Butter vs. Margarine

Eve23

The argument in that margarine is but one molecule from plastic is a popular, but untrue belief. It preys on the laymans general ignorance of chemistry. It is not true that margarine is "but ONE MOLECULE from being PLASTIC." Many items in nature are chemically similar to one another, but that doesn't make them similar in appearance or effect. For instance hydrogen peroxide (H 2O2) is "but one molecule from" water (H 2O), but I don't recommend drinking it. Similarly, Ozone (0 3) is "but one molecule from" oxygen (O 2), but the former can create serious respiratory distress, while the latter can alleviate it.
That being said, I would like to point out that butter is a natural product that has been around for centuries. No one should eat tons of butter for the obvious reasons that it is high in calories and it is saturated, but it is NOT the enemy! When it comes down to it, we need to eat REAL foods.
Even our USDA food pyramid is so politically motivated that it relies heavily on overprocessed and fake foods.
Canola oil, (which actually comes from rapeseed...there's no such thing as a "canola" that name was introduced to influence buyers to purchase this product) actually started out as a furniture polish and contains varying amounts of toxic erucic acid. No one has ever eaten rapeseed simply because it is toxic. Soy oil was unknown until the 1930's when it was developed for paint and varnishes because it hardened so nicely on the surface. Linseed (flax) oil had a similar job (ask any woodworker what they rub wood with!). Cottonseed oil is sprayed with non-food safe pesticides since it is not considered a "food crop". Both soy and canola oil, like margarine and "improved, healthy" margarines, not only don't taste very good, they are highly processed fake foods and have lost whatever claim they might originally have had to healthful properties. There are cold pressed versions of these fats, but they are so unstable that they're likely to be rancid, making them the worst fat of all. And rapeseed oil (canola) contains a little very heart-toxic erucic acid --- less than 1% is allowed by law, but why ingest any? Extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil and good old butter are not only much tastier, they're also far better health promoting choices. I certainly understand the confusion and desire to eat a supposedly more healthy choice of fat, but chemically altered and factory produced versions of fats are not and never will be a healthier choice than honest to goodness naturally produced foods. If you choose not to use butter, I certainly honour your choice...but use olive oil and herbs, or use something that is real, don't rely on "better living through chemisty". Look around and see where buying into the myth that real food is fattening and bad for you has gotten us.
Cowboy

Well said Cowboy. I couldn't agree with you more.

ConnieLynn

Good points Cowboy.

I will do further research.

I love our Canola Margarine and it tastes great. It tastes better than butter.

I believe in getting to the truth. I still am more likely to trust a Mayo Clinic Cardiologist, but I know Doctors have varying opinions. When it comes to my husband and his life, I take this very seriously and will continue to do the research. It is important that we get our information from reliable experts and not from myths and rumors.

It is interesting that we tend to follow myths about Margarine and Butter.

I happen to believe that if God made it and we then did something in a factory to it, that does not make it evil. Margarine is still made from natural ingredients and what is wrong with that. Lots of things have toxins in them. That is how our world is. Take this part of a plant and not that part because it's toxic.

I am sure butter is made in a factory as well and it is made straight from animal fat. How is that better for your heart?

Thank you to all who are debating this. Debate is an awesome tool for getting to the truth.

Connie Lynn

nopogal

http://www.rmhiherbal.org/review/2000-4.html
This was an interesting article about the studies that we hear about all the time. Let's remember that marketing and advertising is a BIG part of these food studies. Even smart people like doctors have their price.

Cowboy

Good points Cowboy.

I will do further research.

I love our Canola Margarine and it tastes great. It tastes better than butter.

I believe in getting to the truth. I still am more likely to trust a Mayo Clinic Cardiologist, but I know Doctors have varying opinions. When it comes to my husband and his life, I take this very seriously and will continue to do the research. It is important that we get our information from reliable experts and not from myths and rumors.

It is interesting that we tend to follow myths about Margarine and Butter.

I happen to believe that if God made it and we then did something in a factory to it, that does not make it evil. Margarine is still made from natural ingredients and what is wrong with that. Lots of things have toxins in them. That is how our world is. Take this part of a plant and not that part because it's toxic.

I am sure butter is made in a factory as well and it is made straight from animal fat. How is that better for your heart?

Thank you to all who are debating this. Debate is an awesome tool for getting to the truth.

