's interesting. Since I don't eat Smart Balance, I've never actually looked at the ingredients. Gotta love food marketing.

[LisaS]

Real butter, plain Greek yogurt, sour cream, cream, cheese etc.
Rarely do I do anything with fluid milk, but if I do I use real whole milk. If I need something like fluid milk (say for pudding ), I buzz up some cottage cheese instead.
Grass fed if I can find it at a reasonable cost.
I plan to start a kefir colony soon (when I next drive to the town where my future source lives) so will use some milk for that.

[OldGuy]

Real butter and whole milk. I like the short ingredient lists on both.

[Alcoholiday]

Originally Posted by Lost Dog

I don't drink much milk, but I think it's fine if you can fit it into your diet.

Butter or canola/olive oil margarines are decent choices as long as the don't have hydrogenated oils in them.

Smart Balance spread is a marketing ploy and should be avoided. The number one ingredient is soybean oil, which is rich in Omega-6s. You get far more than you need of that, already. The fact that it also contains some Omega-3s is meaninless, as the 3:6 ratio is more important than the actual amounts. Lowering 6 intake is usually better for you than just adding more 3s.

true, except that it does have a lot less saturated fats than real butter does. If you're eating a diet with a good amount of eggs and meat, then i think smart balance is ok.

I use smart balance, occasionally real butter, and skim, .5% or 1% milk.

[RacerBill]

Originally Posted by twoolf

My general approach to diet is, food should be as natural, unprocessed, and un-fouled-up as possible. Given a natural food or a man-made substitute, I'll take the natural food, and if calories are a concern, I'll eat less of it.

Your philosophy pretty much matches mine. I prefer my food to come from a farm and not a factory.

I prefer the real stuff, but don't consume much of either. Maybe a little bit of butter once or twice a week. I don't care for it on veggies, and I don't eat bread very often these days.

I have a little 2% milk in my daily coffee. I don't usually drink milk much, either. Maybe when I'm cheating and eating some brownies or cookies.

[Cynic]

Originally Posted by drs

Alan wrote a nice article on milk in the December 2008 edition of Men's Health that you may want to look at. I drink skim milk. I'm getting plenty of saturated fat from other sources.

Did he use a Delorean to get it to the press on time?

[drs]

Guess I'm looking forward to the new year too much.

[Lost Dog]

Originally Posted by Alcoholiday

true, except that it does have a lot less saturated fats than real butter does. If you're eating a diet with a good amount of eggs and meat, then i think smart balance is ok.

I use smart balance, occasionally real butter, and skim, .5% or 1% milk.

If you can find Canola Harvest margarine, try it. It tastes better, too.

I don't eat a lot of butter. Most of my cooking is with oils and canola sprays. My daugher likes margarine better than butter, so I keep Canola Harvest around. Butter for when I want butter flavor on something.

You're right that SB is "ok." It's a better choice than regular margarine.

Have you ever tracked your foods to see how much sat fat you're getting? I eat a lot of meat and eggs, and my saturated fat percentage is still less than 1/3 of my fats. There's not as much sat fat in meats as most people think. Although, if you use a lot of whole milk, half and half, cream, and butter, it's easy to bump that up.

Originally Posted by OldGuy

Real butter and whole milk. I like the short ingredient lists on both.

[JoeKingss]

I'm a big cook for using the real things for cooking is a must in my kitchen. Although, when it comes down to the drinks and add-ons for a meal, I cut on the whole stuff and stick to either 2% or 1% milk with the artificial butters.

[cappuccino]

mmmm. I love butter. Wish I could eat it by itself, but unfortunately tastes best on bread. Don't really need it on veggies. Usually cook with a canola spray for eggs. When I feel like something on my veggies I'll usually use cheese or salad dressing made with canola/olive oil.

I like skim-2% milk. Usually drink 1% in my coffee but occasionally as for 2% if I'm hungry/need the extra calories or if the coffee is too strong. Grew up with skim, so whole milk tastes like cream to me, too rich.

[jrwhisky]

in response to the margerines with soy in it, since most of you are fitness enthusiests I wouldn't recommend soy products at all. They have lots of phyto estrogens, more estrogen means less testosterone. It also has the unique ability to rob your body of nutrients. Real butter is also the one can be used for cooking because the fats its heat stable. Well you could use margerine of any kind it was just be a lot worse for you after heating it.

[Cynic]

Originally Posted by cappuccino

mmmm. I love butter. Wish I could eat it by itself, but unfortunately tastes best on bread. Don't really need it on veggies. Usually cook with a canola spray for eggs. When I feel like something on my veggies I'll usually use cheese or salad dressing made with canola/olive oil.

I use a tbsp of butter when I boil up rice. Helps keep it from sticking and doesn't get rancid like OO.

I also throw a tbsp into the pan when I make scrambled eggs...yumm.

I think at the most, I have 2 tbsp/day and probably not quite that either.