Butter vs. Margarine

I always thought margarine was better, so that is what I use on sandwiches, but now I heard somewhere that butter is better... Which is true?

Butter is a much healthier fat. Margarine is horrible for you.

based on what?

Butter is a much healthier fat. Margarine is horrible for you.

based on what?

Please grab your margarine package, list the ongredients here, and maybe someone will be kind enough to tell you. It won't be me though...i personally don't care what crap others put in their bodies. And I get really annoyed with the 'give me an article' demands. How about common sense? Is that sooooo hard at this point?

It kind of depends on what you mean by "better." Most butter has fewer chemicals, partially hydrogenated oils, etc. than margarine, so if you're trying to avoid those things, butter is "better." However, for people (like me!) who are allergic to dairy, margarine is better. Also, it depends on the brand you're buying. Some companies might load up their butters with all kinds of unnecessary stuff. I'd just read the labels.

Butter is a much healthier fat. Margarine is horrible for you.

based on what?

Please grab your margarine package, list the ongredients here, and maybe someone will be kind enough to tell you. It won't be me though...i personally don't care what crap others put in their bodies. And I get really annoyed with the 'give me an article' demands. How about common sense? Is that sooooo hard at this point?

I didn't ask for an article or if anyone cared what others eat. I asked what information the post was based on. I could grad a dozen margarines and they'd likely all have different ingredients. What makes them all "horrible for you"?

The range of ingredients that you are referring to is a fairly recent change in response to the negative coverage that trans fats have received, based on solid studies of their negative effects. Such as this one:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12915329

But of course there is traditional margarine, which is made from vegetable oil by hydrogenation, and the various non-butter "spreads" that you find in the butter area of the grocery store. I am sure there are several spreads on the market that do not have hydrogenated fats in them. Whether they are healthy or not is not for me to say.

The question asked in this thread was about the specific comparison of butter and margarine, and OP did not specify which margarine. We are all using standard inference rules of cooperative conversation, I think, and assuming that the margarine in question is the kind that was invented in the 20th century and the one that had such a poor showing in the "healthy fats" literature.

I do not know of any specific controlled study comparing butter and hydrogenated oil-based margarine--if someone does, I would be interested in reading it.

Well, the experts tell us that there is absolutely no reason to eat hydrogenated fats (which is what margarine is).

If you want something like butter that has less saturated fat in it, mix butter with olive oil (50/50%). Then you get your buttery flavor and some "good fats".

Butter is a much healthier fat. Margarine is horrible for you.

based on what?

Please grab your margarine package, list the ongredients here, and maybe someone will be kind enough to tell you. It won't be me though...i personally don't care what crap others put in their bodies. And I get really annoyed with the 'give me an article' demands. How about common sense? Is that sooooo hard at this point?

I didn't ask for an article or if anyone cared what others eat. I asked what information the post was based on. I could grad a dozen margarines and they'd likely all have different ingredients. What makes them all "horrible for you"?

The range of ingredients that you are referring to is a fairly recent change in response to the negative coverage that trans fats have received, based on solid studies of their negative effects. Such as this one:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12915329

But of course there is traditional margarine, which is made from vegetable oil by hydrogenation, and the various non-butter "spreads" that you find in the butter area of the grocery store. I am sure there are several spreads on the market that do not have hydrogenated fats in them. Whether they are healthy or not is not for me to say.

The question asked in this thread was about the specific comparison of butter and margarine, and OP did not specify which margarine. We are all using standard inference rules of cooperative conversation, I think, and assuming that the margarine in question is the kind that was invented in the 20th century and the one that had such a poor showing in the "healthy fats" literature.

I do not know of any specific controlled study comparing butter and hydrogenated oil-based margarine--if someone does, I would be interested in reading it.

So, your thought is all margartines are horrible because one brand was "horrible" 20 years ago? Sounds like solid reasoning.

FYI - Fully hydrogenated oils do not produce trans fats, only partially hydrogenated oils do. Not all margarines contain partially hydrogenated oil. And even those that do may still be healthy because some margarines are now fortified with plant sterols or stanols, which have been shown to reduce heart disease.

Even partially hydrogenated oils are not necessarily "horrible" for you, though they are generally worse than the saturated fat found in butter. You'd be hard pressed to find a nutrition or medical professional that would call either trans fat or saturated fat "healthy".

May I suggest you sell your stock in margarine and invest in life insurance instead.

Yea, yea, I know. But I'm sick of these posts and don't feel like being nice or playing along anymore.

Always best to just throw a snide remark and move on when you have nothing else useful to say.

Butter is a much healthier fat. Margarine is horrible for you.

based on what?

Please grab your margarine package, list the ongredients here, and maybe someone will be kind enough to tell you. It won't be me though...i personally don't care what crap others put in their bodies. And I get really annoyed with the 'give me an article' demands. How about common sense? Is that sooooo hard at this point?

I didn't ask for an article or if anyone cared what others eat. I asked what information the post was based on. I could grad a dozen margarines and they'd likely all have different ingredients. What makes them all "horrible for you"?

