Butter vs Low fat/calorie margarine!

RAFValentina
RAFValentina Posts: 1,231 Member
edited October 4 in Food and Nutrition
SO... I've been using butter lately, but for some reason 5g of butter goes further than 5g of margarine... so I can actually have the better taste for the same calories because I use half the weight and butter is double the calories roughly... for the same effect...
anyone else found this!?

Replies

  • kristilovescake
    kristilovescake Posts: 669 Member
    I've switched 100% to butter. I've found I use less for taste, so the calorie difference is pretty minor.

    Plus... I <3 butter. But, that being said, I don't use hardly any at all.
  • Pandorian
    Pandorian Posts: 2,055 Member
    I'll always use butter, I've finally convinced mom to use butter instead also.

    If it can go bad, it's good for you. If it can't go bad it's bad for you.
  • DrBorkBork
    DrBorkBork Posts: 4,099 Member
    I think butter is just better for you. Good butter should have a 2 ingredient list maximum (cream + salt). I prefer my ingredient list to be 1 (no salt). Margarine is just a bunch of chems. It makes me think I'm eating plastic. Give me whole foods any day!
  • patilee
    patilee Posts: 125
    Butter. No trans fats. :smile:
  • daydream58
    daydream58 Posts: 572 Member
    Thanks for this - it's just what I needed to kick my margarine habit to the curb!
  • wrevhn
    wrevhn Posts: 864 Member
    hmm, so butter is better than my promise non butter? i love fresh homemade real butter. i love butter. well thats good to know. *happy dance*
  • DrBorkBork
    DrBorkBork Posts: 4,099 Member
    hmm, so butter is better than my promise non butter? i love fresh homemade real butter. i love butter. well thats good to know. *happy dance*

    Compare ingredient labels (not nutrition). Decide if you want those ingredients in your body. Food is fuel.
  • RAFValentina
    RAFValentina Posts: 1,231 Member
    Loving all your posts! ALSO... I think margarine has a higher water content so the other stuff is just concentrated bad! However some margarines made out of natural oils and arent the diet versions aren't so bad looking at them! :) Besides, if I'm using half the amount and its just good natural stuff it's fine! Calories aren't the be all and end all sometimes... and we need a little bit of all these things, butter fats included!
  • xo_jewel_xo
    xo_jewel_xo Posts: 696 Member
    i will take cows over something created in a lab any day
  • crux
    crux Posts: 454 Member
    I totally agree, butter for me every time!
  • vs1023
    vs1023 Posts: 417 Member
    I'll always use butter, I've finally convinced mom to use butter instead also.

    If it can go bad, it's good for you. If it can't go bad it's bad for you.

    Love that quote!

    Yes I've switched to butter too and not the fake crap. I buy the Kerrygold Irish butter which is awesome.
  • JaycrazyRose
    JaycrazyRose Posts: 104 Member
    What about items like Brummel and Brown which is made from Yogurt or Smart Balance? Aren't they supposed to be healthier than butter?
  • CharlieLopez2005
    CharlieLopez2005 Posts: 114
    SO... I've been using butter lately, but for some reason 5g of butter goes further than 5g of margarine... so I can actually have the better taste for the same calories because I use half the weight and butter is double the calories roughly... for the same effect...
    anyone else found this!?

    Yes, you CAN believe it's not butter! =)
  • natachan
    natachan Posts: 149
    This will be the only time I will say something is black and white BAD but trans fats are BAD. Margarine is loaded with the stuff.