Connie Lynn

You are absolutely right, just because its made in a factory does not make it evil! I in no way am advocating eating tons of butter. It IS a saturated fat, and it is high in calories. My point is that if you are choosing margarine because you are trying to receive some health benefit that cannot be had from real butter, that is a pretty elusive and sometimes downright bogus claim. If you have chosen to eat a particular kind of margarine, you like the taste and you are comfortable with the research you have done, then no one should try to take that choice from you. We will all make a variety of choices good and bad, and listening to our own bodies has to be one of them. We all react differently to various foods, for you that may be the right choice. Thanks for starting this conversation, we can all only benefit from one another's points of view.
Cowboy

songbyrdsweet

I understand the process. But theres 100 times more trans fat in the hamburger we eat, so like I said, Im not too worried about it.

A bit more info

Although the trans fatty acids are chemically "monounsaturated" or "polyunsaturated" they are considered so different from the cis monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fatty acids that they can not be LEGALLY designated as unsaturated for purposes of labeling. Most of the trans fatty acids (although chemically still unsaturated) produced by the partial hydrogenation process are now classified in the same category as saturated fats.

There's no trans fat in hamburger...well, not if you just buy ground beef and make your own, anyway. The trans fat is man made, so although you may have saturated fat in your burger, it acts differently on the body since its molecules are foudn in nature. Sat fat increases both good and bad cholesterol, while trans fat lowers good cholesterol and increases your triglycerides. Sat fat also is used in hormone formation (like testosterone) and trans fat doesn't. I'd rather eat a lean ground beef burger than margerine. I have no pre-existing problems with absorbing cholesterol, and I avoid high-GI foods, so the chances of getting high cholesterol from a few burgers a week is slim to none.

ConnieLynn

Hi there,

To continue on with this subject....

I am the main cook in my house and what I put on the table is what my sons and husband will be eating for most meals.

All of us take this responsiblility very seriously. I put out margarine because as I said before my husband had a heart attack and he was only 41.

Now I know that butter was not the reason he had a heart attack. It was the cholesterol that broke off and caused a blockage.

Canola margarine has no cholesterol, whereas butter has plenty.

Butter or margarine is just one food item, but it is still required on the table by most of us feeding our families. And because both are so high in calories, it is important to make the best choice.

Any other thoughts?

Connie Lynn

songbyrdsweet

Hi there,

To continue on with this subject....

I am the main cook in my house and what I put on the table is what my sons and husband will be eating for most meals.

All of us take this responsiblility very seriously. I put out margarine because as I said before my husband had a heart attack and he was only 41.

Now I know that butter was not the reason he had a heart attack. It was the cholesterol that broke off and caused a blockage.

Canola margarine has no cholesterol, whereas butter has plenty.

Butter or margarine is just one food item, but it is still required on the table by most of us feeding our families. And because both are so high in calories, it is important to make the best choice.

Any other thoughts?

Connie Lynn

Eating a diet high in cholesterol and simple sugars while living a mostly-sedentary life can absolutely cause atherosclerosis which can lead to a heart attack. Or, if you have a medical problem that prevents you from absorbing and using your dietary cholesterol, that'll cause atherosclerosis as well.

But eating 1/3 of your fats from sat fat sources with a diet that includes fiber and whole grains, or even a diet that is mostly fat and protein with only timed carbohydrates, will not cause atherosclerosis in a healthy, active individual. The blood pressure will be elevated too often (through exercise), and blood sugar will be better regulated (through whole grains/no carbohydrates present).

Trans fat, however, can lower your HDL cholesterol either way. If you're sedentary and your combined cholesterol is above 200, yea, both HDL and LDL need to be reduced, but eating trans fat isn't the way to do it.

betterme

Hi Connie,

I think you have made a lot of interesting points on this topic. Thanks for getting me to think more about it! You said:

"I am the main cook in my house and what I put on the table is what my sons and husband will be eating for most meals.

All of us take this responsiblility very seriously. I put out margarine because as I said before my husband had a heart attack and he was only 41.

Butter or margarine is just one food item, but it is still required on the table by most of us feeding our families. And because both are so high in calories, it is important to make the best choice. "

I agree that it is a serious responsibility. The last sentence made me wonder, are they eating margarine everyday? Is there a way to change their habits by what you are putting on the table to exclude butter and margarine most of the time? As I said before, I use butter rather than margarine, but I very rarely give my kids butter or eat it myself. But I know when I was growing up we ate a lot more buttered (with margarine) toast and other things that we don't eat often at my house now. I was just thinking maybe there was a way to cut back on it if you are truly concerned about the possible heart risks.... moderation I think is a great way to go when unsure. :flowerforyou:

3bearsmom

I didn't read this entire thread word for word so I don't know if this info was posted or not but, I just read in one of my school books that: according to a recent study involving some eighty-thousand women, for every five-per-cent increase in the amount of saturated fats that a woman consumes, her risk of heart disease increases by 17%. But only a two-per-cent increase in trans fats will increase her heart-disease risk by ninety-three percent. Walter Willett, an epidemiologist at Harvard, who helped design the study, estimates that the consumption of trans fats in the United States probably causes about 30,000 premature deaths a year. (This info came out of my textbook for an English class,called "Making Sense"-I don't want to get in trouble for quoting without saying where the quote came from).

zenmama

How about avoiding both of them....I rarely eat either....maybe once a week and that is pushing it.


