About Margarine

Firefox7275

The process of shaking cream until it becomes butter is still NATURAL. Is ice unnatural because it was water but was processed by freezing it into cubes?? :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

I wouldn't even know where to begin to make margarine, but I'm sure I'd need a lot more than one or two ingredients and a jar. Two natural ingredients in butter - cream, salt. Unless of course you buy the unsalted variety, then it's just one - cream.

Milk is pasteurised, cream is an extract of that milk, butter is an extract of cream then other processing, kneading and washing or the butter would have a shelf life of days, commercial butter is not a one step thing as you imply we don't just get raw milk and make butter in one step. You could refine it further to make 'traditional' ghee, how many steps are we permitting here and it's still totally natural? Commercial butter is processed and refined, same as whey powder which I could make a stab at in my kitchen.

Is commercial butter as unnatural as margarine? Don't see how that is relevant, you don't have to choose one or the other, it's two separate decisions.

caribougal

The process of shaking cream until it becomes butter is still NATURAL. Is ice unnatural because it was water but was processed by freezing it into cubes?? :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

I wouldn't even know where to begin to make margarine, but I'm sure I'd need a lot more than one or two ingredients and a jar. Two natural ingredients in butter - cream, salt. Unless of course you buy the unsalted variety, then it's just one - cream.

Milk is pasteurised, cream is an extract of that milk, butter is an extract of cream then other processing, kneading and washing or the butter would have a shelf life of days, commercial butter is not a one step thing as you imply we don't just get raw milk and make butter in one step. You could refine it further to make 'traditional' ghee, how many steps are we permitting here and it's still totally natural? Commercial butter is processed and refined, same as whey powder which I could make a stab at in my kitchen.

Is commercial butter as unnatural as margarine? Don't see how that is relevant, you don't have to choose one or the other, it's two separate decisions.

I think the difference is in the ingredients and degree of processing. Look at the ingredients of butter. I buy Kalona Supernatural butter. Ingredients: cream, sea salt. Yes, it's been "processed" in the sense that its form has been changed mechanically from a liquid to a solid. And, it's been heated up and cooled down to pasteurize it. I wouldn't call that "refined". It's still the same 2 ingredients. No other ingredients have been added to make it more shelf stable, or make it taste or look like something that it's not. It has CLA and has a good Omega-3-6 ratio since it's from grass-fed cows.

Now let's look at margarine.
Ingredients in "Smart Balance Original Buttery Spread":
Natural oil blend (soybean, palm fruit, canola, and olive oils), water, contains less than 2% of whey (from milk), salt, natural and artificial flavor, vegetable monoglycerides and sorbitan ester of fatty acids (emulsifiers), soy lecithin, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, Vitamin D, dl-a-tocopheryl acetate (vitamin E), lactic acid, beta carotene color, and potassium sorbate, and calcium disodium EDTA (to preserve freshness)

Full of PUFAs, artificial flavor to make it "buttery", emulsifiers to make it spreadible, and preservatives so it lasts a looooooong time. They add chemicals and vitamins to oil to get it to look and taste a particular way so people will eat it. And they market the hell out of it to make everyone think it's "heart healthy".

Is margarine bad for your health? Well, it used to be. Up until very recently, it was full of trans-fats, hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils, and some had diacetyl which has been linked to Alzheimer's. Those seem to have been removed from most brands, which is good. But why eat it? I don't need an oil that's been processed to look, taste, and spread like butter. If I want oil, I use oil. If I want butter, I use butter. And, butter tastes better than margarine and the fat in it makes my food taste great.

neanderthin

Natural ingredients, natural butter. Unless of course you meant that butter does not naturally come out of cow teats, all cubed and by the 1/4 pound?

Yes, that's exactly what they mean.

Butter goes through a process, just like margarine does... I don't know why people think one is more natural than the other.

Everything that isn't in their natural state goes through some type a process for sure. When I use to spend time on my grandparent farm, we would gather the milk, which is a process, then we separated the cream, which is a process, then we would churn it, press it, wash it and knead it, it was a tough process, but then again I was just a kid.

Bobby__Clerici

We were taught never to clog your arteries with butter but flush them out with margarine.....:laugh:
ABSURD!