    Plus real butter comes from cows, so it's much more natural and healthy. And it tastes SOOO much better and works a lot better in all sorts of baked goods that contain butter.
  • nkswans
    nkswans Posts: 469 Member
    I love butter! I always have used it, just in moderation now. Although recently I've been using Land of Lakes whipped sweet cream butter for toast and things like that. It is less calories because its whipped and its real! Only problem is its hard to spread, it says to let it come to room temp for 20 minutes...but sometimes I want toast now!
  • Pandorian
    Pandorian Posts: 2,055 Member
    I cut my block of butter into pieces (I refuse to pay for the company to pre-portion it into 4 little sticks and charge me twice as much) putting out 1/4 of the block on the counter so it is always at room temperature, with a butter-dish either just the covered one or the fancier water containers with the butter stuffed in the lid (not quite sure on them as I haven't ordered mine yet) It leaves me some soft butter for when I want that piece of toast NOW... or I can just put the fresh from the fridge butter on top of the oven while i'm baking the loaf of bread .... that softens it up :)
  • fragilegift
    fragilegift Posts: 347 Member
    I soften my butter in the microwave. :)
  • questionablemethods
    questionablemethods Posts: 2,174 Member
    Just eat the butter. :happy:

    I remember when I was in college I had a stick of margarine in my fridge for some reason. I think I was baking something and "borrowed" a bit from a friend or something. Anyway, my parents came to visit and my mom looked in my fridge, saw the margarine and said, "Oh, Kaitlin! I thought we raised you better than that!"

    (Of all the things to be disappointed about discovering in a daughter's college pad....)
  • CrystalFlury
    CrystalFlury Posts: 400 Member
    Hrmm... I don't know. I like butter a lot I just don't use it unless I'm cooking something (even then I use EVOO more often). I have I can't believe it's not butter for toast because it actually spreads and I like the taste.
  • KayteeBear
    KayteeBear Posts: 1,040 Member
    I just prefer real food....so butter. Even if butter's higher in cals and everything else that people are worried about I would still eat butter.
  • TheBraveryLover
    TheBraveryLover Posts: 1,217 Member
    By the time I figured out that butter was not as bad as it's made out to be in the media, my taste buds became completely shot for it. I don't like the taste of butter anymore unless I'm using it for baking. But yeah, the taste is definitely richer than margarine, although I rarely use margarine nowadays, either.
  • NPetrakis
    NPetrakis Posts: 164 Member
    I'll always use butter, I've finally convinced mom to use butter instead also.

    If it can go bad, it's good for you. If it can't go bad it's bad for you.

    exactly! Anything who's shelf life is near infinity and tries to pass for dairy is just wrong. I want to look at ingredients and see contents = butter from whole milk. The end. Though I do opt for the unsalted butter as I watch my sodium.
  • Pandorian
    Pandorian Posts: 2,055 Member
    I don't mind the salted butter, and always laugh to myself when I see recipes that specify you MUST use unsalted butter and then add salt somewhere in the ingredients list anyway... I opt for the salted butter and omit the salt in the later step ;P same difference.
  • vs1023
    vs1023 Posts: 417 Member
    What about items like Brummel and Brown which is made from Yogurt or Smart Balance? Aren't they supposed to be healthier than butter?

    I would say look at the ingredients and decide what matters to you. If something has a lot of unneeded chemicals and preservatives I don't want it,. I decided a long time ago I was going to stop eating fake food.
  • MzBug
    MzBug Posts: 2,173 Member
    Put a chunk of butter and a chunk of margarine out near an ant trail.... they WILL eat the butter, but not the margarine! My grandpa always told us that if a bug won't eat it, neither should you! Also since we switched to all butter my guys cholesterol level dropped to normal (he uses butter instead of mayo/mustard etc on sandwiches). I am sure that was just one of the contributing factors, but it was the only one that was a "major" change for him.
  • questionablemethods
    questionablemethods Posts: 2,174 Member
    What about items like Brummel and Brown which is made from Yogurt or Smart Balance? Aren't they supposed to be healthier than butter?

    I would say look at the ingredients and decide what matters to you. If something has a lot of unneeded chemicals and preservatives I don't want it,. I decided a long time ago I was going to stop eating fake food.
    The problem I have with products like those (and margarine) is that they are products of what Michael Pollan calls "nutritionism" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutritionism

    They might be fine for you but they likely aren't any better for you than the simple food that people have been eating loads of for generations.
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