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Plant oils, butters and fats: what each is, how it is used, and what research found.

Oils & Fats

Butter: Nutrients, What Research Shows and Safety

Butter as a food: USDA values, saturated fat and LDL cholesterol, what large reviews found on heart disease and diabetes, milk allergy, raw-milk butter and storage.

Herbs & Botanicals

Butterbur (Petasites hybridus): Uses, Evidence and Safety

Butterbur (Petasites hybridus) was studied for migraine, but pyrrolizidine alkaloids and rare liver injury led guidelines to stop recommending it. What the sources say.

Vegetables

Butternut Squash: Nutrients, What Research Shows and Safety

What butternut squash (Cucurbita moschata) offers, what research says on vitamin A, fiber and potassium, and the safety facts on kidneys, medicines and food safety.

Herbal Teas & Extracts

Butterfly Pea Flower Tea: What Research Shows About the Tea, Safety and Cautions

Butterfly pea flower tea (Clitoria ternatea): why it is blue and turns purple with acid, the small human trial of a flower-extract drink, and what safety information we could not find.

Natural Oils & Butters

Cupuacu Butter: Evidence and Safety

Cupuacu butter is a pale fat pressed from the seeds of an Amazonian relative of cacao. Here is what lab studies show, what no human trial has tested, and how to store it.

Natural Oils & Butters

Kokum Butter: Evidence and Safety

Kokum butter (Garcinia indica) is a hard, stearic-rich seed fat from India used in balms and as a chocolate fat; what is known about skin use, safety and storage.

Natural Oils & Butters

Mango Butter: Evidence and Safety

Mango butter is the firm fat from the mango seed kernel, used in creams and balms and as a cocoa butter alternative. Here is what research shows, and what it does not.

Natural Oils & Butters

Murumuru Butter: Evidence and Safety

Murumuru butter (Astrocaryum murumuru) is a firm Amazonian palm seed fat used in skin and hair products. What we found: no human trials, only lab work. Safety and storage notes.

Natural Oils & Butters

Shea Butter

Shea butter is a plant fat used on skin and in food. We found no shea-only trials; a cosmetic safety panel judged it safe when non-sensitizing, and allergy data are thin.

Natural Ingredients

Shea Butter vs Cocoa Butter

Shea butter versus cocoa butter for skin: what regulators and trials we could read say about each, where no head-to-head comparison exists, and what to check on a label.

Natural Oils & Butters

Check Before You Use a Natural Oil or Butter: Who Should Be Careful

A situation-by-situation safety checklist for natural oils, butters and waxes: patch tests, nut allergy, swallowing, babies, pregnancy, pets, lanolin, rancidity. Not medical advice.

Oils & Fats

Cocoa Butter: Nutrients, What Research Shows and Safety

Cocoa butter as a food fat: USDA values, stearic acid versus other saturated fats, what small trials found on cholesterol, white chocolate, allergy and cautions.

Natural Oils & Butters

Cosmetic Grade vs Food Grade Oils and Butters: What the Labels Mean

What cosmetic grade and food grade mean on oils and butters, how US cosmetic and food rules differ, what refined and cold-pressed mean, and which contaminants to know about.

Fermented Foods

Cultured Buttermilk: Nutrients, What Research Shows and Safety

Cultured buttermilk as a food: USDA nutrients per cup, what small studies found on cholesterol and blood pressure, and sodium, lactose, pregnancy and milk allergy cautions.

Oils & Fats

Ghee (Clarified Butter): Nutrients, What Research Shows and Safety

Ghee (clarified butter) as a food: USDA values, saturated fat, what small studies and a 2025 meta-analysis found on cholesterol and heart risk, milk allergy and storage.

Herbs & Botanicals

Herbs for Headache and Migraine: Feverfew, Butterbur and Others

What trials and official bodies say about feverfew, butterbur and peppermint for headache and migraine, including why butterbur is no longer recommended and when a headache is an emergency.

Nuts & Seeds

Nut & Seed Butters (overview): Nutrients, What Research Shows and Safety

Peanut, almond, cashew and sesame (tahini) butters compared: USDA nutrients, label ingredients, allergy, choking, aflatoxin limits and what studies say.

Natural Oils & Butters

Patch Testing a Natural Oil or Butter: How and Why

How to test a new natural oil or butter on your skin, what a home patch test cannot show, when to skip it, how clinic testing differs, and what to do after a reaction.

Natural Oils & Butters

Rancidity, Shelf Life and Storage of Natural Oils and Butters

Why plant oils and butters go rancid, what peroxide value means, how light, heat and air matter, what tocopherols do, and what sources do and do not say about skin and shelf life.

Section

Oils & Fats

Cooking oils, butter and other dietary fats: what is in them, what research shows, and what to check.

Natural Ingredients

Skin Moisturizing & Barrier Care

What natural oils, butters and moisturizers can and cannot do for the skin barrier, from FDA's skin-protectant rule and dermatology studies, with patch-test and allergy cautions.

Mushrooms

Yellow Brain Fungus

Yellow brain fungus or witches' butter (Tremella mesenterica) is an edible, gelatinous wild jelly fungus with almost no human research; this page covers what is known, what is not, and how it differs from snow…

Oils & Fats

Duck, Goose & Chicken Fat: Nutrients, What Research Shows and Safety

Duck, goose and chicken fat as foods: USDA values for chicken and goose fat, how their fat mix differs from butter, what research shows (little), and safety notes.

Vitamins & Supplements

Foods High in Vitamin E: Nuts, Seeds, Oils and Greens

Which foods are high in vitamin E: wheat germ and sunflower oils, sunflower seeds, almonds, hazelnuts, peanut butter and greens, with USDA amounts per serving and official limits.

Herbs & Botanicals

Herbs for Allergies and Hay Fever: What Research Shows

What NIH and a 2024 review say about butterbur, stinging nettle and other herbs for hay fever, why plant allergy and liver cautions come first, and the signs of a severe reaction.

Herbs & Botanicals

Kokum (Garcinia indica): Uses, Evidence and Safety

Kokum (Garcinia indica), the sour Indian fruit rind and seed butter: what is known about garcinol and HCA, why human evidence is thin, and the liver caution borrowed from Garcinia cambogia.

Natural Oils & Butters

Natural Oils and Pets: Cats, Dogs and Coconut Oil

Natural Oils and Pets: what veterinary sources say about coconut oil, olive oil, cocoa butter, macadamia, shea and paw balms for cats and dogs, and when to call the vet.

Herbs & Botanicals

Pleurisy root (Asclepias tuberosa): Uses, Evidence and Safety

Pleurisy root (Asclepias tuberosa, butterfly weed): a traditional chest herb with no human trials, cardiac glycoside and heart-medicine cautions, pregnancy warnings and milkweed look-alikes.

Oils & Fats

Which Cooking Fat to Choose: What Health Bodies Say

Olive oil, canola, butter, coconut, palm or tallow? What the Dietary Guidelines, WHO, NHS and pooled studies say about each cooking fat, and where the evidence is still thin.

Herbs & Botanicals

Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids: Comfrey, Coltsfoot, Borage and Liver Veno-Occlusive Disease

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids in comfrey, coltsfoot, borage and butterbur can injure the liver. See what the EU committee and other sources say, what PA-free means and who is most at risk.

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