Plant Oils Are Better for Your Health
Yes, butter is delicious. There’s no substitute for holiday baking, corn on the cob, or lobster tail. Or is there? Thankfully these foods are enjoyed on occasion or seasonally.
A new study from Mass General Brigham, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard suggests that people who eat plant-based oil in place of butter may have more health benefits and a lower risk of dying prematurely.
The researchers evaluated diet and health data from 200,000 people followed for over 30 years. They discovered that higher intakes of plant-based oils, particularly soybean, canola, and olive oil, were linked with lower total, cancer, and cardiovascular disease deaths. Butter intake on the other hand, was linked with increased risk of total and cancer mortality. Results can be found in JAMA Internal Medicine and presented also at the American Heart Association EPI/Lifestyle Scientific Sessions.
Lead study author, and research assistant at the Channing Division of Network Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, who is also a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system notes, "What's surprising is the magnitude of the association that we found -- we saw a 17% lower risk of death when we modeled swapping butter with plant-based oils in daily diet. That is a pretty huge effect on health". Zhang is also a student in the Department of Epidemiology at Harvard Chan School.
One main difference between butter and oil is the type of fat they contain. Butter is high in saturated fats, and plant-based oils contain more unsaturated fats. Despite several studies on types of dietary fatty acids, fewer studies have examined their primary food sources, such as butter and oils. Previous research looked at a person’s diet at various time intervals and included small populations, which restricts its application to public health.
The recent study utilized data from over 221,000 subjects from the Nurse’s Health Study (NHS), Nurses' Health Study II (NHSII), and Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS). Participants answered questions every four years about how frequently they ate certain types of food. Scientists used this data to evaluate the quantity of butter and plant oils eaten.
Butter, butter and margarine blends, spreadable butter added to food and bread, and butter used in frying or baking at home was included as total butter intake. The consumption of plant-based oils was measured from reported intake from frying, sauteing, baking, and salad dressing.
The researchers also pinpointed subjects who had died as well as their causes of death. Based on statistical data, the researchers discovered that subjects who consumed the most butter had a 15% higher risk of dying compared to those who ate the least. On the flip side, participants who ate the most plant-based oils had a 16% lower risk of dying than those who consumed the least.
"People might want to consider that a simple dietary swap -- replacing butter with soybean or olive oil -- can lead to significant long-term health benefits," said corresponding author Daniel Wang, MD, ScD, of the Channing Division of Network Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Wang is also an assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard Chan School and an associate member at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. "From a public health perspective, this is a substantial number of deaths from cancer or from other chronic diseases that could be prevented."
A substitution analysis was done by the researchers, which imitates how swapping butter for plant oils would affect health in a feeding trial. The discovered that subbing in 10 grams of butter daily (less than a tablespoon) with equal calories of plant-based oils could reduce cancer deaths and overall mortality by 17%.
Wang notes, "Even cutting back butter a little and incorporating more plant-based oils into your daily diet can have meaningful long-term health benefits.”
The researchers noted that a limitation of the research is that the subjects are primarily health professionals, which may not represent the US population. Future research could include the study of biological mechanisms and why this change in diet has such a big impact.
Here are tips to making healthier fat choices:
· Ignore the latest nutritional noise about seed oils!
· Choose plant-based oils for sauteing, baking and frying
· Swap in applesauce or yogurt for butter in baked goods
· Top potatoes with plain, non-fat Greek yogurt instead of butter or sour cream.
· Season veggies or grains with olive or sesame oil.
· Ask for unbuttered toast, veggies, or potatoes when dining out.
· Use a plant-based margarine.
· Replace half the butter in baking with canola or olive oil.
· Use less butter in sauces.
· Enjoy baked goods in moderation. A birthday comes once a year!
Lisa Andrews, MEd, RD, LD
Reference:
Yu Zhang, Katia S. Chadaideh, Yanping Li, Yuhan Li, Xiao Gu, Yuxi Liu, Marta Guasch-Ferré, Eric B. Rimm, Frank B. Hu, Walter C. Willett, Meir J. Stampfer, Dong D. Wang. Butter and Plant-Based Oils Intake and Mortality. JAMA Internal Medicine, 2025; DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2025.0205
