Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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i love the whole paleo diet, and am really new to it. is it ok to eat butter everyday? 1 tbsp everyday? any other inputs on this?

flag	asked May 25 2010 at 18:04 kevin 21●1●2

Define "a lot of butter"? 1 tbsp. every day is only 11g of fat. I hope you are eating more like 150g of fat every day. So, 1 tbsp. is REALLY NOT a lot. – Matt Baldwin May 25 2010 at 20:56

LiveForIt · Answer 1 · 2010-05-25 18:29:49Z UTC

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While any excess consumption of the three macro-nutrients (fat, carbs, protein) can be stored in adipose tissue theoretically, butter (fat) is the LEAST likely to be stored as fat. So yes, enjoy butter with out guilt.

Try to find 100% grass-fed/pastured butter in your local stores/farmers markets.

answered May 25 2010 at 18:29

LiveForIt
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	LiveForIt is basically correct, but I want to point out that in order to be stored as fat, excess dietary fats and proteins (fatty acids and amino acids) have first to be converted to glucose before they can be stored in the adipose tissues (by insulin). – Matt Baldwin May 26 2010 at 1:03
	Matt - I've never heard of that before, that fats have to be converted first into glucose before they can be stored in adipose tissues. Do you have a source for this info? – Drew aka CrossFit Junkie Sep 10 2010 at 0:26

gilliebean · Answer 2 · 2010-05-25 18:55:11Z UTC

Yes! Enjoy that much butter every day and more!

Try to find raw butter from grass-fed/pastured A2 cows (find locally). If you can't, then try to find raw butter from grass-fed/pastured A1 cows (Organic Pastures). If you can't, then try to find cultured butter from grass-fed cows (Kerrygold).

Matt Baldwin · Answer 3 · 2010-05-25 21:09:12Z UTC

If you are interested in learning more about the question of dairy fat in the "paleo" diet (i.e. is dairy compatible with Paleo, that is, with a Primal version of Paleo?) I'd recommend the website of Kurt Harris, M.D., "PaNu Blog."

Harris recommends the use of dairy fat as a substitute for carbs, and doesn't regard the high fat dairy sources (i.e. cream and butter) as particularly problematic.

See:

http://www.paleonu.com/panu-weblog/2009/6/13/using-dairy-to-substitute-fats-for-carbohydrates.html

http://www.paleonu.com/panu-weblog/2010/1/9/a-taste-of-dairy.html

Rick · Answer 4 · 2010-05-25 22:07:03Z UTC

Of course it's not "technically" paleo...but I eat/cook with about a stick a day and it appears that lots of other paleos eat plenty of butter as well. Personally, it gives me tons of energy. It really comes down to a choice of fat or carbs for the majority of calories...and fat is the best choice. No need to ration butter IMHO.

Fearsclave · Answer 5 · 2010-05-26 12:31:53Z UTC

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I fall pretty hard into the Paleo re-enactment camp, but I make an exception for butter; it's just such a convenient way of getting fat into your diet.

answered May 26 2010 at 12:31

Fearsclave
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Aaron Griffin · Answer 6 · 2010-05-25 19:12:26Z UTC

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To be clear: the proper "paleo diet" doesn't allow dairy, as dairy is a recent invention and it causes allergic reactions in 75% of the world's population. However, butter and hard cheese are the best of the dairy bunch.

The dairy thing comes from Mark Sisson's "Primal Blueprint" and not Loren Cordain's "Paleo Diet"

answered May 25 2010 at 19:12

Aaron Griffin

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@Aaron -- Paleo is not food re-enactment -- it is about re-ancting the evol metabolic milieu. – Patrik♦ May 25 2010 at 22:44

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Well for some. I sense a growing divide between primal and paleo camps. The former is very useful for battling metabolic derangement, the latter for battling autoimmune issues. I'm all about the latter and have tried adding dairy back in with some negative results. However, I now consume ghee without a problem. Sometimes taste trumps historical accuracy, esp if I'm not getting a negative reaction. – Bread-Eating Beelzebub May 26 2010 at 13:09

@Patrick: Dairy and lactose are not part of that milieu any more than grains are - we've been consuming both for the same amount of time. Why is dairy an exception to the same rule that excludes grains? – Aaron Griffin May 26 2010 at 16:30

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I think we may need to define "dairy". Casein chalked milk, yogurt, and other derivatives are ENTIRELY different than the full fat cream, butter and so on that are stripped of their gut irritants, un-needed proteins, and the sugar. In that sense then, dairy is 180 degrees down the spectrum from grains. I could care less if they came around the same time as grains in our agricultural evolution. If it keeps my macro-nutrients in check, doesn't spike insulin, doesn't stall ketosis, and keeps me satiated, Im going to rock it. And I have for the last 6 months with fantastic results. – LiveForIt May 26 2010 at 19:47

@LiveForIt: Sure, they are different, and there is factual evidence that indicates that both cheese and butter were eaten before lactose-based dairy was. However, it was not until humans became herdspeople that dairy was even an option, no matter what the form. The paleo logic thus says that we didn't evolve with the concept of consuming dairy, and that we are not, shall we say, "optimized" for it. It is this reason that I consider dairy bad, but butter and cheese are in the "acceptable" category along with coffee and dark chocolate. I do cook with ghee on occasion, though – Aaron Griffin May 26 2010 at 22:08

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is it ok to eat a lot of butter ?

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