I can certainly understand your frustration, especially when you are trying your best to follow a heart-healthy diet. Let’s look at why butter and margarine both get a bad rap.First let’s look at butter. The problem with butter is that it contains two cholesterol-raising ingredients: dietary cholesterol and saturated fat. Dietary cholesterol is found only in animal products so you won’t find any cholesterol in a plant-based food or food product (such as margarine). Some of us are more affected by cholesterol in the diet than others, meaning some people can consume a diet high in cholesterol without blood cholesterol levels being affected; but others need only eat a little dietary cholesterol and their cholesterol levels soar. Overall, it is recommended that healthy persons consume no more than 200 milligrams cholesterol each day. Butter has 33 milligrams of cholesterol in one tablespoon alone!

Cholesterol aside, butter’s biggest trouble is its saturated fat content. Saturated fats are solid at room temperature and are found largely in red meat, high-fat dairy products (like butter) as well as coconut and palm oils. When eaten in excess, saturated fats increase the “bad” cholesterol (LDL) as well as the “good” cholesterol (HDL). Despite the fact that saturated fats raise good cholesterol, they don’t raise it enough for us to warrant you eating it. Saturated fat intakes are associated with increases in heart-disease risk. A healthy range of saturated fat is 10-15 grams each day. Just one tablespoon of butter contains over 7 grams of saturated fat!

Margarine is by no means void of artery clogging fat. The controversy with margarine lies with its level of trans fat, largely a man-made fat. Trans fats are formed when hydrogen is added to vegetable oils, making the oil more solid and less likely to spoil. This process is called hydrogenation or partial hydrogenation and allows stick margarine to be firm at room temperature. Trans fats have been shown to increase the “bad” cholesterol (LDL) similarly to saturated fats, and they tend to lower the “healthy” (HDL) cholesterol when eaten in large amounts. What’s more – trans fats may make our blood platelets stickier. While no standard intakes of trans fat have been set, one tablespoon of stick margarine packs a whopping 3 grams of trans fat and 2 grams saturated fat.

But a little margarine “know-how” will help you reduce the amount of trans fat you eat. The more solid a margarine is at room temperature, the more trans fat it contains. For example, stick margarine contains the most trans fat, 3 grams in one tablespoon. Switch to tub or liquid margarine and you’ve cut that by almost 2/3, from 1-2 grams trans fat. And the good news is margarine manufacturers are now cutting their trans fat levels even further, to less than 0.5 grams per serving! This low level is allowed to carry the claim “trans fat free or zero-trans fat”. How do they do it? They switched their first ingredient from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil to water or liquid vegetable oil. It’s best to keep the total trans fat as close to zero as possible and saturated fat under 2 grams per serving.

Now you have some choices and your answer: margarine (the trans-free tub or liquid kinds) is still recommended over butter. For those of you who choose to have a “little” butter once in a while (for example, 1 teaspoon a couple times a month) you shouldn’t have to worry, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. On a regular basis, aim for the growing number of tub and liquid trans-free margarines available on the market today and rest-assured that you are eating in a more heart-healthy manner. Keep in mind, margarines contain greater amounts of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated oils which helps reduce bad cholesterol when used to replace saturated and trans fats.

ConnieLynn

Hi myfitnesspals,

Thank you for all of your wonderful information and thoughts.

In our house, it is not on the table every meal, but I have two teenage sons and the youngest has a tendency to pile it on.

I do not serve them butter at all. I am sure they get it occasionally at friends houses or when we go out to eat.

I thank you all for the discussion on this subject. As I get better at feeding myself and my family, I want to make sure the choices I am making are based on fact and not on myth.

I don't think anyone can remove this item from the house completely, but I am learning to subsitute and at 100 calories a tablespoon, it is not on my menu often. We still have to make cookies and use it in some recipes, so making the right choice is important.

I think the clear choice is margarine. We use Canola Harvest Non Hydrogenated margarine enriched with calcium. It tastes good and works well with cooking and baking.

What margarines are you using?

TTYL,

Connie Lynn