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Is there any harm in eating as much butter as you want?
Would eating an entire Kerrygold Butter (1600 Calories) every day be harmful if you are also eating a varied diet that meets all your nutritional needs?
Would eating two Kerrygold Butters a day (3200 Calories) be dangerous if your appetite desires it?
Additional Information – I love butter but I purposefully limit myself because I have this deep seated fear that it may be harmful to eat too much. Right now I eat about a half package of Kerygold unsalted cultured butter a day. I put it on my potatoes, in my oatmeal, with my eggs, on my steak, on my rice cakes, and melt it into my pasta. I even eat it straight and let it melt in my mouth.
I would be skeptical that you would accomplish anything from eating an entire stick (or two!) of butter a day, unless you need to gain weight. You don’t need to fear butter. It’s not a poison or anything, but what would be the purpose of eating so much?
Ashley, I have not been on a low fat diet for many years.
David, one purpose of eating more butter besides the fact that it tastes so good is to control my appetite. I don’t know if controlling appetite is what you mean by “accomplish.” I have a very strong appetite that gets in the way of living my life.
Are you eating it on things and with other things? How long have you been eating that much butter?
I find it hard to believe you could get too much without you starting to find yourself repulsed by it. So I would eat it so long as you are eating plenty of other things as well. You probably need it.
I had 4 tablespoons today btw. Not to mention the butterfat in the cup of whole goat milk and the icecream… 1 1/4 cups. I ran five miles today I was hungry lol
@NYC- When I asked you about the purpose of eating so much butter, I wondered if you had particular health benefits in mind. If your only goal is satisfying your appetite, I question whether 1,600-3,200 calories of butter is really the most efficient way to go about it. I’m honestly confused why you would want to eat that much pure butter, rather than, say, an extra-large pizza or even a couple of extra value meals from McDonald’s. In my opinion, even the latter would provide a lot more nutrition.
(If you were eating a low carb diet, I would understand why you chose butter. That’s why I was curious what you were trying to accomplish.)
Apart from your question,i find it quite impressive that you eat 1to2 packages of butter dailyvl. It still scares the crap out of me,in my mind i would see myself ballooning up like crazy unless you dont eat much other stuff and have a very physical job and in spare time….
I suppose if you dont experience negative effects theres no harm to it. I found that sadly after eating a reasonable amount of butter(in cake) my skin turned yellowish. A while ago i bougth goatbutter,but havent used it till this day,see how that goes.
But butter is defenitely addicting i could eat it straigth from the package too.It’s a very good food, I don’t think a person would continue to eat it that way though. That’s how I was about orange juice. Just went nuts on it for a good while. Started one day after I got done working really hard trimming some horses. I wanted juice so I stopped and grabbed a bottle for myself and my sister, plus two more for later, one for each of us. Well I drank both of mine one right after the other! 32 oz of oj gone in a flash. And from there I just drank the tar out of Orange juice for a while. Now I may have 2 cups a day or a little more. Some days less. So my body calmed down about it but I still have some every day normally.
When I was recovering from an eating disorder, I would mix up butter and brown sugar together and eat just that. I went through a lot of butter. And sugar. But I was starving, and that was a very effective way for my body to take in calories!
I tend to believe our bodies crave what we need, but if you think you are experiencing some negative effects from the butter (which could include significant weight gain from a non-starved state), then you might need to re-think. If you notice all positives, though, then why not?
8 ounces of butter (which is the size of a package of Kerrygold) doesn’t sound like much to me. My partner routinely eats a stick of butter (4 ounces) a day without blinking an eye. My two-year-old eats tablespoons of butter at a time. I currently eat “low fat” (which translates to around 100 grams of fat per day on average) because I am giving preference to carbohydrates, but I still eat a stick of butter a day. And we’re all rather lean, I’d say.
Why doubt yourself? If you truly desire it then surely that is a clear signal from your body. Why deny your body what it wants? I agree with Ashley that typically these sorts of things resolve themselves and reach a balance point. While I don’t think there would be anything inherently wrong with eating 8 ounces (or 16 ounces) of butter a day, I somehow doubt that your desire would continue indefinitely. Generally, my experience is that restricting in any form or fashion, even if it is in the guise of limiting to “reasonable” amounts of something, leads only to more long-term problems whereas unrestricted (conscious, intuitive) eating resolves problems long-term (even if it sometimes brings up some short-term challenges on rare occasions.)
Eat the butter if you want it. Heck, even if you were craving tofu deep-fried in canola oil, I would still say that if you truly crave it then you are probably best off following your intuition. But unlike canola-fried tofu, at least butter is a genuinely wholesome, healthy food. I can’t see what harm would come from eating it in whatever amounts you desire. Others have brought up the issue of weight gain as if that would be a genuine reason to restrict. But in my mind that is the very heart of disordered eating – restricting due to fear of any kind, and weight gain is just one of the most common fears. Restricting causing problems. Eat the butter. Love your body. Respect your body. Trust your body.
I would agree that usually such cravings run their course if we satisfy them fully. Sometimes you just need to go wild on a particular food that your body is asking for.
Try not to give yourself any timeframes or stress about it if you go really go for it. Often the cravings will prolong if we try to police them.
The only other thing I would mention, as written about here before, is to have some balanced meals along with it, not as a means of displacing the sought-after butter, but just to get some variety and nutrients in.
Happy eating!
@j-lo Wow,100gr. of fat daily….and calling it lowfat!That’s impressive imho.
I don’t entirely agree with you in regards to trusting your cravings,from my own experience, as gutimbalances and/or other critters can steer you towards food that makes them grow stronger and leave you feeling bad.
Update – As predicted by Rob and Matt Stone’s ideas, my craving for butter has run its course. I don’t have any desire to eat it in excess any longer. Whatever my body needed in the butter it got enough of.
I still eat more butter than average but I’m not eating as much as before. One kerrygold is lasting me a few days now.
I mix cut up hotdogs with almonds and pumpkin seeds. I drizzle melted butter on to of this and eat it out of a bowl with a spoon. It is great. This also improves the satiety of the snack.
I melt goat cheese into my pasta but I also melt butter into my pasta to help with satiety.
I was melting butter into my oatmeal but I discovered that Ghee tastes fantastic in oatmeal so I’ve been using that instead. I count Ghee as butter anyway.
When I go out at night and I want to avoid getting hungry for 3 or 4 hours I will drink a pint of light cream. This is about 1000 calories and can usually hold back my appetite for 4 hours or so.
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