Butter vs: Margarine...

[earlychildhoodeducator]

I have no idea if this true, someone sent it to me as an email. I found it interesting and thought was worth a read.

"Margarine was originally manufactured to fatten turkeys. When it
killed the turkeys the people who had put all the money into the
research wanted a payback so they put their heads together to figure
out what to do with this product to get their money back.

It was a white substance with no food appeal so they added the
yellow coloring and sold it to people to use in place of butter. How
do you like it? They have come out with some clever new flavorings.

DO YOU KNOW the difference between margarine and butter?

Both have the same amount of calories.

Butter is slightly higher in saturated fats at 8 grams compared to 5
grams.

Eating margarine can increase heart disease in women by 53% over
eating the same amount of butter, according to a recent Harvard Medical Study.

Eating butter increases the absorption of many other nutrients in
other foods.

Butter has many nutritional benefits where margarine has a few only
because they are added!

Butter tastes much better than margarine and it can enhance the
flavors of other foods.

Butter has been around for centuries where margarine has been around
for less than 100 years.

And now, for Margarine...

Very high in trans fatty acids.

Triple risk of coronary heart disease.

Increases total cholesterol and LDL (this is the bad cholesterol)

Lowers HDL cholesterol, (the good cholesterol)

Increases the risk of cancers by up to five fold.

Lowers quality of breast milk.

Decreases immune response.

Decreases insulin response.

And here is the most disturbing fact....

Margarine is ONE MOLECULE away from being PLASTIC...

This fact alone was enough to have me avoiding margarine for life
and anything else that is hydrogenated (this means hydrogen is
added, changing the molecular structure of the substance).

You can try this yourself:

Purchase a tub of margarine and leave it in your garage or shaded area.

Within a couple of days you will note a couple of things: * no
flies, not even those pesky fruit flies will go near it (that should
tell you
something) * it does not rot or smell differently because it has no
nutritional value, nothing will grow on it even those teeny weenie
microorganisms will not a find a home to grow. Why? Because it is
nearly plastic.

Would you melt your Tupperware and spread that on your toast?"

Like I said, I have no idea where the information came from and haven't varified any facts but just thought it was interesting and another reason to use real butter.

[Isabeau]

Without having done any further research, I think all of those things were probably true. Just from looking at the grocery store though, I think the margarine industry has been trying to change (many brands don't use hydrogenated fats, using olive oil etc). I really don't use butter or margarine much but it is nice that on Atkins, butter can be used although I wouldn't advise people to to use it lavishly.

[kellymch2004]

I *love* butter. I use it as often as I can.

[earlychildhoodeducator]

I thought when I started this WOL 2 years ago I would be eating more butter than I do. There is just not that big of a need for it. No bread to spread it on, no baked potatoes to gob it on, cooking meats almost never need fat addded to them. You're right, it's nice to know butter is there when I need it, but this WOE just doesn't really warrent a huge amout of butter, for me.

[spirittalker]

I put a ton of butter on my cooked veggies. Maybe I should cut down on that ensive

[sadie147]

Butter is far healthier that margarine. Here is other great article on the benefits of butter:

WHY BUTTER IS BETTER
by STEPHEN BYRNES, ND, RNCP

One of the most healthy whole foods you can include in your diet is butter. "What?!" I can hear many of you saying, "Isn’t butter bad for you? I thought margarine and spreads were better because they’re low in saturated fat and cholesterol?" Be not deceived folks! Butter is truly better than margarine or other vegetable spreads. Despite unjustified warnings about saturated fat from well-meaning, but misinformed, nutritionists, the list of butter’s benefits is impressive indeed:

Vitamins: Butter is a rich source of easily absorbed vitamin A, needed for a wide range of functions in the body, from maintaining good vision, to keeping the endocrine system in top shape. Butter also contains all the other fat-soluble vitamins (E, K, and D).

Minerals: Butter is rich in trace minerals, especially selenium, a powerful antioxidant. Ounce for ounce, butter has more selenium per gram than either whole wheat or garlic. Butter also supplies iodine, needed by the thyroid gland (as well as vitamin A, also needed by the thyroid gland).

