Butter vs Plant Oils: What The Latest Evidence Shows
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We’ve done some relevant head-to-head comparisons before in our “This or That” section:
- Avocado Oil vs Olive Oil – Which is Healthier?
- Olive Oil vs Coconut Oil – Which is Healthier?
- Sesame Oil vs Almond Oil – Which is Healthier?
- Sunflower Oil vs Canola Oil – Which is Healthier?
- Margarine vs Butter – Which is Healthier
- Butter vs Ghee – Which is Healthier?
We also did a deeper-dive into butter vs margarine:
Butter vs Margarine – Mythbusting Edition ← this one clears up a lot of misinformation about both butter and margarine
As well as: Saturated Fats: What’s The Truth? Can Saturated Fats Be Healthy?
So, we’re not coming into this one today unawares, and/but it’s an interesting comparison we haven’t directly written about before: butter vs plant oils in general
The Study
It was a JAMA Internal Medicine cohort study, which followed 221,054 adults (average age 56 at the start of the study, with a standard deviation of 7 years from that age) for up to 33 years.
Why “up to”? Because not everybody survived the study.
Specifically, 50,932 deaths were recorded, including 12,241 from cancer and 11,240 from cardiovascular disease (CVD).
Participants were categorized into quartiles based on butter or plant-based oil intake, and…
- The highest quartile (i.e. the 25% of people who consumed the most) butter intake linked to a 15% higher total mortality.
- The highest quartile (i.e. the 25% of people who consumed the most) plant-based oil intake linked to a 16% lower total mortality.
But, if those are the opposite ends of the spectrum, what about smaller differences?
Every 10g/day increase in consumption of plant-based oils yielded…
- 11% lower cancer mortality.
- 6% lower CVD mortality.
Meanwhile, 10g/day increase in butter consumption yielded…
- 12% higher cancer mortality.
- 17% higher CVD mortality.
These benefits must have a cap (after all, one cannot just drink liters of olive oil per day for for a 3400% decrease in mortality), but that cap was not ascertained, because there was no group drinking liters of plant oils per day, not even for science.
However, in the realm of small changes, substituting even 10g/intake of total butter with an equivalent amount of plant-based oils yielded 17% lower total mortality.
You can read the study in full, here: Butter and Plant-Based Oils Intake and Mortality
“So, what about the surely great difference between seed oils and olive oil?”
Compared the the vast gaping statistical chasm that lay between the results of butter and the results of plant oils, which plant oil one chooses doesn’t make a huge difference, iff one isn’t consuming a large amount—the important thing was skipping butter in favor of a plant oil of some kind.
Note also that, for example, deep-frying a starchy food like potatoes will cause the resultant fries (or such), even if not visibly oily, to now have about 10–15% of their original weight in water, replaced with oil. So, 100g (about 3oz) of fries may have around 10-15g oil. Obviously, this does depend on the cut and other factors, but that’s a ballpark figure.
Here’s a lengthier discussion about seed oils than we have room for today:
If you’re worried about inflammation, stop stressing about seed oils and focus on the basics ← in other words, yes it counts, but there are other things that count a lot more, such that if you’re paying attention to the other things, the fact that you sprayed your wok with a little canola oil before stir-frying those vegetables isn’t going to make a meaningful difference.
An as for olive oil? It’s a famously healthy oil, and certainly a candidate for the top spot along with avocado oil*:
All About Olive Oil ← we talk lipids, polyphenols, virginity, and more!
*…and it’s worth noting that these two oils’ (excellent) lipids profiles are very similar, meaning that the main factor between them is that olive oil usually retains vitamins that avocado oil doesn’t.
Enjoy!
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Weak Knees? Four Exercises To Strengthen Every Knee Muscle
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Over-50s specialist physio Will Harlow shows us how:
The most bang-for-buck:
We’ll keep it simple; the four exercises are:
- Knee extensions while sitting: sit back in a chair, straighten your leg, pull your toes towards you, and strongly contract your thigh while pushing your knee down into the chair, before lowering and repeating.
- Hamstring bridge: lie on your back on the floor with your legs resting on a chair or similar elevated surface, press your lower back into the floor, then push through your heels to lift your pelvis by squeezing your hamstrings, before lowering slowly.
- Forward lean calf raise: stand about a meter from a wall, lean forwards with your hands on it, then rise onto your toes through a full range before lowering under control, progressing to one leg if reasonable.
