"Dutch researchers fed 13 overweight men 3½ tablespoons of either butter or a mix of polyunsaturated-fat-rich sunflower and safflower oils (all baked into muffins).
Compared to the saturated fats in the butter, consumption of polyunsaturated fats led to lower levels of markers of inflammation such as interleukin-6, TNF-alpha, and soluble vascular cell adhesion molecules (sVCAM). All are involved in the accumulation of plaque in artery walls.
Martijn Katan, emeritus professor of nutrition at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam sums it up by noting that the experiments that replaced saturated fat from foods like butter and high-fat dairy or meat with polyunsaturated fats from corn or soybean or sunflower oil were not perfect. But they consistently showed a fall in coronary heart disease exactly to the extent that you would expect from the fall in LDL cholesterol.
In fact, Professor Katan points to a meta-analysis of trials which found that people who replaced saturated fats with polyunsaturated fats had a 19 percent lower risk of heart disease. (That was after removing a study of trans-fat margarine from the meta-analysis that had been misclassified as a study of polyunsaturated fats.)....
Replace butter with oils or with a margarine that’s low in saturated fat. Replace red meat, cheese, cream, and other foods that are rich in saturated fats with fish, nuts, and soy foods.
See entire article @ Nutrition Action