Jimmy Carter's Affinity For Drinking Buttermilk May Not Have Been As Unhealthy As You'd Think

American presidents have always had their favorite foods. Teddy Roosevelt enjoyed mint juleps. Barack Obama was a broccoli fan. But you might be less familiar with one of Jimmy Carter's preferred foods, which is buttermilk, which has more potential health benefits than its name suggests.

Despite what it's called, there's no actual butter in buttermilk. It's a byproduct of the butter-making process that gets tangier with age as it ferments. (Today, the fermentation process of commercially available buttermilk is controlled for food safety reasons, as it is with similar products like yogurt.) One cup of buttermilk provides about 8 grams of protein, 284 milligrams of calcium, and 370 milligrams of potassium, all for less than 100 calories.

Individually, protein, calcium, and potassium have all been identified as cardioprotective nutrients. (That's why it's a good idea to consider adding foods like protein- and calcium-rich amaranth and potassium-packed celery to your meals.) Together, those and the other nutritional substances in buttermilk may promote measurable cardiovascular health benefits.

In a 2014 study in Nutrition, adult subjects drank 45 grams (about 1.5 ounces) of buttermilk each day for four weeks. By the end of the experiment, the subjects saw a dip in both their systolic and mean arterial pressure (MAP) levels. MAP pertains to the pressure of the blood moving throughout the body to vital organs. Generally, a MAP measurement between 70 and 100 millimeters of mercury (mmHg) is ideal.

Meanwhile, a 2013 study published in Nutrition, Metabolism, and Cardiovascular Diseases looked at the effect of drinking buttermilk on the cholesterol readings of adults. After consuming 45 grams of buttermilk for four weeks, participants saw a decrease in their total cholesterol. The findings suggest that the effect resulted from buttermilk interfering with the cholesterol absorption process.

Although the studies mentioned both involved drinking buttermilk, you can also cook with it. Buttermilk can be a welcome ingredient, as it gives flavor to baked goods while helping to activate baking soda.

Then again, maybe you want to emulate what Carter did during and after his presidency, which was treat buttermilk as an everyday beverage. Reportedly, Carter Center interns who visited him in 2017 were surprised when he drank "straight" buttermilk like it was water, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Per the New York Times, buttermilk was a before-bedtime standard for Carter. 

It's hard to argue with his results; after all, Carter lived to reach 100 years old. That said, before you start guzzling buttermilk, you should know that it does have a downside: It contains quite a bit of sodium — about 363 milligrams for every cupful. Consequently, if you're always getting more than the recommended daily amount of 1,500 milligrams to 2,300 milligrams of sodium for adults, you may want to try it as an occasional treat rather than a regular drink.