What the study (well, the abstract) actually says:
The relationship between butter and plant-based oil intakes and mortality remains unclear, with conflicting results from previous studies.
I’m all for more people switching over, I’m just pointing out this is typical science-filtered-through-journalism and not the hmm-interesting-we-should-look-further-into-this that I’m getting from the source.
Vegan circles are full of bad science (and worse, pseudo science) and it makes us look really bad. We’re so quick to accept any validating claims of veganism with literally no fact checking. Please for the love of seitan, don’t take random articles at face value, dig a little deeper!
And I’ll recommend that people read Bad Science by Ben Goldacre.
I’m not vegan, but awful science reporting is by no means limited to vegan circles. It’s practically the default.
Occam’s Razor has to be employed here:
They are both sources of fat, one animal basis, one vegetable basis.
Ultimately, the overall amount of fat consumed and the ratio to carbohydrates is probably key.
People will gladly put butter on bread, but not smear it in olive oil – same with the idea of mashed potatoes.
The most likely contributor towards the plant oils being healthier is, I can only assume, their makeup of Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids. Most research seems to suggest that having a more balanced ratio of omega 3 and 6 fatty acids results in reductions in all cause mortality. Since most diets nowadays significantly over represent omega 6, it’s usually recommended to focus on Omega 3 to swing the ratio back the other way.
Butter has very little Omega 3 (a teaspoon only has about 25mg~) and is mostly just a saturated fat, which can be used for energy, but has little health benefits, besides the Vitamin A and E. It does not meaningfully contribute to either Omega 3 or 6.
Seed oils on the other hand can have significant amounts of Omega 3, depending on the oil. There’s a bunch of caveats when it comes to seed oils, as how they’re processed or the type used in cooking can effect if they are oxidized (and thus become a health hazard). But a high quality seed oil high in Omega 3, such as an expeller pressed Canola oil that was not exposed to too much heat, will offer significant sources of Omega 3 (and 6), without the cholesterol of Butter. I suspect that’s where most of the health benefits are coming from.
Since most seed oils are quite sensitive to oxidation when exposed to heat, I personally think Avocado oil is the safest to use when frying, as it has the highest smoke point. But for salads, or low heat applications expeller pressed canola is a fantastic choice.
Too bad flaxseed oil tastes absolutely revolting. The only thing I use the bottle I have is to oil by cutting board 😂
Flax seeds, on the other hand, delicious.
Bread and mashed potatoes are both bomb with olive oil.
You can use margarine for buttering your toast and mix it into mashed potatoes with oat milk.
I would personally advise against the use of margarine and all other hydrogenated fats/oils,
as they are typically very high in trans fats, which are strongly linked to heart disease.EDIT: No longer true, please see my other comment belowA good replacement for butter is butter flavored coconut oil, or other butter alternatives that do not use hydrogenated oils/fats, such as Miyoko’s Plant butter, which uses a mix of safe oils (but is usually pretty expensive).
Also @[email protected]
Update: further investigation into this topic has revealed that the information in my previous comment is out of date. Trans fats in margarine have been effectively outlawed in most countries (starting properly in the US in 2021). The solution from the companies making margarine was instead of partially hydrogenating oils, they fully hydrogenated them, turning them into a fully saturated fat similar to coconut oil or avocado oil.
However, to achieve the same result as the partially hydrogenated form, they are now using fat interesterification, which hasn’t really been researched enough to know the full health implications, but the studies that have been done so far seem to indicate it’s not healthy.
There are currently no laws or regulations forcing companies to reveal the use of interesterified fats in a product, but they are likely used wherever the older trans-fat containing margarine was previously used.
Apologies for spreading outdated information!
Also @[email protected]