Fatty Acids: Butter has appreciable amounts of butyric acid, used by the colon as an energy source. This fatty acid is also a known anti-carcinogen. Lauric acid, a medium chain fatty acid, is a potent antimicrobial and antifungal substance. Butter also contains conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) which gives excellent protection against cancer. Range-fed cows produce especially high levels of CLA as opposed to "stall fed" cattle. It pays, then, to get your butter from a cow that has been fed properly. Butter also has small, but equal, amounts of omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, the so-called essential fatty acids.

Glycospingolipids: These are a special category of fatty acids that protect against gastrointestinal infections, especially in the very young and the elderly. Children, therefore, should not drink skim or lowfat milk. Those that do have higher rates of diarrhea than those that drink whole milk.

Cholesterol: Despite all of the misinformation you may have heard, cholesterol is needed to maintain intestinal health, but is also needed for brain and nervous system development in the young. Again, this emphasizes the need for cholesterol-rich foods for children. Human breast milk is extremely high in saturated fat and cholesterol.

Standing in direct opposition to all of these healthful qualities stands margarine and assorted "vegetable oil spreads." While these may be cheaper, you’d never eat them again if you knew how they were made. All margarines are made from assorted vegetable oils that have been heated to extremely high temperatures. This insures that the oils will become rancid. After that, a nickel catalyst is added, along with hydrogen atoms, to solidify it. Nickel is a toxic heavy metal and amounts always remain in the finished product. Finally, deodorants and colorings are added to remove margarine’s horrible smell (from the rancid oils) and unappetizing grey color.

And if that is not enough, in the solidification process, harmful trans-fatty acids are created which are carcinogenic and mutagenic. What would you rather have: a real food with an abundance of healthful qualities or a stick of carcinogenic, bleached, and deodorized slop?

Some of you might be watching your weight and be rather hesitant to add butter into your diet. Have no fear. About 15% of the fatty acids in butter are of the short and medium chain variety which are NOT stored as fat in the body, but are used by the vital organs for energy. (Fats you should watch, though, are all vegetable oils and olive oil.)

When looking for good quality butter, raw and cultured is best. This might be hard to find, however. Organic butter is your next best thing, with store-bought butter being at the bottom. Remember what we’ve said about commercially-raised cows; its worth a few extra cents to get high quality butter for you and your family. A brand of butter available in many markets is Anchor, imported from New Zealand.In this country, all cattle are grass-fed, thus insuring a high nutrient content of their milk, butter, and meat.
http://healthyimmunity.com/cgi-bin/v...SrvID=HEALTH01,[a=01[b=31[c=01[d=laehmiht[e=00145486[f=xxxxxxxx[g=9-26918

[not2late]

Margarine gained popularity as a butter substitute during the First World War, when food was rationed, and again during WW II for the same reason.

It is true that the original margarine was white and when you purchased it it came along with a tube of yellow food coloring---it was a way of making it look more like butter.

Many margarines contain trans fats and that's what makes it "dangerous" to us.

There's a couple of good books by Mary P. Enig, PhD. She's a fat researcher (lol, she's not overweight, she researches fat ). Her books explain the trans fat thing in more detail.

[ttdriver]

Take away my saturated fats? Just shoot me!

I am a butter fiend. I use it on darn near everything. And along with butter, I eat a ton of heavy cream, full fat yogurt, cheese and that "awful unhealthy" red meat!

GOTTA LOVE THIS WOE!!

Betty

[earlychildhoodeducator]

Take away my saturated fats? Just shoot me!

I am a butter fiend. I use it on darn near everything. And along with butter, I eat a ton of heavy cream, full fat yogurt, cheese and that "awful unhealthy" red meat!

GOTTA LOVE THIS WOE!!

Betty

I used to think "what in the heck would I use heavy cream for" ....a duh,...everything! now it's one of my staples!

[Effie]

After reading this post, I decided to saute my broccoli in butter tonight. OH MY GOD. It was so good, and I've always liked broccoli. My husband tried one and wanted me to cook him some too, and he has never been a broccoli fan. YAY for BUTTER!