Why Butter is Better for your Health than Margarine

The dangers of margarine & hydrogenated fats vs. the health benefits of butter

The mess that is margarine.

Margarine became popular in the earlier part of the 1900’s, but didn’t overtake butter in popularity until the 1950’s or so. By 1960 heart disease became our number one killer. Coincidence? Margarine (other hydrogenated oils) is a main cause of heart and atherosclerosis, not butter, as the American Heart Association would have you believe. Because of the trans-fatty acids, margarine is correlated with more heart disease than any other food- including butter.

The trans-fatty acids in margarine (and vegetable shortenings like Crisco) increase LDL cholesterol (the bad one), and lower the healthier HDL cholesterol. This raises the risk of heart disease. What you have been told about margarine being better because butter has cholesterol is a big, fat, lie.

Heart disease, diabetes, and other killer diseases are all running rampant and at an all time high, thanks largely to hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils that are used to provide a long shelf life to commercially prepared baked goods, cookies, frozen prepared foods, etc.

In order to make margarine the vegetable oils need to go through a process called hydrogenation. Hydrogenation is the process of forcing hydrogen atoms into the holes of unsaturated fatty acids. This is done with hydrogen gas under pressure that is bubbled through the vegetable oil with the help of a metal catalyst, such as nickel, platinum or some other metal. When the hydrogen atoms combine with the carbon atoms, the oils becomes saturated or hardened.

When this occurs, this new product ( margarine) no longer resembles the original oil. It is now a dark and rancid mess. Nickel is a toxic heavy metal and some amount will always remain in the margarine at it‘s completion. To make this unpalatable gloop appeal to the masses ( that would be you and me) deodorants and coloring agents are added to disguise the rancid smell and to hide the disgusting grey color of the unappealing slop. Much like a magicians sleight of hand, this slick trickery of bleaching, filtering and deodorizing goes on behind the scenes, and we are none the wiser.

What remains is a highly artificial fat that contains trans-fatty acids (Trans-fats. You’ve heard of those, right? That’s the bad stuff.) and the same calorie count as butter. All the original essential fatty acids are now gone, and any semblance to nutrition has disappeared. Welcome to margarine, a plastic fat.

So how does use of margarine effect your health? Because the hydrogenated oils (and partially hydrogenated) in margarine are known to cause cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and much more. They block the bodies ability to absorb essential fatty acids, which are critical for every bodily function. And, if all that weren’t enough, they make you gain weight like crazy. Still think margarine is the healthier choice?

A great source of information on the dangers of these products can be found at Shirley’s Wellness Café, a great natural health themed website.
Visit Shirley here: www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/oil.htm

The benefits of butter

You don’t need to be afraid of butter. In fact, you can freely embrace its creamy, satisfying goodness.

Butter is best when raw and organic, of course, but that may not always be available. If it is, grab some. Butter has a lovely list of attributes that I bet you aren’t aware of. Did you know that butter is a good source of vitamin A, and the other fat soluble vitamins as well?

Butter is also rich in trace minerals, particularly selenium, which is an antioxidant. Iodine can also be found in butter. Fatty acids are abundant in butter. Butter has a perfect blend of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, which render it very stable in cooking. Even at high temperatures it will not break down.

Butter has less cholesterol (11mg per teaspoon) than a cup of low fat milk (18 mg), less than 3 oz of light tuna in water(25 mg), or even 3 oz of beef, lamb, pork or chicken (71-79mg). Calves liver has 477mg of cholesterol per 3 oz serving, and an egg yolk 208 mg.

And something you may be shocked to hear, dietary intake of cholesterol has no impact on the level of cholesterol in your blood. If you check out the link at the end of this article, you will finds lots factual information on cholesterol that you may not know.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2004/07/21/statin-drugs-part-four.aspx Dr. Mercola speaks on cholesterol
"There's no connection whatsoever between cholesterol in food and cholesterol in blood. And we've known that all along.

Butter also contains short chain fatty acids that have immune stimulating and antimicrobial properties. In addition, butter also contains the correct balance of omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids. Fatty acid balance is critical to optimal health. If someone ever calls you a fathead they are right! The human brain is more than 60% fat.

Check out this helpful website that helps explain this better:
www.goodfats.pamrotella.com/

There are just so many benefits to butter that I am going to refer you to a website that clearly lists the top twenty benefits of butter.

Benefits of Real Butter Top 20 List:
www.bodyecology.com/07/07/05/benefits_of_real_butter.php