Which is healthier: margarine or butter

Which is healthier: margarine or butter
Comparison of margarine vs butter with pros and cons to determine which is healthier.





Before we look at the rest of the facts concerning margarine and butter, let's define what these two products are and take a look at their histories.

Butter is a natural dairy food product that has been around for centuries. It is even mentioned several times in the Holy Bible. For example, Genesis 18:8 reads, "And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat." And Proverbs 30:33 reads, "Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter..."



Today, butter is made from milk and cream by a process known as "churning." Churning turns the cream into a partially solid food product. In fact, it takes twenty one pounds of rich, cream -laden milk to make one pound of butter.


Margarine was invented in the late eighteen seventies by a French chemist named Hippolyte Mège-Mouriez. He used margaric acid to make the replacement for butter. That's how margarine got its name.


Today, margarine is manufactured from vegetable oils. It may be made from one certain type of oil, a combination of oils, or vegetable fats.


If you're concerned about losing weight, then you may choose to eat a small amount of either fat. Because, butter has the same amount of calories in it as margarine does.


However, two of the most successful diets in the country are The South Beach Diet, which was developed by cardiologist Arthur Agatston, M.D., and The Atkins Diet, which was developed by Robert C. Atkins, M.D. On The South Beach Diet, Dr. Agatston recommends that you use a substitute for butter that is low in fat. He also recommends that you use canola or olive oil.


The use of butter in your daily intake is approved by Dr. Atkins. He encourages his followers to eat real butter, cream, eggs, cheese and bacon.


According to medical experts, a person needs to eat a certain amount of fat every day. Based on a two thousand calorie a day eating plan, a person should intake not more than sixty five grams of fat and twenty grams of saturated fat. Therefore, a teaspoon full of butter would fit into that plan, then, having four grams of fat and two and a half grams of saturated fat.


Of course, a teaspoon of margarine has about the same amount of fats, so it would fit into the same eating plan.


However, if you're planning on cooking with one of these fats, then butter is the better choice. It melts well and it also gives meats, vegetables, potatoes, et cetera, a delicious buttery taste.


Margarine actually becomes a hazard to your health when it's manufactured with heat, and if it's over heated while cooking. It changes into a putrescent trans-fatty acid. These acids, which are also known as "Trans Fats", are notorious for clogging a person's arteries. Trans fats are also responsible for increasing a person's Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL), or otherwise known as their "bad" cholesterol. At the same time, it lowers a person's High Density Lipoprotein (HDL), which is also known as "good" cholesterol. These cholesterol problems can lead to heart disease. Besides that, this acid can cause Type 2 Diabetes, increase the the risk of cancer, and it can also speed up the aging process!


Three well respected organizations- The Food and Drug Administration, the

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the American Heart Association all agree that a person should avoid eating trans-fatty acid or fats whenever possible.


As for long term storage, butter can be kept in your refrigerator for up to one month. It can be kept in the freezer for up to twelve calendar months.


Margarine, on the other hand, because of its manufactured molecular structure, doesn't keep as long in your freezer. If you leave a tub of margarine in your freezer for a year, you can often open the tub to find it now full of a white, powdery substance.


So, weigh the facts and decide which is the better spread for you, margarine or butter!

I use butter because the nurse across the street told me that margarine is one molecular unit away from being plastic.

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Originally Posted by Scalleywag

I use butter because the nurse across the street told me that margarine is one molecular unit away from being plastic.

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i heard that too

And Margarine taste like Dupont made it.

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Originally Posted by Doink the clown

And Margarine taste like Dupont made it.

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I dont know that this is a fair assessment man.. I mean. dupont makes some pretty tasty stuff.