Butter enjoyed fame for being the best edible fat for a long time and that glory is well deserved. It has a pleasant taste and aroma. Consuming properties of butter is mostly determined by the properties of the components, the quality of milk and cream, the technology of production.
The colour of butter depends on the amount of carotene in it. In winter period there is not enough carotene, so the colour of the oil is pale yellow or white. Food value of butter is better if more of its components correspond to the formula of balanced diet for an adult. In addition to milk fat, protein and carbohydrate nutritional value of butter improves phospholipids, especially lecithin, that gets in oil along with the shells of fat globules. Phospholipids in a complex with proteins are involved in the construction of the cell membranes for the human body.
In addition, it is revealed that in milk fat there is a significant number of phosphatides and very important for the body unsaturated fatty acids such as linoleic, linolenic and arachidonic. These acids are needed for proper metabolism in the cells of the human body. Milk fat is essential for normal growth of children: vitamins and other components of the body defend against infectious diseases, makes the skin elastic and inaccessible to the penetration of microbes and has a beneficial effect on eyesight. Milk fat improves the consistency and the separation of milk from nursing mothers.
Butter is indispensable in the diet for cachectic patients after surgery on stomach and intestines, as well as in moderate quantities, with atherosclerosis and hypertension. Finally, another significant feature of butter – it has a low melting temperature (about 30 degrees) and therefore high digestibility.
Though butter is high in calories and energy product, it is very rich in useful essential amino acids and vitamins, which are needed for the feeling of well-being. And most interesting – all of these amino acids and vitamins are so uniquely balanced that the use of moderate amount of oil each day will bring only benefits. As a result, a number of scientific tests conducted by doctors from the American School of Medicine at Tufts discovered that: the presence of cholesterol in butter is does not increase the amount of cholesterol in blood. After all oil has lecithin, which is responsible for the normal exchange of cholesterol and protects the blood vessels.
Chemical composition: not less than 82.5 percent fat, 16 per cent of water, a small number of proteins, mineral salts and vitamins. Butter can be a significant source of vitamin A, it contains 0.5 milligrams in 100 grams of butter.
But today, butter is losing its position on the table, giving place to «light» fat options – margarines and spreads. In pursuit of a healthy lifestyle, we forget about the useful properties of butter, which contains the necessary for the body liposoluble vitamins – A, D and E, as well as fatty acids. In addition, butter is a source of energy without which we just cannot do, especially during the winter season.
