Which is better? Butter or Margarine

To be honest, neither!

Margarine is an incredibly over-processed man-made product that I do not see as a necessity in our intake.

On the other hand, butter is chock full of potentially artery-clogging saturated fat, so its not really a healthier alternative. Especially if you have a history of heart issues in your family – note that heart disease kills more Aussies than anything else 🙁

However the most important thing when it comes to your health is what you do every day.

So every day try alternatives to butter and marg like, well, ‘green margarine’ – ha! that’s my joke for avocado. Its easily spreadable like margarine, it has the texture of margarine and its green! Plus it is completely natural, contains blood vessel-lubricating unsaturated fat and contains other beneficial nutrients such as folate (really important for the process where the cells that make up the human body divide and multiply, which they do constantly), vitamin E (which is great for your skin) and fibre (this helps you to poop without straining!)

Or drizzle your toast with some beautiful fresh Australian extra virgin olive oil

Other (savoury) suggestions would be hommus, or other healthier dips like baba ganoush (check ingredients list if you are buying it though), or nut or seed butters which are made from 100% nuts and/or seeds (check ingredients lists on these too!)

And if you are having a nut or seed butter you really don’t need marg or butter as well.

And if you find yourself in France eating a baguette, have some butter, eat it slowly and really enjoy it – oh la la!

🙂

 

Read on to learn more about margarine:

Margarine used to be produced through a process called hydrogenation, which results in the formation of trans fats.  These fats are very stable and increase foods’ shelf life. Food industry love trans fats for this reason.

However after decades of people consuming margarine (when I was a kid, my mother used to put it on our sandwiches thinking it was healthier!) it was discovered and revealed that these fats are seriously nasty.

Trans fats increase your risk of heart disease, inflammatory disorders and even cancer. Yikes!

Australia now uses another process to make margarine called interesterification.

Interesterification produces artificial fat molecules not found in nature, but its use results in a product with significantly less trans fats. But they’re no knights in lubricated, shining, greased armour. Studies have found that interesterified fats adversely alter cholesterol (LDL/HDL) levels too, as well as disturbing blood sugar balance (if you’re interested to read a study about this, click here). So as well as stuffing up your cholesterol, it may increase your risk of developing diabetes. Dia-bloody-betes?! Well that’s no damn good. It is also possible that (like everything else) other adverse health effects may expose themselves over time.

Why would you risk damaging your precious rig for something as disappointing and flaccid as margarine?

Thanks to Shannon’s Kitchen for this info above, which I changed a bit and toned down (note: expletives warning if you click on the link, but she is very factual and – I think – very funny!)