Re: Re: Butter Color/Vitamin A

[Guest guest]

Ann,

Thanks! It all makes sense now.

-Lana

On 12/19/05, annbekins <annbekins@...> wrote:

> Actually, the yellow in butter and cream (especially grassfed

> Guernsey) is not vitamin A, it is betacarotene. Sme thing that makes

> carrots orange. In a healthy person, the body can convert

> betacarotene to vitamin A, if there is enough fat (which is why it's

> good that it's in butter.) However, in Jersey cows, I believe, it

> really is vitamin A, which is colorless. So there could be vitamin A

> in your butter.

>

> I have been using raw butter and cream from Guernsey cows for over a

> year, then switched to a dairy with Jersey and Holstein -- the milk is

> very rich, but not nearly as bright yellow. That's actually better

> for me, because I am diabetic, and diabetics are not so good at

> converting betacarotene to A, so it's better to get it as already

> converted by the cow. Apparently the breeds differ in this -- I think

> it is explained somewhere on the Weston Price website or else the Raw

> Milk one.

>

> Ann

[Guest guest]

Whoops, only just got this one.

I checked and this butter is actually 83% butterfat. Yikes! I guess

it is possible it has all that Vitamin A in it... but that's odd

there's no carotene. I know parmisagn is a white cheese, so maybe the

cows were selected for a whiter milk. (I guess by converting almost

all of the beta carotene to Vitamin A.)

On another note, the butter is great, especially on top of the raw

cheddar I picked up.

-Lana

On 12/19/05, annbekins <annbekins@...> wrote:

> All right, I should have checked before I wrote this -- here is what I

> found on the Weston Price site:

>

> " Editor's Note: Holstein butter is generally more pale than Jersey

> butter, but it becomes quite yellow when the cows are on green grass.

> Carotenes in Jersey and Holstein milk give it a yellow color, but the

> butterfat also contains true vitamin A—the carotenes are a marker for

> the presence of vitamin A. "

>

> Ann

[Guest guest]

On 12/19/05, annbekins <annbekins@...> wrote:

> Actually, the yellow in butter and cream (especially grassfed

> Guernsey) is not vitamin A, it is betacarotene. Sme thing that makes

> carrots orange. In a healthy person, the body can convert

> betacarotene to vitamin A, if there is enough fat (which is why it's

> good that it's in butter.) However, in Jersey cows, I believe, it

> really is vitamin A, which is colorless. So there could be vitamin A

> in your butter.

Even in a healthy person, though, generally only a very small portion

of the carotene is converted. And although I've only looked at it

superficially so far, from what I've seen, fat doesn't really help

much.

But anyway like you say the carotenes might be a marker for A but

aren't the A themselves, so it really depends on how well the animal

converts the carotenes. For example goats convert well so their

butter is not very yellow at all.

Chris

--

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