Butter is Better - Or is Margarine Bad for You.
Pass The Butter ... Please
If
you receive an e-mail with an article about how margarine is really
nasty stuff and how it was originally invented to fatten turkeys but
killed them instead, then you can take it with a pinch of salt. The
turkey bit is just not true.
it is worth checking out the article on the best myth buster website which is www.snopes.com.
The
true picture is a bit more complicated but the substance of the article
is correct and much of it is still valid even though some of the
manufacturers have cleaned up their act a bit.
The article goes on to claim that among women who eat similar amounts of spreads, those eating butter are over 50% less likely to develop heart disease. These claims made in the article appears to be true and should be acted upon.
The
article makes other claims about nutrient absorption and flavor being
enhanced, for which there is no evidence given. Anyhow we all know that
butter tastes much better.
Margarine contains Trans Fats
The article goes on to list the bad things about Margarine and these bits are basically true:-
High
in trans fatty acids - A good warning, for multiple studies have shown
trans fats (hydrogenated vegetable oils etc.) can dramatically increase
coronary problems, the article says it triples the incidence of the
disease.
Increases LDL cholesterol and lowers HDL cholesterol; LDL is the bad
and HDL the good one. The article also claimed it increased cancers (by
up to five fold), decreases insulin and immune responses and reduces
the quality of breast milk. These claims may be true but no evidence is
given.
Margarine is ONE MOLECULE away from PLASTIC
The
main thrust of the article seems to be the above claim, the evidence
given is that it will not rot or become moldy and this is true but a
piece of tuna fish will last almost as long and that is not made of
plastic.
The methods use
to turn oils into solids are suspect and can be very harmful to health.
In the case of hydrogenating them it certainly is, however the plastic
claim seems to be an exageration.
The
original article will have annoyed some of the more scientifically
inclined of our readers but it does raise several questions and we can
hope that its popularity will be responsible for some action on the
part of the food giants.
Butter is Good for You
Butter
has been given bad press in recent years, and in an age when so many of
us overeat and as a consequence are obese and unfit and unhealthy, then
eating any additional fat is a bad idea.
Butter
is rich in saturated fat and for some time now we have been told that
this is very bad, but the truth is that fats are an essential part of
our diet and it is the trans fats added by the food industry that is
the killer.
Cholesterol
is essential for the functioning of the body and butter can provide a
supplement to the natural production, it may even inhibit the
cholesterol produced by the body.
We hope we have given you enough information to make up your own mind about the margarine scandal.
Interesting Fact:-
Margarine is so called because it originally contained Margaric Acid; a
saturated fat which was a byproduct of the meat industry in France,
where the product originated, beef fats were a major constituent.