In praise of … butter — theguardian.com

A character in Murder Must Advertise, a Dorothy L Sayers detective novel set in an advertising agency, observed that: "You don't need an argument for buying butter. It's a natural, human instinct." Indeed it is, but that instinct has been sorely frustrated in recent years by the saturated fat panic. Now this supposed menace is finally being laid to rest. The latest study finds that there is no evidence saturated fat increases the risk of heart disease. Of course, a few anti-butter killjoys and margarine fanatics will dispute this, and there are some respectable scientific critics as well. But enough work has been done to show that butter is not bad, that dairy does not equal death, and that you do not have to spread your toast with strange, and strangely unsatisfying, substances. Instead, put butter on straight away and watch it saturate the hot bread. Or wait a bit longer and see those yellow nuggets liquefying slowly. Butter, praise be, is back.

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