Are the posh new butters healthier than good ol' Kerrygold? From kitchen favourites to new brands, nutritionist reveals which can help lower cholesterol or cut blood pressure (and the ones to avoid!)

Take a walk down any supermarket dairy aisle, and you'll likely be bombarded with an immense range of butters.Gone are the days when shoppers simply had to choose between salted and unsalted; now there's an abundance of artisanal, flavoured, and plant-based options from a variety of brands to choose from.And while it might be easy to assess which are the tastiest, what about the health aspects?Nutritionist and Biomel's gut health expert Holly Caske has assessed some of the fanciest options on the market and compared them with the more everyday options like Lurpak and Kerrygold.And perhaps in a surprising twist, it was Lurpak that scored among the top. Read on to discover the nutritionist's rankings... Lurpak Holly gave Lurpak Blend the top spot, thanks to its 'unsaturated-to-saturated fat ratio'Price: £3.15 for 250gNutritional values are typical values per 100g.Ingredients: Butter (64 per cent) (milk), rapeseed oil, water, lactic culture (milk), saltCalories: 679kcalFat: 75gCarbohydrate: 0.6gSalt: 0.90gProtein: 0.5gHolly's verdict: 'Blending in rapeseed oil meaningfully improves the unsaturated-to-saturated fat ratio, the single biggest health differentiator here, making it the standout everyday choice.'Rating: 4.5/5 Exceptional by ASDA Sea Salted Spreadable with West Country British Butter Holly praised the Exceptional by ASDA Sea Salted Spreadable with West Country British Butter for its fat profilePrice: £3.16 for 250g Ingredients: Butter (milk) (68 per cent), rapeseed oil (22 per cent), water, Cornish sea salt (0.9 per cent), salt (0.5 per cent)Calories: 704Fat: 78gCarbohydrate: 1.0gSalt: 1.4gProtein: <0.5gHolly's verdict: 'Rapeseed oil at 22 per cent shifts the fat profile toward unsaturated, and calories are lower at 704, giving it a genuine edge.'Rating: 4.5/5 Flora Plant-Based Smoked Garlic Butter Flora Plant-Based Smoked Garlic Butter received a four out of five ratingPrice: £1.75 for 125g Ingredients: Plant oils (sunflower, rapeseed in varying proportions), coconut fat, water, salt (1.5 per cent), faba bean preparation, natural garlic flavouring, natural flavouring, emulsifier (sunflower lecithin), colour (carotenes)Calories: 713kcalFat: 79gCarbohydrate: 0.5gSalt: 1.5gProtein: <0.5gHolly's verdict: 'Sunflower and rapeseed oils give a favourable unsaturated fat ratio; the coconut fat holds it back slightly, but the profile is better than most dairy butters.'Rating: 4/5Mergulo Dark Salt Plant Based Butter Pictured: Mergulo Dark Salt Plant Based ButterPrice: £3.30 for 200g Ingredients: Coconut oil, cashew nuts (17 per cent), yeast extract, sunflower oil, salt, water, citric acid, fava beanCalories 715kcalFat 60gCarbohydrate 4.3gSalt 2.3gProtein 6gHolly's verdict: 'Lower fat at 60g with 6g plant protein from cashews, though coconut oil keeps the saturated share higher than the seed-oil blends.'Rating: 4/5 Président Butter Président Butter has 745 kcal per 100gPrice: £3.65 for 250g Ingredients: Butter (cream (milk), lactic starters)Calories: 745 kcalFat: 82gCarbohydrate: 1.0gSalt: 0.03gProtein: 0.7gHolly's verdict: 'Essentially unsalted at 0.03g, a nice benefit if you watch blood pressure, though the fat profile is standard dairy butter.'Rating: 3.5/5All Things Butter Garlic and Herb All Things Butter Garlic and Herb has the lowest fat of the dairy buttersPrice: £2.85 for 115g Ingredients Unsalted butter 88 per cent (contains milk), lemon juice, garlic powder, parsley, salt (1.7 per cent), garlic paste, black pepper, mint oil (sunflower oil, mint), parsley oil (sunflower oil, parsley), garlic oil (sunflower oil, garlic)Calories: 684kcalFat: 73gCarbohydrate: 4gSalt: 1.8gProtein: 2gHolly's verdict: 'The