Butter isn't better // A little pat means a lot of fat and calories; and beware of substitutes, too

Most people would place butter high on a list of unhealthfulfoods. It's high in calories and almost 100 percent fat. Plus,there's strong evidence that a diet high in cholesterol and saturatedfat - the kind in butter - can clog your arteries and steal yearsfrom your life. A high-fat diet also increases the risk of cancer.With all that in mind, American consumers have started backing awayfrom butter. Since the mid-1980s, butter use has dropped by about 10percent.

Meanwhile, the market for butter substitutes has blossomed toinclude all sorts of buttery-tasting spreads, sprinkles and sprays.They come in such dizzying variety that sorting out what's in themand their relative health merits can be daunting.

For example, stick margarines contain at least 80 percent fat,while spreads contain 50 percent to 60 percent. Newer butterlikespreads, including Le Slim Cow and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!,achieve a natural taste by using buttermilk and other lower-fat dairyingredients as substitutes for milk fat. "Light" spreads, such asLand o' Lakes Country Morning Blend Light, are diluted with water.

Confused about which is best? You're not alone. In a 1987British survey, almost 75 percent of people who used spreads in placeof butter incorrectly assumed that they were free of artificialadditives. More than half of them thought spreads were always lowerthan butter in fat and calories. In fact, some of the spreadscontain the same amounts.

Considering the confusion and that the average American,according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, eats a mere teaspoonof butter a day, would you be no worse off if you indulged yourselfwith a dab of the real thing?

Butter is loaded with calories - 36 per teaspoon - but so areall fat-rich products, including vegetable oils, shortenings andmargarines. The more complicated issue is fats and cholesterol.

The American Heart Association recommends no more than 300milligrams of cholesterol a day. A pat of butter contains only 11milligrams, half as much as 1 ounce of chicken breast without theskin. However, use butter heavily and the total cholesterol consumedquickly adds up. Five pats a day will put 55 milligrams ofcholesterol into your body. Most non-dairy butter substitutes arecholesterol-free.

Cholesterol is the artery clogger, but saturated fats contributeto its production. And in saturated fats, butter takes a beating:Each pat contains a whopping 2.5 grams of saturated fat. Only thenotorious tropical oils, coconut and palm, have more. (The HeartAssociation recommends a maximum of 22 grams of saturated fat a dayfor someone taking in 2,000 calories.)

Margarines and butter substitutes have far less saturated fatthan butter does. A pat of stick margarine has only 0.8 gram.Butter-substitute sprinkles and sprays have none at all. Amongspreads, lowest in saturated fat are those that list vegetable oil asthe first ingredient and contain higher percentages ofpolyunsaturated fat. Among them are soft margarine at 0.6 gram ofsaturated fat per teaspoon and diet margarine at 0.3 gram.

That doesn't mean you can slather on "high-poly" buttersubstitutes with abandon. "Studies on animals have shown thatpolyunsaturated fat by itself has a relationship to the developmentof cancer," says Dr. John Weisburger, a senior member of the AmericanHealth Foundation. What's more, typical Americans get about 40percent of their calories from fat. Experts would like to see thatreduced to 20 percent.

Although the amount and type of fat in butter substitutes is ofprimary concern for the longevity-conscious consumer, the number ofcalories is no trifling matter. The average American gets about 150calories a day from one pat of butter and three pats of margarine.Cut that in half and you could lose a pound a month. Some of the"light" and "diet" spreads, with less than 20 calories per pat,nearly halve the calories for you. Better yet, the sprinkles andsprays add almost no calories.

However, many people like the taste of butter too much to giveit up completely. If you're among them, save your butter budget forfoods that cry out for the real thing: baked potatoes, corn on thecob and fresh bread. For sauteing, Jayne Newmark, a spokeswoman forthe American Dietetic Association, suggests using a spray first toprevent food from sticking to the pan, then adding just a bit ofbutter for flavor.

Would you be no worse off with a daily dab of butter? Mostpeople get far more fat than is good for them already. According toexperts, the typical American diet includes about 100 grams of fat aday, almost twice the recommended maximum. Every bit of fat that'snot taken in counts. Because many foods contain fat that can't beremoved, the easiest way to lower the fat in your diet is not to addany fat when you cook or eat, and that includes the fat in a dab ofbutter.

Mindy Hermann is a nutrition consultant based in Mount Kisco, N.Y. Copyright 1989 Longevity Publications Inc.