Butter vs. Margarine: The Big “Fat” Misunderstanding
Until recently not many health organizations were helping us to better understand the stick butter vs. stick margarine debate. Now we are starting to see bans on the trans fats that are commonly found in stick margarine. Many health organization are also moving away from the partially hydrogenated oils found in stick margarine. So why has there been confusion for so long about this debate?
A combination of good marketing, label confusion, and a little help from health organizations muddied the waters on this issue.
Margarine in a healthy disguise
Although stick margarine has plenty of flaws, it was able to achieve a clean bill of health. The margarine companies got a good start by hiding behind the innocence of the name vegetable oil, which gives the impression of the wholesome goodness of broccoli in a bottle.
Until recently the lack of labeling laws for trans fat also made the magarine label look good. Labels that were low in saturated fat and no cholesterol made margarine seem like it could do no wrong. What we couldn’t see was that it contained the only fat to date that has been definitively correlated with heart disease, trans fats.
I think most of the confusion came because margarine was promoted as a good source of fat by most health organizations. Because of this margarine companies didn’t have to spend their resources convincing us it was good for us. Instead they were able to spend all their time and resources convincing us that it was pure, healthy, natural, and that it tasted as good as butter. Since not one of these properties is true, it took a lot of effort to convince us. And since margarine is made from extremely cheap raw materials, there was a lot of capitol to make sure we got the message. They used Eleanor Roosevelt and even mother nature to convince us that margarine was not only acceptable to bring into our homes, but that it was desirable.
Started out natural, ended up synthetic
So lets clear up some of the misinformation here. Stick margarine is not natural, pure, healthy, or better tasting than butter. High trans fat margarine is toxic and it contains the only regularly eaten fat known to increase heart disease.
Lets take a look into the manufacturing process of traditional stick margarine which should have given us a clue from the beginning that it might not be good for us. Margarine manufacturers started out with foods like corn and soy which don’t normally give us a significant amount of fat. Then they used high amounts of heat and a neurotoxic chemical to extract the oil from these sources. Most of the nutrients in the extracted oil are removed or destroyed during processing. To top it all off they subject the oil to high heat and a metal catalyst to create a partially hydrogenated oil.
The synthetic trans fats created in this process do not offer any value for the body and worse than that they can actually interfere with a number of normal body processes. They raise LDL (bad) cholesterol and lower HDL (good) cholesterol. They also increase inflammation and make blood platelets more sticky. This makes it more likely for blood to clot and block vital arteries.
A better understanding of butter
Butter on the other hand is all natural. You can even create it in your own house without any equipment, heat or chemicals. Butter is a good source of beta carotene and other healthy nutrients.
Butter is believed to be bad for heart disease because of its high saturated fat content. A recent review of 21 studies that included almost 350,000 people showed no increase in heart disease and stroke for those that ate the most saturated fat compared with those that ate the least amount. This is not true for trans fat which has now been shown to have many direct correlations to heart disease.
So while butter wins this debate, I still think that raw nuts and seeds and extra virgin olive oil should top the list as preferred sources of fat in our diets. They are full of healthy fats in their most unprocessed forms.
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So what about SMART BALANCE?? Would butter be better than that?
ReplyThanks,
Judy Barnette
That is a great question and it will take a little more in-depth explanation. We are currently working out this debate in my own house. We use earth balance (smart balance’s more natural cousin) on occasion. Like smart balance it is free of trans fat. While it is still soy oil based, they do expeller press the oil as opposed to using chemical extraction. This is a better way to extract the oil but my understanding is that there are still issues with heat used in this kind of processing. The high heat can still destroy some of the benefits of the delicate essential fats present in the oil.
ReplyAnother issue I have with soy type, non trans fat margarines is the fact that most of the soy grown in the US is GMO soy. Also we consume lots of soy and corn oil in America which is a new phenomenon in the last 100 years of human history. It would be difficult to get much fat from these foods if you ate them in their whole state.
One specific problem I have with these oils is the imbalance of omega 6 to omega 3′s in these oils. Omega 6s tend to be inflammatory whereas omega 3s tend to be anti-inflammatory.
While this debate is not as definitive as the one with trans fat margarine, I think we need to take caution. I believe just like eating too much fat from animal sources can bring us out of balance, eating too much soy oil can also bring us out of balance.
For now in my house we have switched back to butter. Ideally though I want to make my own spread out of extra virgin olive oil, butter and Nutrim. I will have to take one step at a time.
I have been taking Nutrim for 2 weeks now and I will say that while my over all cholesterol level has gone up my good cholesterol has gone way up. My question is if I keep taking Nutrim will my total cholesterol eventually go down?
ReplyAfter reading this tonight, I am wondering what is best to using when it calls for margarine in recipes. I have been using Better than Butter in the sticks but no doubt that is not good for neither. I was using things lower in fat etc. Do you have any suggestions. Thanks.
ReplyPat-
When you are looking at your cholesterol numbers it is important to note your LDL levels. LDL cholesterol is the target that the government and health organizations use to determing your cholesterol goals. Since total cholesterol can be influenced by your good cholesterol (HDL) it can be harder to make an interpretation on your progress. There are many factors that determine when your total cholesterol will go down, but based on the current research you should expect to see a drop in your total cholesterol over time.
ReplyCharleen-
To lower fat in some of your recipes you can use a combination of butter, olive oil, applesauce and/or Nutrim. Nutrim and applesauce replace properties that fat would normally add to a recipe. You can start out by using these ingredients in equal amounts (e.g. 1 cup of margarine substitute- 1/4 cup butter, 1/4 cup oil, 1/4 cup applesauce and Nutrim(1Tbsp Nutrim with 4 Tbsp water). As you start to use these you may find one recipe can take more applesauce than others and the same for Nutrim. Cookies seem to do better with more Nutrim than applesauce where a quick bread my do better with more applesauce.
ReplyAnother option is to put Nutrim in your butter to lower the fat and get the benefits of the Nutrim in the recipe. See the following recipe video to learn more.
http://www.oathealth.com/video-recipes/heart_healthy_nutrim_butter
How about using coconut oil? It withstands high heat and is supposed to be very good for you. See articles of Dr. Mercola
ReplyChrista-
That is a great question. I think extra virgin coconut oil can be another great addition to the types of fat we consume. Since it is low processed like extra virgin olive oil it can be a great source of unprocessed oils and other nutrients. It does offer some additional benefits as it is more stable in a frying pan because of its high saturated fat content.
ReplyThe only precaution I would give in regards to extra virgin coconut oil is the imbalance it can bring if someone is consuming large amounts of saturated fat in the diet from other sources like meats and dairy. The two things to always keep in mind for a healthy diet are eat less processed foods and keep foods in a balance.