Pass the Butter..Please (I had NO idea!!!)
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I've always stand with by butter over margarine if it has to be used. Always.
Because at least I know whats in it.
Rule of thumb*--
If you can't pronounce an ingredient listed in your food, you probably shouldn't be eating it.
* (Not the case of the rule that dictates the thickness of the stick that's allowed to beat women with)
But what do I do if I can't articulate the first sentence of your post?0 -
New Zealand Heart Association. Them Kiwis are a smart bunch.
Myth busting: butter versus margarine
Replacing saturated fat with unsaturated fats helps reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke. One of the main ways to do this is replacing butter with margarine and healthy oils. However, there are a lot of myths about margarine that we frequently get asked about.
Myth busting: butter versus margarine
The myth: margarine is one molecule away from plastic
This claim has been circulating on the internet since at least 2003. Plastic is a polymer, made up of a long chain of repeated smaller molecules. Plastics are usually made from crude oil and natural gas, but can be made from natural materials such as wood, corn, plants, and even sugars. In fact, one of the earliest plastics made in the 1800’s was from milk. So whilst both plastic and margarine can be made from vegetable oil, that is where any similarity ends. The claim is nonsensical - adding one molecule to margarine won't turn it into plastic.
Even if it were true, it’s worth considering that one molecule can make a world of difference. Many natural substances are very similar in chemical composition but very different in appearance and effect. One molecule, and more importantly how the molecules are arranged, makes a huge difference to the end product. Take for example the difference between hydrogen peroxide (bleach) and water, which have only one atom difference.
The myth: margarine was originally made to fatten up turkeys but instead it killed them
Not true! Margarine was originally developed in 1869 in response to a request by Napoleon III for a viable, low-cost substitute for butter. It was developed for humans, and not for turkeys. The first margarine was made by combining salty water, milk, and margaric acid to softened beef fat. Beef fat was subsequently replaced with vegetable oils.
The myth: margarine increases risk of heart disease by 53% according to a recent Harvard Medical School study
This claim relates to a study conducted in the United States in the 1980s. At that time, margarines in the US contained up to 29% trans fat. We now know that trans fat has an adverse effect on cholesterol levels, even more so than saturated fat. So what this study was really observing was the effect of trans fat on heart health, rather than the effect of margarine itself.
Levels of trans fat in margarines in New Zealand have always been far lower than those in the United States, and changes in production methods mean most are under 2% trans fat. Margarine spreads carrying the Tick have been independently tested and contain less than 1% trans fat.
It is recommended that we get less than 1% of our energy from trans fats. The good news is that more than 85% of New Zealanders consume less than this amount. Trans fats are also found in processed, bakery, and fried foods, for example biscuits and cakes.
Medical researchers have known for many years that eating cholesterol-laden fats DO NOT give you cardiovascular disease--thus butter is innocent on that score. They also have analyzed the diets of our ancestors and have dicovered that our antecedents ate a LOT of fat, particularly saturated fat in the form of animal fat. We do eat more calories now than they did (and they got a lot more exercise because they walked, on average, five miles a day and they did heavy manual labor). Since we only eat about 1% more of our calories from fat than our thin ancestors did, what has made up the difference? Carbohydrates---and specifically sugar. The rise in obesity and Type II diabetes perfectly tracks the rise in consumption of sugar. Sugar makes you fat and sick.0 -
Someone may have beaten me to it but...
http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/butter.asp
Look about 3/4 of the way down the page.
As for margarine vs butter, I personally go with butter because it contains trace minerals that margarine doesn't and it just plain tasted better to me. I am satisfied with less so I eat up eating fewer grams of fat.
edited to say that the post above me did indeed post this first, but from another source.0 -
Would you melt your Tupperware and spread that on your toast?
When I was a kid I melted one of my mum's Tupperware bowls on the toaster by mistake - does that count?
Actually that whole piece is quite a scary thing to read. My parents switched from butter to all kinds of "healthy" forms of marg - my mother was coveting my lurpak over Christmas by the end of her stay with me, but at the start she was all "I Cannot believe you have butter on everything" (not that she complained when her veggies came to her on Xmas day with a little dab of butter on them!!!)
Reinforces my hatred of the taste of margarine!0 -
I grew up in an era where it was all about low fat, so my mother bought margarine, and still does to this day, even though I have tried telling her that all the 'low fat' hype from that era was largely false.
I prefer butter, if I am to have either, but I rarely have a need for butter anyway. It is, to me, more natural however, thus preferred.
Plenty of the past generations lived good, long lives on diets of butter, jam, bread, eggs, dripping etc.
Why? Probably because there were so fewer processed foods back then and things like cake were often homemade and served only for teatime on a Sunday or were a treat.0 -
Yep, it's like the same people who stopped eating eggs in the morning because of cholesterol, and replaced them with donuts and bagels. Stick to the basics! There is a reason our last generation is living longer than this one. It's called steak, eggs, butter and cast iron. Your grandma's probably knew it very well.
Since when have the mortality rates been increasing overall? All I've seen is mortality decreasing, not increasing.
People ARE living longer (we have an expensive pill for every ill, courtesy of Big Pharma). However, people are living much longer SICK. None of my grandparents or the grandparents of my friends went to live in nursing homes. Better to die a little younger and be healthy until then as was the case with my grandparents.0 -
I've always stand with by butter over margarine if it has to be used. Always.
Because at least I know whats in it.
Rule of thumb*--
If you can't pronounce an ingredient listed in your food, you probably shouldn't be eating it.
