Doctors have urged people to make one simple swap to get “substantial benefits” including living a longer life. Many people eat butter at breakfast time, and according to a recent study published on JAMA Internal Medicine, you can prevent “premature deaths” by opting for a plant-based alternative instead.

The range of “butters” are endless. There are great options out there that you may actually prefer, not to mention they can often be cheaper. In the study, they took 221,054 adults from 3 large cohorts and found that “higher butter intake was associated with increased total and cancer mortality, while higher intake of plant-based oils was associated with lower total, cancer, and cardiovascular disease mortality.”

Because of this, they suggest: “Substituting butter with plant-based oils, particularly olive, soybean, and canola oils, may confer substantial benefits for preventing premature deaths.”

In their results section, they note that over a follow-up of up to 33 years in more than 221,000 adults, around 51,000 deaths were recorded, including over 12,000 from cancer and 11,000 from heart disease.

Researchers grouped participants based on how much butter or plant-based oils they ate. After accounting for other health factors they discovered:

• High butter intake was linked to a 15% higher risk of death compared to low intake

• High plant-based oil intake was linked to a 16% lower risk of death

• Specifically, more canola, soybean, and olive oil were each tied to lower death risk

In fact, for every 5g of butter each day, there was a lower risk of death. They say that this extra amount meant there was a 15% lower risk of death with canola oil, a 6% lower risk with soybean oil meanwhile those who had olive oil showed an 8% lower risk.

On top of this, every extra 10 grams of plant-based oils daily was linked to an 11% lower cancer death risk and a 6% lower heart disease death risk. Not only that, but they noted that substituting 10g of butter a day with plant-based oil was estimated to lower total death risk and cancer risk by 17%.

Their conclusion reads: “In this cohort study, higher intake of butter was associated with increased mortality, while higher plant-based oils intake was associated with lower mortality. Substituting butter with plant-based oils may confer substantial benefits for preventing premature deaths.”

One well-known expert, Professor Tim Spector previously said: “I hardly use butter at all, I reach for the olive oil every time.” On the Best of Zoe podcast, host Jonathan Wolf revisited his conversation with olive oil expert, Elizabeth Berger alongside Spector, the Zoe co-founder.

Berger suggested adding a drizzle to your morning marmalade toast, describing it as “uplifting” and “extremely good for your health”.

She also suggested using it as a fat substitute in baking to make baked goods more moist or when preparing granola. While heating olive oil may reduce some of its nutrients, it still boosts the overall nutritional value of the dishes it’s added to, according to experts.