When you eat, you obtain three basic nutrients: carbohydrate, protein and fat. Butter belongs to the fat category and is therefore calorie-dense. Per gram, it contains more than twice the amount of calories as carbohydrate or protein. Diabetes nutrition guidelines mandate that persons with diabetes restrict their daily fat intake.
Empty Calories
Butter is a high-calorie food. One tablespoon of salted butter contains about 102 calories. Butter is filled with empty calories, meaning it offers very little nutritional benefit. For example, butter contains only trace amounts of protein, vitamins and minerals and is completely deficient in dietary fiber, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Because gaining excess body fat can exacerbate your diabetes condition, it may prove beneficial to restrict your intake of fat in order to help ensure that you are not consuming more calories than your body requires.
Saturated Fat
Fat can be divided into two basic categories: healthy fats and unhealthy fats. Healthy fats -- such as monounsaturated fat, polyunsaturated fat, and omega-3 fatty acids -- while still calorie-dense, may help protect you against heart disease by helping to lower your cholesterol levels. The majority of fat in butter is saturated fat, a type of unhealthy fat that may increase your risk of developing heart disease by increasing your cholesterol levels. Butter also contains trans fat and cholesterol, two other types of unhealthy fats.
Recommended Intake
One tablespoon of salted butter contains approximately 7.29 g of saturated fat -- nearly half of the saturated fat allowed daily on a diabetes diet. No more than 7 percent of your daily calories should come from saturated fat, according to the American Diabetes Association. This amounts to about 15 g of saturated fat per day. It can prove difficult to include butter in a diabetes diet unless you avoid most other foods high in saturated fat. Some examples include full-fat dairy products such as whole milk and ice cream, processed foods that contain palm or coconut oil and fatty meats such as hamburger, bacon and bologna.
Considerations
Instead of putting butter on your baked potato, drizzle a little bit of olive oil on it. Peanut butter on whole grain toast makes a better choice than buttered toast. Instead of sautéing vegetables in butter, cook them in walnut oil, canola oil, or sesame seed oil. Sources of healthy fats include avocado, almonds, walnuts, cashews, pecans, peanuts, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, flaxseeds, soybean products, salmon, herring and tuna.