FitBeto

Butter for the win! It's natural, it's real, it's delicious, and my body knows how to process it! :drinker:

I eat it almost daily on my toast at breakfast, and use it in cooking all the time. Sure, I swap out butter for olive oil, or will do half & half in some cases, but sometimes you just need real butter. Like my dinner last night - Fish Meunière with Browned Butter & Lemon - one of my all time favorite recipes, and it's full of butter. Actually my entire dinner last night was heavy on the butter, but not super excessive, and as long as I don't eat that way EVERY night, it's all good.


But yeah - I'll take natural butter over a highly processed "spread" any day. :bigsmile:

How is butter natural?

*Looks at butter label from my stockpile in the freezer*
Ingredients: Pasteurized cream, salt.

So take cream, add a little salt, shake real hard, voila - BUTTAH! :bigsmile:

Natural ingredients, natural butter. Unless of course you meant that butter does not naturally come out of cow teats, all cubed and by the 1/4 pound?

lucasriggs

You can't be serious. Right? Right?

Are you going to add something...or...?

KombuchaCat

I use Earth Balance which is organic and a good combination of fats. I would not touch margerine with a 10 ft pole.

lucasriggs

The process of shaking cream until it becomes butter is still NATURAL. Is ice unnatural because it was water but was processed by freezing it into cubes?? :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

I wouldn't even know where to begin to make margarine, but I'm sure I'd need a lot more than one or two ingredients and a jar. Two natural ingredients in butter - cream, salt. Unless of course you buy the unsalted variety, then it's just one - cream.

When humans change the structure of things against the course of nature that processes because 'unnatural'.
Ice making happens in the course of nature too..also how is cream natural?

rml_16

*bangs head on desk*

BurtHuttz

naturally occurring != "good" nor "healthy." not naturally occurring != "bad" or "unhealthy"

bcattoes

but few will say it's "good for you".

Everything in moderation, no nobody will tell you to eat a tub a day, but too many people are afraid to have ANY because it has fat in it. Our bodies still need some healthy fats in our diet and we shouldn't avoid anything only to replace it with something like margarine.

I don't believe all margarines are bad anymore than I believe any amount of butter is bad. But I also don't believe butter contains "healthy fat".

macartain

I'd strongly recommend anyone interested in this type of discussion to look at Michael Pollan's 'In Defence of Food'... or anything else by him, for that matter...

Yes, cream is a form of processed milk but some forms of processing - such as pounding and fermenting soy to produce tofu - are based on centuries of experimentation and experience, while others - such as passing hydrogen through oil to give it a longer shelf life - have only been around for a couple of decades and are turning out to be not such good ideas...

I am paraphrasing a very small part of this tremendous book - you will not think of modern food (or 'edible food-like substances' as he calls most of the products in our supermarkets today - his analysis of a Sara Lee loaf towards the end of the book will have you nodding your head in agreement) in the same way after reading it.

AmyRhubarb

The process of shaking cream until it becomes butter is still NATURAL. Is ice unnatural because it was water but was processed by freezing it into cubes?? :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

I wouldn't even know where to begin to make margarine, but I'm sure I'd need a lot more than one or two ingredients and a jar. Two natural ingredients in butter - cream, salt. Unless of course you buy the unsalted variety, then it's just one - cream.

When humans change the structure of things against the course of nature that processes because 'unnatural'.
Ice making happens in the course of nature too..also how is cream natural?

So you're saying the absolute only dairy product that is 100% natural is the milk as it comes out of the cow's teat? Well I don't own a cow, but it is my understanding that if you milk the cow, then let the milk sit for a bit, the cream rises to the top. But since that takes human interaction to put it in a container and let it sit, and then skim the cream from the top of the milk, it somehow becomes unnatural and against the course of nature? And then shaking it until it becomes butter certainly changes into some foreign, totally unnatural, highly processed thing.


Whatever, this argument is pointless. :drinker: Enjoy your margarine. :bigsmile:

bcattoes

I'd strongly recommend anyone interested in this type of discussion to look at Michael Pollan's 'In Defence of Food'... or anything else by him, for that matter...

