USDA says butter and cream are "empty calories". Thoughts? page

**Nelle** · 11-02-2012, 03:48 PM

Back story: I had to do a "perfect day" nutrient analysis for my nutrition class using supertracker.usda.gov and design a day that is perfect according to them. Anyway, I fudged it of course so I can get a decent grade but when I put in butter and cream, the tracker called all of it "empty calories". I asked my (vegetarian) study buddy and she looked at me funny and said, "are you asking for real?". I said I know they aren't the most nutrient dense food but we still need fat in our diet.

So my question is, are they really empty calories? Should these types of food be avoided? I'm not a Primal nutjob but my focus is health & real food and I do want to avoid "empty calories". Thoughts? Opinions?

**Neckhammer** · 11-02-2012, 03:53 PM

Well pastured is good for K2, vitamin A and a variety of fatty acids. Some of these fatty acids actually act in the same way as antioxidants. Problem is that not many nutrition calculators or teachers take fatty acid profile into account. Of course they are not "empty". They are energy AND building blocks for vital hormones and cell structure.

Hey just found this Butter Up: Why Butter is a Healthy Choice

**zoebird** · 11-02-2012, 03:57 PM

actually, they are a very nutrient dense food, as they also hold most fat-soluable vitamins, help in protein up-take, and blah blah blah. weston a price foundation has lots of science on this.

**Nelle** · 11-02-2012, 04:03 PM

Hey thanks! That's a great article, I might post that on my class forum. We have a few "Paleo leaning" people in my class but I'm the only outspoken and opinionated (see: annoying) one. I didn't realize that butter offered more than just fat and supposed "empty calories"

**DinoHunter** · 11-02-2012, 04:04 PM

I empty them right into my chai tea

...and on my veggies...

**Nelle** · 11-02-2012, 04:06 PM

Lol!

**oxide** · 11-02-2012, 05:11 PM

Why does everything have to be about vitamins? We don't burn vitamins to keep our blood warm and our muscles moving. We are very efficient at burning the chemical bonds in fat, even if the fat doesn't contain a single vitamin. Vitamins come mostly from veggies, or organs meats if you're a meaty-meat. Admittedly, animal fat has more vitamins than dairy fat, but dairy fat is still useful as pure fuel.

**sbhikes** · 11-02-2012, 05:46 PM

Empty? Empty of profits for those who feed at the trough of the USDA maybe.

Sounds like a losing assignment. You will only learn how to click buttons on a calculator but you won't get to do any critical thinking and thus won't actually learn anything for real. The best you can do is turn in an answer that meets with the instructor's approval.

Thank god for the Liberal Arts. Critical thinking is a valuable skill.