* (Not the case of the rule that dictates the thickness of the stick that's allowed to beat women with)
But what do I do if I can't articulate the first sentence of your post?
What about the last one??0 -
I started buying butter now instead of margarine. Butter lite has the same calories as Margarine lite. And it tastes much better. So, I did start buying it. No going back now.
If you are concerned about saturated fat and cholesterol in butter (I'm not but some people are) you can make a spreadable butter by combining it in a food processor with olive oil. You use a cup of softened butter per cup of your favorite olive oil. That way, you get the goodness of butter along with the goodness of olive oil AND it is spreadable right from the frig.
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Post like it's 1999..which is when this originally came out as an email chain letter.
Good to see we are recycling in 2013!
:laugh:
This one has been recycled innumerably.0 -
I've always stand with by butter over margarine if it has to be used. Always.
Because at least I know whats in it.
Rule of thumb*--
If you can't pronounce an ingredient listed in your food, you probably shouldn't be eating it.
* (Not the case of the rule that dictates the thickness of the stick that's allowed to beat women with)
But what do I do if I can't articulate the first sentence of your post?
What about the last one??
Wow! :laugh:
What are you gonna do with this one except shake your head and laugh. Maybe that's why the poster is unable to use Google to look up the ingredients that can't be pronounced. Even Google would be confused by that comment!0 -
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If you are concerned about saturated fat and cholesterol in butter (I'm not but some people are) you can make a spreadable butter by combining it in a food processor with olive oil. You use a cup of softened butter per cup of your favorite olive oil. That way, you get the goodness of butter along with the goodness of olive oil AND it is spreadable right from the frig.
Oooh! Excellent idea.
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Mmmmmmmmmmmm. Why would they use a pseudo dairy product to feed birds. Birds aren't mammals. Not an expert, but.......0
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I was just eating "I can't believe it's not butter". I posted on fb how I cooked my dinner and people were like "OMGawd.... margarine is sooo bad for you"
Guess what, we are share 99.9% of the same genetic make up of chimps.....but i'm not throwing my feces at anyone. Being one molecule away from something else isn't exactly a big deal......0 -
I've always stand with by butter over margarine if it has to be used. Always.
Because at least I know whats in it.
Rule of thumb*--
If you can't pronounce an ingredient listed in your food, you probably shouldn't be eating it.
* (Not the case of the rule that dictates the thickness of the stick that's allowed to beat women with)
But what do I do if I can't articulate the first sentence of your post?
Don't eat it, it's full of chemicals.0 -
I use both. Preferably by spreading margarine onto a chip of butter. Anything in excess is bad for you, people make things much harder on themselves than they really are.0
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If you got information about butter and or margarine from a facebook post it is not correct information. Most of the information i saw on facebook was outdated about margarine. The post is referrring back to the late 1990s information about margarine. Don't believe everything you read on facebook!0
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Plastics are composed of long molecules called polymers, while margarine is a blend of fats and water. There is no chemical similarity between the two.
Substances are made of molecules, which in turn are composed of atoms joined together in a specific pattern.So, you could say that hydrogen peroxide, H2O2, is one atom away from water, H2O, but that's not such a helpful or meaningful comparison. That extra oxygen atom changes the properties of the substance dramatically. Stick your finger into a bottle of pure hydrogen peroxide and you will quickly experience the effect of that extra oxygen.
Even if margarine had some chemical similarity to plastic, which it does not, its properties could still be dramatically different. Slight alterations in molecular structure can account for very significant changes in properties.
Blinded me with science!
SCIENCE!!!!0 -
I appreciate the serious, helpful replies being at this is my FIRST post.
My topic should have read... (I had NO idea people could be such sarcastic *kitten*!) Really, I thought this site was to encourage and help each other, not tear each other apart.
I was unaware of this being posted previously, and I had no idea it was not truthful. So thank you to those of you who were helpful and kind. I appreciate you direction and insight.0 -
I grew up in an era where it was all about low fat, so my mother bought margarine, and still does to this day, even though I have tried telling her that all the 'low fat' hype from that era was largely false.
I prefer butter, if I am to have either, but I rarely have a need for butter anyway. It is, to me, more natural however, thus preferred.
Plenty of the past generations lived good, long lives on diets of butter, jam, bread, eggs, dripping etc.
Why? Probably because there were so fewer processed foods back then and things like cake were often homemade and served only for teatime on a Sunday or were a treat.
True. Sugar was very expensive in the past, so it was reserved for rare occasions (and for the wealthy). A pound of sugar in the 14th century cost about $50 per pound in today's money. In 1900 the national appetite for sugar, while growing, was only about 5 pounds per capita, per year---last year it was around 150 pounds per capita and it shows no signs of abating as it is included in a wider and wider array of products because it is 1. a cheap filler and (most importantly for processed food manufacturers) 2. is addictive, making consumers crave more of that product. By 1920 a five-pound container of sugar still cost about double the price of a dozen eggs and the traditional diet of many people didn't admit to the inclusion of many sweets. During the 1920s and 1930s, candy consumption was often linked in the movies with "wanton women" and spoiled rich children. My grandparents viewed sugar consumption with suspicion as did many people of their generation. As the relative price of sugar declined, my parents' generation ate much more sugar (and had higher rates of obesity to show for it). As sugar consumption has increased, so has the rate of obesity and Type II diabetes, which should be termed "diabesity" because it is essentially the same disorder. A large number of those who are termed "morbidly obese" are also afflicted with Type II diabetes. Apologies to the OP as I was not trying to derail the discussion away from the benefits of butter over margarine--butter is a noble food. But I couldn't resist taking a jab at sugar consumption.0
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