Yes, cream is a form of processed milk but some forms of processing - such as pounding and fermenting soy to produce tofu - are based on centuries of experimentation and experience, while others - such as passing hydrogen through oil to give it a longer shelf life - have only been around for a couple of decades and are turning out to be not such good ideas...

A few decades?? Hydrogenated oils were first developed in the late 19th century. It's been a few decades since studies started confirming the link between these man made trans fats and heart disease. Which is why there are several margarines available today that do not include them.

rml_16

I'd strongly recommend anyone interested in this type of discussion to look at Michael Pollan's 'In Defence of Food'... or anything else by him, for that matter...

Yes, cream is a form of processed milk but some forms of processing - such as pounding and fermenting soy to produce tofu - are based on centuries of experimentation and experience, while others - such as passing hydrogen through oil to give it a longer shelf life - have only been around for a couple of decades and are turning out to be not such good ideas...

A few decades?? Hydrogenated oils were first developed in the late 19th century. It's been a few decades since studies started confirming the link between these man made trans fats and heart disease. Which is why there are several margarines available today that do not include them.

I stopped eating Country Crock (I liked the taste) because of trans fats. Found out a couple weeks ago they stopped using partially hydrogenated oil. Yay!

neanderthin

I'd strongly recommend anyone interested in this type of discussion to look at Michael Pollan's 'In Defence of Food'... or anything else by him, for that matter...

Yes, cream is a form of processed milk but some forms of processing - such as pounding and fermenting soy to produce tofu - are based on centuries of experimentation and experience, while others - such as passing hydrogen through oil to give it a longer shelf life - have only been around for a couple of decades and are turning out to be not such good ideas...

A few decades?? Hydrogenated oils were first developed in the late 19th century. It's been a few decades since studies started confirming the link between these man made trans fats and heart disease. Which is why there are several margarines available today that do not include them.

I stopped eating Country Crock (I liked the taste) because of trans fats. Found out a couple weeks ago they stopped using partially hydrogenated oil. Yay!

If it says 0 trans fats then it does actually contain trans fats......I bet dollars to donuts that's what it says.

rml_16

If it says 0 trans fats then it does actually contain trans fats......I bet dollars to donuts that's what it says.

Yeah. I'm a complete idiot unable to read food labels.

*sigh*

bcattoes

If it says 0 trans fats then it does actually contain trans fats......I bet dollars to donuts that's what it says.

??? Saying 0 trans fats does not mean something contains trans fats. It's not a guarantee that they don't, but it's certainly not a guarantee that they do.

All you need to do is read the ingredients to see if hydrogenated or paritally hydrogenated oil is listed. If it is, there are trans fats, even if the label says 0 trans fats. This is because if the amount of trans fat "per serving" is under a certain amount the label can round down to 0.

rml_16

If it says 0 trans fats then it does actually contain trans fats......I bet dollars to donuts that's what it says.

??? Saying 0 trans fats does not mean something contains trans fats. It's not a guarantee that they don't, but it's certainly not a guarantee that they do.

All you need to do is read the ingredients to see if hydrogenated or paritally hydrogenated oil is listed. If it is, there are trans fats, even if the label says 0 trans fats. This is because if the amount of trans fat "per serving" is under a certain amount the label can round down to 0.

Exactly.

I don't even know if it does say "0 Trans fats." I looked at the ingredients, not the advertising on the front.

Confuzzled4ever

Butter is natural.. and considered healthy fat in moderation. You don't want to go eating a whole stick but a pat or two with dinner or breakfast isnt' going to hurt you. It is high in cholestrol because it comes from animals. You can make your own butter (and butter milk for that matter) by getting heavy cream and shaking the crap out of it.

Margarine never rots, never goes bad, flies won't touch it, If it doesn't rot it's bad for you. Margarine is more likely to have a higher percentage ot transfat then butter, making it bad for your heart.. It's pretty high in fat but has no cholestrol. Oh and it tastes yucky. lol

It was not invented as a turkey fattener. Napolean isseud a contest challenging citizens to come up with cheap butter substitute and margarine was born. It was orginonally mde with beef fat and it's white. It's yellow becuase they add dye to it (look up side effects of food dye!!). It's not nautral.

The one molecule from plastic claim has no real significance, whether it's true or not. Lots of stuff we eat is made into something inedilbe by the addition of a checmical or two.