lowest fat of the dairy butters at 73g, and the garlic and herbs mean a little goes further.'Rating: 3.5/5Sublime Flavoured Butter No 8: Red Chilli, Smoked Salt and Lime Sublime Flavoured Butter No 8: Red Chilli, Smoked Salt and Lime has the lowest calorie count of the buttersPrice: £4.75 for 90g Ingredients: Unsalted butter 85.1 per cent (contains milk), lime juice 6.4 per cent, red chilli 4.3 per cent, smoked paprika, garlic, smoked salt 1 per cent, pink Himalayan saltCalories: 611kcalFat: 69.5gCarbohydrate: 0.3gSalt: 2.0gProtein: 0.6gHolly's verdict: 'The lowest calories of any butter here at 611kcal, with chilli and lime carrying flavour that fat would otherwise do.'Rating: 3.5/5Kerrygold Salted Butter Holly dubbed Kerrygold a 'clean two-ingredient butter'Price: £2.65 for 200g Ingredients: Butter (milk), Salt (1.8 per cent), Fat 80 per cent minCalories: 744kcalFat: 80gCarbohydrate: 0.6gSalt: 1.8gProtein: 0.6gHolly's verdict: 'A clean two-ingredient butter with a standard but honest dairy fat profile.' Rating: 3.5/5The Estate Dairy Salted Cultured Butter Holly described The Estate Dairy Salted Cultured Butter as 'minimally processed'Price: £3.50 for 250g Ingredients: Pasturised cream (milk), sea salt (1.8 per cent), lactic culturesCalories: 745kcalFat: 82gCarbohydrate: Unavailable Salt: 1.8 per centProtein: 0.6gHolly's verdict: 'Cultured cream and sea salt, minimally processed, with a typical dairy fat profile.'Rating: 3.5/5A spokesman from The Estate told the Daily Mail: 'We're proud our slow approach shows in the verdict. Just rich Crème Fraîche, a live culture, time and a little sea salt, churned in Cheshire over four days. Minimally processed, because that's what gives it its flavour and character.' Golden Hooves Salted Butter Golden Hooves Salted Butter was described by Holly as a 'straightforward traditional butter'Price: £2.95 for 200g Ingredients: Butter (milk), salt (1.6 per cent)Calories: 744kcalFat: 82.2gCarbohydrate: 0.6gSalt: 1.60gProtein: 0.6gHolly's verdict: 'A straightforward traditional butter; nothing about its numbers stands out for better or worse.'Rating: 3.5/5M&S Collection Salted Jersey Butter Holly described M&S Collection Salted Jersey Butter as 'a sound traditional butter'Price: £3.25 for 250g Ingredients: Butter (milk), salt (1.5 per cent). Minimum 80 per cent fatCalories: 740kcalFat: 81.5gCarbohydrate: 1.0gSalt: 1.50gProtein: 0.5gHolly's verdict: 'Richer Jersey cream, but that's a matter of character rather than a health penalty; a sound traditional butter.'Rating: 3.5/5Longley Farm Luxury Jersey Butter Holly says Longley Farm Luxury Jersey Butter is a 'simple cream-and-salt Jersey butter'Price: £2.50 for 250g Ingredients: Jersey cream, (milk), saltCalories: 743kcalFat: 82.0gCarbohydrate: 0.4gSalt: 1.8gProtein: 0.8gHolly's verdict: 'A simple cream-and-salt Jersey butter; richness is a feature, not a fault.'Rating: 3.5/5A spokesman from Longley Farm told the Daily Mail: 'Longley Farm Jersey Butter is made from 100 per cent Jersey milk and has won two Golds at the ICDA awards 2026 (International Cheese & Dairy Awards) and won not only the Best Yorkshire Product but also the Supreme Champion Dairy Product at the Great Yorkshire Show 2026.' Delamere Goats Butter Delamere Goats Butter was the 'richest product' in the list, said HollyPrice: £2.60 for 250g Ingredients: Goats' butter (from goats' milk), salt 1 per cent, colour: beta caroteneCalories: 793kcalFat: 88gCarbohydrate: 0.5gSalt: 1gProtein: 0.7gHolly's verdict: 'The richest product here at 88g fat, but goat's butter isn't inherently less healthy – just more concentrated, so a little goes a long way.'Rating: 3.5/5 All Things Butter Organic Salted All Things Butter Organic Salted has a 'standard dairy fat profile' according to HollyPrice: £3 for 200g Ingredients: Organic butter (milk) (minimum 80 per cent fat), salt (1.9 