NBC

A Little Butter Won't Kill You, Study Says

Still, experts say it should be replaced with more healthful plant-based oils when possible

A little butter isn't going to kill anyone, but it's not a health food, nutrition experts said in a study released Wednesday.

"I would say butter is neither good nor bad," Laura Pimpin of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy at Tufts University told NBC News. 

Many studies look at saturated fat or omega-3 fatty acids or calcium, but Pimpin's team set out to find studies that looked at whole foods that people actually eat and then calculated their risks for overall death, heart disease and diabetes.

When possible, butter should be replaced with more healthful plant-based oils, Pimpin said. And it might be more useful, she said, to focus on the stuff people eat butter with.

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