Dietary Guidelines Endorse Butter and Beef Tallow as Cooking Options Despite AHA Caution

Two leading U.S. nutrition authorities agree on core advice but split over butter and beef tallow for cooking.

The 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, issued by the Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture, name butter and beef tallow as healthy options. "When cooking with or adding fats to meals, prioritize oils with essential fatty acids, such as olive oil," the guidelines state. "Other options can include butter or beef tallow."

These traditional fats add flavor and satisfaction to food but pack a lot of calories.

The American Heart Association took a different view when the guidelines came out in January. The Dallas-based group called for caution with butter and tallow. "[W]e encourage consumers to prioritize plant-based proteins, seafood and lean meats and to limit high-fat animal products including red meat, butter, lard and tallow, which are linked to increased cardiovascular risk," the organization said.

Both sides stressed common ground in responses to Fox News Digital. Andrew Nixon, an HHS spokesperson, said the AHA aligns with the guidelines on major points: eat real food, skip highly processed items, refined grains and added sugar. "We look forward to working collaboratively with the AHA to evangelize these core principles and reverse the diet-related chronic disease epidemic."

The AHA agreed. "[L]asting progress happens when we come together," its spokesperson said. "We are committed to working alongside government and all aligned partners across health care, academia, the private sector and communities nationwide to advance practical, evidence-based solutions that make healthy choices easier for everyone."

The AHA added that the guidelines match its advice in key areas, like avoiding ultraprocessed foods and choosing whole foods.

Chef Andrew Gruel, a California-based celebrity and Make America Healthy Again advocate, said the butter debate overlooks how Americans cook. He told Fox News Digital that people already overload on fats, and traditional ones can cut usage.

"I always encourage the saturated fats, in addition to avocado oil and olive oil," Gruel said. "It's not always, for me, butter and beef tallow or pork fat. ... I use a lot of lard or even schmaltz, which is chicken fat."

Such fats deliver cleaner flavor, so cooks use less, he said. "Using less of a higher-quality fat in the long run is a net negative in regard to how much fat you're using. And that is the key."

Gruel compared it to toast: Would anyone pour a cup of soybean oil instead of spreading butter?

The gap widens in busy kitchens, he added. "If you have canola oil that's been sitting in a fryer all day … it's bitter, and you can taste that old grease on the food."

Gruel noted that olive oil unites MAHA supporters and seed oil critics. Low-quality industrial seed oils fill too many store products, he said. Home cooking cuts them out. "Even if you're taking something like a vinaigrette, making it at home isn't just healthier, it's also cheaper."

"There are so many ways we can cut some of these fats out of our diet just by cooking one more meal a week at home or making a condiment fresh. That's really the key."