How Many Calories in Butter?

As that old tongue twister goes about Betty buying some terrible butter and then getting some better quality butter to make it taste better, it is fair to say that Betty didn't give a hoot about calories.

Betty clearly was one of those who smeared the butter over her morning toast, without a care in the world. But the rest of us do want to know about the calories in butter, before we decide whether to use it on our sandwiches at all!

Let's face it, irrespective of the calories, we know we need it to spread it on our bread and give it a better taste. The word 'butter' has gone with 'bread' for so many centuries now that it is almost impossible to separate one from the other. Apart from bread, we need it for cooking several other food items as well. So life without butter, as some would put it, would be simply impossible.

But the non-sadistic, well-meaning chap that I am, I would still want to enlighten you about the calories in butter. So that next time, when you pick up a hefty spoonful of this delightful bread-spread, you might be tempted to think twice.

The main difference between butter with salt or without salt is that butter with salt, contains a lot more sodium which dietitians claim is not good for the human body. The calories from its 9.4 g tablespoon equal to 67, and as it contains no carbohydrates, the calories are all from fat.

One of the most alarming facts about this food is its high saturated fat content. From the aforementioned tablespoon of butter, one stands to gain almost 4.8 g of fat, which includes 0.26 g of polyunsaturated fat and almost 2 g of monounsaturated fat.

Along with the above, this food also contains 20.5 mg of cholesterol. Like I said, because of the absence of salt, the sodium content in it is negligible.

Assuming the same aforementioned proportion of butter, its calories with salt remain the same, i.e. 67. All of which are from fat as this food too contains negligible amounts of carbohydrates and proteins.

The saturated fat content in butter with salt again is alarmingly high-around 4.7 g, with polyunsaturated fats around 0.3 g, and monounsaturated fats around 2.2 g. Cholesterol content in this food stands at 21 mg, while the sodium content stands at 78 mg.

Margarine is widely touted to be a healthier option to butter. Why so? Let us examine the calories and nutritional facts about margarine. I'll continue with the same 9.4 g tablespoon measure so that it becomes easier to compare the two.

So while the calories in margarine are more or less the same as butter, and seeing that there are neither any carbohydrates nor proteins in margarine, it is just the fat which contributes the 67 calories to it. So what's the big deal about margarine? Well, it has lesser amounts of saturated fats, which are very unhealthy.

One tablespoon serving of margarine contains only about 1.2 g of saturated fats. The amount of polyunsaturated fats again is less,1.6 g, while the amount of slightly healthier monounsaturated fats is higher at 4.4 g. Which means that the total calories in butter and margarine and their respective amounts of fat, 67 and 7.6, are the same, while there is almost no cholesterol in margarine.

As you can see, the number of calories are same whichever butter you use, salted, unsalted, or margarine. The differences lie in their sodium, cholesterol, and fat contents. So, since you now know all the facts about their nutrition, you can take a better decision regarding which to use.