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The Confusing Influence Of Butter Versus Plant Oils On Longevity—Association Does Not Equal Causation
Dietary studies are notorious for drawing tainted conclusions about what we eat and our health.
By now, researchers should have grown tired of doing studies suggesting that something X causes results Y. But alas, no. In the latest installment of why association does not equal causation, a JAMA study published last month suggests that eating more plant-based oils rather than butter can make you live longer. However, when we examine the study, it proves no such thing.
In a tiny defense of the authors, the conclusion states, “Substituting butter with plant-based oils, particularly olive, soybean, and canola oils, may confer substantial benefits for preventing premature deaths.” I bolded the word “may” because it helps them to hedge their bets that there is no causative link here.
I greatly advocate plant-based oils in cooking and eating over butter, but this study does not prove anything. (For now, I will ignore the controversy of some plant-based oils being healthier than others since this study did not look at this.) However, there are glaring and obvious errors in the conclusions of this study.