- sit to stand progression: move from a standard sit-to-stand to a staggered stance, and eventually a single-leg version, leaning your body forwards, and controlling both the lift and the descent.
For more on all of this plus visual demonstrations, enjoy:
Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!
Want to learn more?
You might also like:
- Do This Before Walking To Suffer Less (It Takes 30 Seconds) ← when what feels like a problem in your knees is actually a lack of glute activation
- How To Make Downhill Walking Easier On The Knees ← famously more of a challenge than going uphill, in the case of dubious knees
- The Best Exercise to Stop Your Legs From Giving Out ← this one’s good if, like this writer, you have strong legs and/but also EDS or a similar connective tissue disorder that causes your joints to sometimes just fold like laundry for no obvious reason (it’s about the body’s misguided attempt to save you from something that’s not actually a problem but a tendon got confused so the muscle just dropped it)
Take care!
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Top Diets & Fasting vs Fatty Liver: What’s Best?
10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.
We previously wrote about how the Mediterranean diet was voted (by a panel of 69 doctors and nutritionists) as best for liver regeneration (followed by Flexitarian, Vegan, DASH, MIND).
Here is that article, for reference: Which Diet? Top Diets Ranked By Experts
Those diets in the “followed by” section are not surprising to see there either, since the Mediterranean diet is mostly plant-based anyway with very little meat and some fermented dairy, and DASH and MIND are variations of the Mediterranean in any case; see: Four Ways To Upgrade The Mediterranean Diet
So, what happens when we take various diets and various kinds of intermittent fasting into account?
Dietary approaches vs MASLD
First, a note on terminology, because there has been a rebrand: what used to be called non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is now called metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD).
Attentive readers may have noticed that there appears to be a D missing from the acronym. We noticed that too, and were not able to find any explanation of why it’s not MDASLD.
However, you can read about why the change was made, and how the decision was agreed upon, here: A multisociety Delphi consensus statement on new fatty liver disease nomenclature
Now, onto the science. A team of researchers, Dr. Katarzyna Zablocka-Sowinska et al., investigated, well, the title of the paper explains it:
They found:
- Mediterranean diet: unsurprisingly, was found to significantly reduce weight, BMI, waist circumference, and improve glucose control, insulin sensitivity, and inflammation. Early evidence also shows improved liver enzyme levels and reduced MASLD severity.
- DASH diet: a modified version of the Mediterranean diet originally aimed at lowering blood pressure (whence the name, dietary approaches to stop hypertension), DASH also helped reduce weight and improved glucose and lipid metabolism in MASLD patients.
- Lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet—in other words, what’s usually just called vegetarianism (as opposed to veganism)—was associated with improved body measurements and liver function, which the researchers considered to be likely due to high nutrient density and reduced processed food intake, as well as the obvious reduction in saturated fats and other well-established meat-related health risks.
- Intermittent fasting: approaches like alternate-day fasting and time-restricted feeding (especially the 16:8 method) led to improved body composition, fasting glucose, triglycerides, LDL-C, inflammation, and liver health.
About those different kinds of fasting, check out: Intermittent Fasting, Intermittently?
We haven’t given numbers there because a lot of metrics were measured for each one and we don’t want to pad the page with tables of data that can be found in the linked paper anyway, but it’s worth noting that the Mediterranean diet and intermittent fasting show the strongest benefits for MASLD management by far, while DASH and vegetarianism provided more modest metabolic and liver health improvements (compared to control).
We are curious as to how a purely plant-based diet (i.e. veganism) would have fared, and hypothesize it’d score more highly than vegetarianism on a like-for-like basis without other adaptations, but alas, that’ll have to remain a hypothesis until further research is done. Same deal with pescatarianism; we’d have liked to see that tested, too.
See also: The Diet That Reduces Postmenopausal Weight Gain, Hot Flashes, & More
Want to learn more?
Check out:
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When You Lose Weight, Here’s How Your Body Fights To Regain It For You
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It’s well-known that intentional weight loss is often regained quickly, but it’s not always clear why.
Sometimes it is clear! For example, we wrote previously about how a person who has been on GLP-1 RAs may afterwards be even more inclined to put on fat than before:
❝Of the four studies that actually looked at the macros (unlike most studies), they found that on average, protein intake decreased by 17.1%. Which is a big deal!
It’s an especially big deal, because while protein’s obviously important for everyone, it’s especially important for anyone trying to lose weight, because muscle mass is a major factor in metabolic base rate—which in turn is much important for fat loss/maintenance than exercise, when it comes to how many calories we burn by simply existing.
