Confusion over the longstanding controversy between butter and margarine continues. Many health agencies continue to cling to outdated theories that have been repeatedly proven untrue. The truth is that butter isn’t nearly as bad for you as once thought and margarine may be worse than the industry leads you to believe.
Butter is Just Better
First of all, most people prefer the taste of butter to margarine. Many shy away from this tasty condiment because it contains cholesterol and saturated fat. For years, news reports and industry advertisements have led us to believe that these substances lead to heart disease. However, studies show that eating cholesterol and saturated fat has little connection to heart disease.
Nutrient Deficiencies Lead to Heart Disease
The real link between diet and heart disease lies in several potential nutrient deficiencies and excess consumption of sugar. Many of the nutrients that promote heart health are found in animal fats such as red meat and butter. Sugar lowers the body’s resistance to microorganisms that cause inflammation in the heart and arteries.
Margarine Myths
The margarine industry leads you to believe that being a plant-based food, margarine must be better for you. However, this is the rare case in which vegetables can be bad for you. The plant oils that make margarine are liquids. They can only become solid to form a butter-like shape by a process called hydrogenation. This process creates trans fats, which are shown to carry a high risk of raising bad cholesterol in the blood, a sign of arterial damage and impending heart disease.
Trans Fats
Even when vegetable fats are not processed into solids, research shows they contain free radicals. These particles damage the artery walls. The body uses cholesterol to repair the damage, leading to hardening of the arteries and cholesterol build up. The excess levels of cholesterol in the blood are not the cause of heart disease. Instead, they are a sign of damaged arteries and the body’s attempts to repair the damage.
Trans fats have negative impacts on our cholesterol levels, however, as they raise LDL just as saturated fats do while lowering HDL. This is a sign of the body attempting to repair arterial damage by sending more cholesterol into the bloodstream. In addition, trans fats make blood platelets sticky, increasing the risk of stroke. There are no established safe levels of trans fats, but it is known that a single tablespoon of margarine in the stick form will add 3 grams of trans fat to the body.
Some Fats Are Good for You
Just as there is no known safe minimum of trans fats, there is no known maximum for other fats in the diet. One of the most famous studies demonstrating this point is called the Framingham study. Over 40 years, researchers studied 6,000 residents of Framingham, Massachusetts, comparing two groups at five-year intervals. The group on a high cholesterol diet fared better than those who ate fewer fatty foods. The study’s director noted that, “We found that the people who ate the most cholesterol, ate the most saturated fat, ate the most calories, weighed the least and were the most physically active.”1
The Truth about Low Fat Diets
If you are now on a low fat diet targeting cholesterol and saturated fats, a change may be in order. Replacing margarine with butter and vegetable shortening with lard should have no effect on your risk of heart attack. However, it may help you feel less hungry and have more energy. A healthy low fat diet is low in vegetable fat sources. Fats from animal sources, nuts and fruits like avocado or olive are all healthy fat choices.
1 http://sks.sirs.es.vrc.scoolaid.net/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=SNY5270-0-8423&artno=0000018188&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=Atherosclerosis&title=Diet%20and%20Heart%20Disease%3A%20Not%20What%20You%20Think&res=Y&ren=N&gov=Y&lnk=N&ic=N
