Nutrition experts have warned of serious health effects resulting from a new trend sweeping social media platforms, where influencers consume huge amounts of butter in videos that generate millions of views.
In a bizarre scene that swept social media platforms, butter has gone from being a basic cooking ingredient to a "star" in TikTok videos, in which influencers consume huge quantities of it in exciting ways, amid warnings from experts about health risks that could include heart disease and strokes.
Famous content creator Mary Alexis posted videos of herself eating huge piles of butter, achieving more than 10 million views, prompting others to imitate her with videos showing them consuming entire blocks of butter dipped in various sauces.
The phenomenon was not limited to social media, but also extended to luxury restaurants.
The "butter trend" dates back to the late 2000s when "bulletproof coffee" mixed with butter became popular as a way to suppress appetite and boost concentration. However, nutrition experts today warn against making butter a staple in every meal.
Sophie Medlin, a nutrition consultant at CityDietitians, says, "It's fine to appreciate good-quality butter occasionally, but making it the star of every meal is quite another matter." She explains that buttered bread before a meal adds a significant number of calories and displaces heart-healthy foods like vegetables and whole grains.
She points out that the real problem lies in consuming large amounts of butter daily, which raises bad cholesterol and increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes, in addition to causing weight gain.
It is noted that a typical piece of butter (250g) contains about 1860 calories, which is equivalent to an adult's needs for a whole day, and 130 grams of saturated fat, which is more than four times the recommended daily limit for men and six times that for women.
Despite the warnings, Medline insists that butter is not without benefits; it contains vitamins A and B12, and small amounts of D, E, and iodine, and its fat content aids in the absorption of water-soluble vitamins. However, she emphasizes that these nutrients are also found in other, less harmful foods.
Medlin advises replacing butter with olive oil, which studies have shown lowers bad cholesterol and reduces the risk of heart disease, and is the basis of the Mediterranean diet.
Medlin concludes by saying that eating large amounts of butter on a special occasion is not a problem, as health is determined by the overall dietary pattern over months and years, but the danger lies in when occasional rewards turn into daily habits under the influence of social media.