per cent)Calories: 744kcalFat: 82.2gCarbohydrate: 0.6gSalt: 1.9gProtein: 0.6g Holly's verdict: 'Organic and simple in composition, with a standard dairy fat profile and no particular edge either way.'Rating: 3/5 Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Farmhouse Butter Holly described Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Farmhouse Butter as 'rich' and 'calorie-dense'Price: £2.80 for 250g Ingredients: Whey butter (whey cream (cows' milk)) (98 per cent), salt (1.4 per cent), Maldon(R) Sea Salt Flakes (0.6 per cent). Minimum 80 per cent milk fatCalories: 753kcalFat: 83.2gCarbohydrate: <0.5g Salt: 2.13gProtein: <0.5gHolly's verdict: 'A rich, calorie-dense dairy butter at 753kcal and 83g; fine in the small amounts most people use.'Rating: 3/5Sublime Flavoured Butter No 33: Clawson Farms Stilton Butter Sublime Flavoured Butter No 33: Clawson Farms Stilton Butter includes beef and goose fatPrice: £20 for 180g Ingredients: Unsalted butter (contains milk), stilton (22 per cent) (contains milk), beef fat, goose fat, garlic, natural white truffle aroma, lemon, natural herbs, Blackthorn sea salt, black pepperCalories: 663kcalFat: 70.9gCarbohydrate: 0.7gProtein: 5.7gSalt: 3.0gHolly's verdict: 'A useful 5.7g protein and lower fat than plain butter, but beef and goose fat make it more of an occasional treat.'Rating: 3/5 A spokesman from Sublime told the Daily Mail: 'Rating butters on healthiness is but one aspect of what makes butter so good. 'It is a natural product, and ours do not add any rapeseed oils or other nasties. Sublime is about pure flavour first and foremost.'Our Ridiculous No 33 is a treat as opposed to an everyday indulgence, and comprises Clawson Stilton and beef fat alongside butter, with aromatics to enhance flavour.'Isigny Sainte-Mère Unpasteurised Salted Butter Isigny Sainte-Mère Unpasteurised Salted Butter received a three out of five from HollyPrice: £3.90 for 250g Ingredients: Cream from unpasteurised cow's milk, salt 2 per cent, lactic startersCalories: 725kcalFat: 80gCarbohydrate: 0.5gSalt: 2gProtein: 0.7gHolly's verdict: 'A reasonable fat profile, but the unpasteurised cream makes it unsuitable in pregnancy or for anyone immunocompromised.'Rating: 3/5Waitrose French Butter with Sea Salt Crystals Waitrose French Butter with Sea Salt Crystals included 'heavier salting', Holly said Price: £3.50 for 250g Ingredients: Butter (milk), salt, sea salt (1.0 per cent)Calories: 734kcalFat: 80.7gCarbohydrate: 0.9gSalt: 2.49gProtein: 0.7gHolly's verdict: 'A standard dairy fat profile; the heavier salting is a flavour choice that matters little at normal serving sizes.'Rating: 3/5 Morrisons The Best West Country Farmhouse Butter Holly found The Best West Country Farmhouse Butter from Morrisons to be the saltiest offering in the selectionPrice: £2.90 for 250g Ingredients: Butter (milk), salt (1.5 per cent), sea salt (1.5 per cent)Calories: 735kcalFat: 81gCarbohydrate: 0.6gSalt: 3gProtein: 0.8gHolly's verdict: 'One of the saltiest options and less favourable if you're trying to reduce your salt intake.'Rating: 3/5 Holly concluded that the best butter or spread for a given person depends on 'your overall diet, health status and goals'.She explained: 'For example, if you have high cholesterol or cardiovascular disease, choosing a spread lower in saturated fat and higher in unsaturated fats may be beneficial. 'If you're simply enjoying a thin layer of butter on toast as part of an otherwise balanced diet, the differences between many of these products are relatively small, so it's perfectly reasonable to choose the one you enjoy most. 'It's also worth remembering that, for most people, the biggest contributors to salt intake are everyday processed and ultra-processed foods such as bread, ready meals, processed meats and savoury snacks – not the small amount of butter spread on toast.'