The range of ingredients that you are referring to is a fairly recent change in response to the negative coverage that trans fats have received, based on solid studies of their negative effects. Such as this one:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12915329

But of course there is traditional margarine, which is made from vegetable oil by hydrogenation, and the various non-butter "spreads" that you find in the butter area of the grocery store. I am sure there are several spreads on the market that do not have hydrogenated fats in them. Whether they are healthy or not is not for me to say.

The question asked in this thread was about the specific comparison of butter and margarine, and OP did not specify which margarine. We are all using standard inference rules of cooperative conversation, I think, and assuming that the margarine in question is the kind that was invented in the 20th century and the one that had such a poor showing in the "healthy fats" literature.

I do not know of any specific controlled study comparing butter and hydrogenated oil-based margarine--if someone does, I would be interested in reading it.

So, your thought is all margartines are horrible because one brand was "horrible" 20 years ago? Sounds like solid reasoning.

FYI - Fully hydrogenated oils do not produce trans fats, only partially hydrogenated oils do. Not all margarines contain partially hydrogenated oil. And even those that do may still be healthy because some margarines are now fortified with plant sterols or stanols, which have been shown to reduce heart disease.

Even partially hydrogenated oils are not necessarily "horrible" for you, though they are generally worse than the saturated fat found in butter. You'd be hard pressed to find a nutrition or medical professional that would call either trans fat or saturated fat "healthy".

Butter is a much healthier fat. Margarine is horrible for you.

based on what?

Please grab your margarine package, list the ongredients here, and maybe someone will be kind enough to tell you. It won't be me though...i personally don't care what crap others put in their bodies. And I get really annoyed with the 'give me an article' demands. How about common sense? Is that sooooo hard at this point?

I didn't ask for an article or if anyone cared what others eat. I asked what information the post was based on. I could grad a dozen margarines and they'd likely all have different ingredients. What makes them all "horrible for you"?

The range of ingredients that you are referring to is a fairly recent change in response to the negative coverage that trans fats have received, based on solid studies of their negative effects. Such as this one:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12915329

But of course there is traditional margarine, which is made from vegetable oil by hydrogenation, and the various non-butter "spreads" that you find in the butter area of the grocery store. I am sure there are several spreads on the market that do not have hydrogenated fats in them. Whether they are healthy or not is not for me to say.

The question asked in this thread was about the specific comparison of butter and margarine, and OP did not specify which margarine. We are all using standard inference rules of cooperative conversation, I think, and assuming that the margarine in question is the kind that was invented in the 20th century and the one that had such a poor showing in the "healthy fats" literature.

I do not know of any specific controlled study comparing butter and hydrogenated oil-based margarine--if someone does, I would be interested in reading it.

So, your thought is all margartines are horrible because one brand was "horrible" 20 years ago? Sounds like solid reasoning.

FYI - Fully hydrogenated oils do not produce trans fats, only partially hydrogenated oils do. Not all margarines contain partially hydrogenated oil. And even those that do may still be healthy because some margarines are now fortified with plant sterols or stanols, which have been shown to reduce heart disease.

Even partially hydrogenated oils are not necessarily "horrible" for you, though they are generally worse than the saturated fat found in butter. You'd be hard pressed to find a nutrition or medical professional that would call either trans fat or saturated fat "healthy".

Butter is a much healthier fat. Margarine is horrible for you.

based on what?

Please grab your margarine package, list the ongredients here, and maybe someone will be kind enough to tell you. It won't be me though...i personally don't care what crap others put in their bodies. And I get really annoyed with the 'give me an article' demands. How about common sense? Is that sooooo hard at this point?

I didn't ask for an article or if anyone cared what others eat. I asked what information the post was based on. I could grad a dozen margarines and they'd likely all have different ingredients. What makes them all "horrible for you"?

The range of ingredients that you are referring to is a fairly recent change in response to the negative coverage that trans fats have received, based on solid studies of their negative effects. Such as this one:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12915329

But of course there is traditional margarine, which is made from vegetable oil by hydrogenation, and the various non-butter "spreads" that you find in the butter area of the grocery store. I am sure there are several spreads on the market that do not have hydrogenated fats in them. Whether they are healthy or not is not for me to say.

The question asked in this thread was about the specific comparison of butter and margarine, and OP did not specify which margarine. We are all using standard inference rules of cooperative conversation, I think, and assuming that the margarine in question is the kind that was invented in the 20th century and the one that had such a poor showing in the "healthy fats" literature.

I do not know of any specific controlled study comparing butter and hydrogenated oil-based margarine--if someone does, I would be interested in reading it.

So, your thought is all margartines are horrible because one brand was "horrible" 20 years ago? Sounds like solid reasoning.

FYI - Fully hydrogenated oils do not produce trans fats, only partially hydrogenated oils do. Not all margarines contain partially hydrogenated oil. And even those that do may still be healthy because some margarines are now fortified with plant sterols or stanols, which have been shown to reduce heart disease.

Even partially hydrogenated oils are not necessarily "horrible" for you, though they are generally worse than the saturated fat found in butter. You'd be hard pressed to find a nutrition or medical professional that would call either trans fat or saturated fat "healthy".

Please explain why natural saturated fats are bad for us, your own words would be great. i could link hundreds of Dietitians and Doctors that say it's not unhealthy at all. The problem is when someone has a bias they generally only look for support.....changing ones mind is serious business, especially in nutrition.

I did not say natural saturated fats are bad for us.