Is Margarine Better Than Butter?

There is a wonderful tale floating around the Internet about the starting point of margarine.

It was formerly created to fatten turkeys. The people who had put all the money into the project demanded a return, following the death of the turkeys. They put their heads together to figure out what to do with this product in order to get their money back.

They added yellow coloring, as the white substance had no food appeal and sold it to people to use as a substitute for butter.

In 1869 French chemist Hippolyte Mege-Mouries produced the first margarine, in response to the offer of a prize by Emperor Louis Napoleon III of France, for anyone who could offer a satisfactory substitute for butter. It had to be able to be used by the lower classes and the armed forces (Wolfe 2000).

Understanding the difference between butter and margarine can however, make a massive difference to your health, as well as your weight.

Although butter is slightly higher in saturated fats at 8 grams, in comparison to 5 grams for margarine, both have the same amount of calories.

According to a Harvard Medical Study, the down side of margarine is that it can increase heart disease in women by 53%.

Margarine has very high levels of trans (unsaturated) fatty acids, which many say greatly increases the danger of heart disease. Margarine increases total cholesterol and LDL (this is the bad cholesterol) and lowers HDL cholesterol, (the good cholesterol).

The quality of breast milk has proven to be lowered because of the presence of higher levels of trans fat in the milk after consuming margarine.

Trans fat may also increase blood insulin levels, thus increasing the danger of diabetes. Numerous experts claim there is a connection between trans fat and different types of cancer, including breast cancer, plus a number of other health conditions, including gallstones and stroke.

Margarine is produced from hydrogenated oils, (hydrogen is added to alter the molecular structure). This makes the liver work much harder, instead of getting to work to remove the bad fat from our bodies. It is always much healthier to stay away from processed foods.

Consuming trans fatty acids "Affects immune response by lowering effeciency of B cell response and increasing proliferation of T cells," wrote Nutritionist Dr. Mary Enig, in an article.

Butter is one of the highest natural sources of vitamins A, D and E. Vitamin A is important for the function of the immune system. A and D build strong bones and E is an important ant-oxidant.

One last thing, if you leave a container of margarine open in your garage, or a shaded area you will find it attracts no flies. Nothing will grow on it. It does not rot, or smell any different.