'Stop demonising butter,' say researchers

Conclusion This systematic review and meta-analysis assessed the long-term association between butter consumption and major health conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and death. The nine identified studies found little to no evidence that butter consumption increased the risk of death, cardiovascular disease, heart disease or stroke. Perhaps surprisingly, though, there did seem to be a protective effect against the risk of type 2 diabetes. This review has both strengths and limitations that may affect the reliability of the findings. The researchers used careful search methods that aimed to identify only studies relevant to the general population and the large number of people included. The researchers also did their best to provide the most reliable estimate by performing a quality assessment of studies, assessing heterogeneity and risk of publication bias.  In terms of limitations, the review did not include any randomised controlled trials, which could have compared health outcomes with people who did not eat butter. Other health and lifestyle factors may also be at play – like age, smoking, other dietary habits and physical activity – that the studies included, by nature of their design, are unable to account for. The studies included mainly collected data using questionnaires, which are subject to various types of bias, and people may inaccurately report their butter consumption. For example, we do not know if participants were asked a...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Heart/lungs Source Type: news