A reasonable hypothesis, therefore, is that one of the numerous reasons people who quit GLP-1 agonists immediately put fat back on, is because they probably lost muscle mass in amongst their weight loss, meaning that their metabolic base rate will have decreased, meaning that they end up more disposed to put on fat than before.
And, that’s just a hypothesis and it’s a hypothesis based on very few studies, so it’s not something to necessarily take as any kind of definitive proof of anything, but it is to say—as the researchers of this review do loudly say—more research needs to be done into this, because this has been a major gap in research so far!❞
Read in full: Semaglutide’s Surprisingly Unexamined Effects
But that’s about GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs; what about dietary weight loss?
It can be quite different in terms of its mechanism, for example: The 3 Phases Of Fat Loss (& How To Do It Right!)
But new science sheds a light on where these things meet:
Of mice and menus
Researchers (Dr. Frankie Heyward et al.) did a mouse study showing that after weight loss, the body often continues generating persistent hunger signals for weeks, increasing the drive to regain lost weight.
The way that this happened suggests that the body is likely to biologically defend a previously higher weight, creating sustained pressure to return to that elevated weight rather than comfortably maintaining the lower one.
Notably, only mice whose food intake remained permanently restricted to match lean controls maintained their weight loss, suggesting that reaching a lower weight didn’t erase the physiological drive to regain. This suggests that the draconian methods discussed in our article “What Are The “Bright Lines” Of Bright Line Eating?” may work, at least for long-term weight loss, if not necessarily for happiness*.
*For health and happiness, we would suggest almost the opposite, per: Intuitive Eating Might Not Be What You Think and What Flexible Dieting Really Means 😎
Back to the recent study: mice who gained weight the most quickly during their first four weeks on a high-fat diet were more likely to regain more weight later, which means early weight-gain responsiveness appears to predict long-term vulnerability.
Because both mice and humans share the same relevant pathways in this case, this has implications for GLP-1 receptor agonist use too, because while GLP-1 RAs can effectively reduce body weight, these findings suggest that underlying hunger biology will still persist and contribute to regain when treatment or calorie restriction stops.
You can read the new paper itself, here: Evidence of persistent hunger following dietary weight loss in mice
Want to learn more?
You might like these main features on getting your body just the way you want it, sustainably and healthily:
- How To Lose Weight (Healthily!)
- How To Build Muscle (Healthily!)
- How To Gain Weight (Healthily!) ← this one’s specifically about gaining healthy levels of fat, for any who want/need that
And also:
Can We Do Fat Redistribution? ← yes we can, but there are caveats
Take care!
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How Bones Can Actually Get Stronger With Osteoporosis
10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.
Dr. Alyssa Kuhn explains:
By the science
Bones are living tissue that constantly break down and rebuild, and weakness happens when breakdown outpaces rebuilding.
The “construction crew” for bones are living cells, and their cue to make things stronger is movement and exercise, and too little or too-easy movement doesn’t send a strong enough signal to rebuild. The body is very efficient like that, and won’t “waste” resources where it doesn’t see they’re needed.
Consequently, exercises must feel difficult enough to trigger adaptation, not just familiar or comfortable.
Due to Wolff’s law, it’s important to have variety: changing directions, speeds, and movement patterns (sideways, backwards, uphill) applies new stresses at different angles, and that’s what stimulate bone growth.
Since the level of resistance is also a factor, adding weights, resistance bands, or controlled impact increases bone-loading and improves rebuilding efficiency.
Some notes on some common strategies:
- Jumping practice: jumping can strengthen bones, but only when the landing creates enough force and when your joints and muscles are ready.
- Also, generally a bad idea if your bones are already very weak, as the landing may create enough force to also fracture a bone, which you don’t want.
- Balance training: improving balance reduces fall risk and strengthens hips, core, and posture, which indirectly protects bones.
- Obviously, do it in a way that ensures your safety so you don’t fall while training.
- Rebounding training: mini trampolines improve fitness and balance but absorb impact too much to significantly strengthen bones.
- And if you land badly with weak bones, you may not rebound into good health.
- Weight vest use: light vests during normal walking are usually underdosed and less effective than targeted resistance training.
- On the bright side, they’re less likely to cause harm than the other approaches above.
- Vibration plate use: vibration plates show small benefits but are weaker than resistance and weight-based exercises.
- They are, nevertheless, probably the lowest-risk approach.
Some exercises to consider:
- Chair squats: squats are effective because difficulty can be increased with lower chairs, added weight, or more volume.
