5 Reasons Why Butter Is Bad

New evidence suggests that Americans are trying to cut calories and improve their diets, but a recent news report about butter consumption seems to indicate otherwise. Apparently, butter consumption has hit a 40-year high. Yeah, go figure.

Here are five reasons why we shouldn’t eat butter:

1. Butter is a block of fat and cholesterol. I know, it may come as a shock to some butter buyers, but butter is no health food. It’s high in calories and saturated fat and leads to clogged arteries and heart disease.

2. Butter causes cows to suffer. The creamy spread contains dairy products, which often come from factory-farmed cows. When investigators from PETA went undercover at a Pennsylvania factory farm that supplies milk to Land O’Lakes, they found sick cows with swollen udders, gangrenous teats, infected hooves, and oozing sores. The farm’s owner and one of his sons electro-shocked cows who were in too much pain to stand up, and the owner’s son even kicked a cow and jabbed her with a pocket knife.

3. Butter contributes to environmental problems. Dairy farms do, to be more specific. Just one cow on a factory dairy farm can produce 140 pounds of manure each day. Animal waste often seeps into our waterways, sickening people and killing aquatic life. The Environmental Protection Agency now believes that the U.S. is emitting 50 percent more methane than it previously estimated. Researchers suspect that much of the “excess” methane is coming from cows and other factory-farmed animals.

4. Butter will make money slip from your fingers. Margarine is the cheaper spread, especially compared to gourmet butters, which can cost as much as $7.99 a pound.

5. Earth Balance is better than butter. I’m not going to claim that margarine is a health food. It isn’t. But you can get vegan spreads, such as Earth Balance, which not only are cruelty- and trans fat–free but also taste light and creamy.

Photo credits: Cow Credit: jamarmstrong| cc by 2.0 and Vegan butter Credit: Veganbaking.net| cc by 2.0

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