- Balance pass: standing on one leg while passing a weight challenges balance, hips, and core simultaneously.
- Heel drops: controlled heel drops provide mild impact when jumping isn’t appropriate.
- Step-up variations: step-ups build bone when height, load, or direction is varied beyond daily stair use.
In summary: bone strengthening works best when movement is challenging, varied, progressive, and done consistently over time.
For more on all of this plus some visual demonstrations, enjoy:
Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!
Want to learn more?
You might also like:
Osteoporosis & Exercises: Which To Do (And Which To Avoid)
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- Jumping practice: jumping can strengthen bones, but only when the landing creates enough force and when your joints and muscles are ready.
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Hip & Knee Pain During/After Sleeping? Here’s How To Fix That
10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.
Dr. Alyssa Kuhn, arthritis expert, shows the best sleep positions for alleviating/avoiding different pains:
Sleep position matters
Finding a comfortable sleeping position can be difficult, and stiff joints have a mutually-worsening effect (i.e., the stiff joints make sleeping more difficult, and difficulty sleeping makes the joints stiffer).
So, with that in min:
- How to sleep on your side: this position can relieve hip, knee, back, and shoulder pain, but letting your top leg drape down twists your back and strains your hips. Place a pillow between your knees to keep them aligned and prevent pressure. That part may be obvious, but there’s a counterpart: if doing this, it’s often critical to place another pillow under your top arm—or use a body pillow—to keep your shoulders and neck in a neutral position.
- How to reduce hip pressure: if your bottom hip hurts, try a thin blanket under your side to shift your weight slightly backwards, or rotate slightly forwards with your bottom leg straight while hugging a body pillow to offload that hip.
- How to sleep on your back: if side sleeping is uncomfortable, lying on your back with a pillow or half roll under your knees can reduce lower back arching and relax your hips and spine. If lying flat feels too harsh, use one or two extra pillows to recline slightly. Only do this if the other methods don’t work though, as back-sleeping is usually not ideal for most people.
On choosing a pillow for use in these methods: avoid ones that are too flat or slip out of place, as this ruins alignment. A strapped pillow can stay secure, making it easier to roll over without twisting your hips.
Lastly: experiment with these setups for a few nights and make small adjustments as needed. If pain or stiffness continues, look at lifestyle factors such as daily movement, hydration, and nutrition, since these also affect sleep quality and joint comfort.
For more on all of this plus visual demonstrations, enjoy:
Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!
Want to learn more?
You might also like:
Sleeping Positions & Your Heart & Brain ← on why back-sleeping is not ideal, if it can be reasonably avoided
Take care!
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Why Your Hair Texture Changes After 40 (& How To Reverse That)
10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.
Dr. Andrea Suarez shows us how:
The follicle freshener routine
As we get older, our aging scalp biology can reduce ceramides, barrier function, sebum, collagen, and elastin, leading to drier, more brittle, wiry hair, increased shedding, and more visible scalp.
Additionally, hair follicles gradually shrink, producing shorter, finer, less pigmented hairs (i.e. more gray) while shortening the growth phase and lengthening the resting phase, which can also alter texture and make hair feel coarser.
It’s not just about the passage of time; oxidative stress, reduced blood flow, microinflammation, stem cell damage, hormonal shifts, collagen loss, and scalp barrier decline all contribute to weaker follicle function.
Some things may be counterintuitive, for example aging reduces moisture retention and sebum, so overcleansing, harsh shampoos, shampoo residue, and hot water itself can worsen dryness and irritation, and on the flipside, maintaining your scalp’s acid mantle and microbiome can help reduce inflammation.
Alas, most “anti-aging” scalp serums primarily improve temporary softness or shine rather than meaningfully reversing follicle aging, as many ingredients don’t even effectively reach the follicle.
So, what does work? The strongest evidence remains for minoxidil, red light and/or low-level laser therapy, ketoconazole shampoo, and zinc pyrithione shampoo, with caffeine and scalp massage featuring lower on the list.
Lifestyle factors are also important: adequate protein, fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains are all very good things to enjoy, and non-dietary lifestyle factors such as good sleep and stress management are important too, because hair growth is metabolically demanding and sensitive to systemic changes.
For more on all of this, enjoy:
Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!
Want to learn more?
You might also like:
Red Light Therapy Every Day For 5 Years (Plus New Research)! ← our recent explainer on RLT
Take care!
Don’t Forget…
Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!
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