Margarine! *eeek*

**Bathsheba** · February 21st, 2008, 01:33 PM

Margarine was originally manufactured to fatten turkeys. When it killed the turkeys, the people who had put all the money into the research wanted a payback so they put their heads together to figure out what to do with this product to get their money back. It was a white substance with no food appeal so they added the yellow coloring and sold it to people to use in place of butter. How do you like it?

DO YOU KNOW.. the difference between margarine and butter?

Both have the same amount of calories.

Butter is slightly higher in saturated fats at 8 grams compared to 5
grams.

Eating margarine can increase heart disease in women by 53% over eating the same amount of butter, according to a recent Harvard Medical Study.

Eating butter increases the absorption of many other nutrients in other foods.

Butter has many nutritional benefits where margarine has a few, only
because they are added!

Butter tastes much better than margarine and it can enhance the flavors of other foods.

Butter has been around for centuries where margarine has been around for
less than 100 years .

And now, for Margarine..

Very high in t rans fatty acids .

Triple risk of coronary heart disease .

Increases total cholesterol and LDL (this is the bad cholesterol) and
lowers HDL cholesterol, (the good cholesterol)

Increases the risk of cancers up to five fold.

Lowers quality of breast milk.

Decreases immune response.

Decreases insulin response.

And here's the most disturbing fact.... HERE IS THE PART THAT IS VERY INTERESTING!

Margarine is but ONE MOLECULE away from being PLASTIC.

This fact alone was enough to have me avoiding margarine for life and
anything else that is hydrogenated (this means hydrogen is added, changing the molecular structure of the substance).

You can try this yourself:

Purchase a tub of margarine and leave it in your garage or shaded area. Within a couple of days you will note a couple of things:

* no flies, not even those pesky fruit flies will go near it (that should
tell you something)

* it does not rot or smell differently because it has no nutritional
value ; nothing will grow on it. Even those teeny weeny microorganisms will not a find a home to grow. Why? Because it is nearly plastic . Would you melt your Tupperware and spread that on your toast?

I received this as an email.

I've always eaten plain unadulterated butter... it just made sense... plus "butter tastes better". Another example of trying to improve on nature... rarely works. JMO.

**BellyBelly** · February 21st, 2008, 01:35 PM

You can't win with butter or margarine. You have to choose which you would prefer, to use something more likely to give you a stroke, or something more likely to result in blindess!!! Or you could try and avoid it altogether!

**Bathsheba** · February 21st, 2008, 01:54 PM

Do you think it's really true that there is no "nutrition" in margarine? maybe this could just be an alarmist article written by a butter manufacturer!

Is there any "dairy" in marg at all? I guess if you had a dairy intolerance marg who have to be your choice...

**krysalyss** · February 21st, 2008, 01:55 PM

There is some nutrition in margarine and butter (oils and fats are an important part of our body) but generally we could do without it.

**saslia** · February 21st, 2008, 01:55 PM

We only have butter as DD reacts to some preservatives so we thought it was a better alternative....

**Bathsheba** · February 21st, 2008, 02:01 PM

Even the idea that it's a fake colour worries me... it's usually such a glaring bright yellow... way more yellow than pure butter... frightens me off!

**Heaven** · February 21st, 2008, 02:03 PM

Hmm...I get confused about which one is better/worse, now I will remember. But then when I go to the supermarket it's hard to tell which is actually butter and which is margarine. Which do you think is the best brand to buy?
And if they're both bad how can you get by without it!! I use it in cooking a fair bit.

**Bathsheba** · February 21st, 2008, 02:09 PM

I personally prefer Devondale's Extra Soft or just plain/pure butter (often wrapped in paper). Extra Soft has 25% less fat than most margarines, is blended with canola oil to make it more spreadable but tastes very buttery. It has a preservative though so this might not suit everyone. We get this brand because DH demands it. if it was just me i would buy cultured butter (Girgars is a good one) it is devine and is a very pure food. I use it to make shortbread and pastries.

**Pandora** · February 21st, 2008, 02:10 PM

margarine is black, and lots of chemicals are used to make it yellow.
My mum worked for years at whats now food science australia/CSIRO, and none of the research scientists there would eat or allow their families to eat margarine.
DH prefers butter but still buys marg. I dont use it for anything other than baking, in which case I try to use butter anyway.

**canberramomma** · February 21st, 2008, 07:20 PM

You can't win with butter or margarine. You have to choose which you would prefer, to use something more likely to give you a stroke, or something more likely to result in blindess!!! Or you could try and avoid it altogether!

Or try olive oil or homemade bread, which is so yummy, it doesn't need anything to 'moisten' it.

**Astrid** · February 21st, 2008, 07:31 PM

The main reason for using butter or another spread on sandwiches is actually to keep the bread soft and fresh for eating later. Technically if a sandwich is to be eaten immediately then butter is not necessary. For myself if I am making a peanut butter sandwich I don't use butter at all, or for a salad sandwich I use a good mayo instead.

**Bathsheba** · February 21st, 2008, 07:37 PM

(OT Oooh Astrid is that a new ticker? i didn't realise you were so far along! nice cool weather next week, more comfy for very preggy girls!)

Technically speaking I know when you use peanut butter you shouldn't need butter.... but oh i doooo! I don't just use butter to 'moisten' i actually love the flavour itself. Fresh pasta tossed in butter was my student staple (couldn't afford olive oil) I just love buttery dishes.

**Astrid** · February 21st, 2008, 07:43 PM

(OT Oooh Astrid is that a new ticker? i didn't realise you were so far along! nice cool weather next week, more comfy for very preggy girls!)

Technically speaking I know when you use peanut butter you shouldn't need butter.... but oh i doooo! I don't just use butter to 'moisten' i actually love the flavour itself. Fresh pasta tossed in butter was my student staple (couldn't afford olive oil) I just love buttery dishes.

Yep new ticker, 99.9% weaned so it was time to change, plus I was forgetting how many weeks I am.

Back on topic, I do love butter, but I do try and be careful with it and save for the things that really need it (eg corn cobs, crumpets etc). DD loves the stuff, if I have the block out she always wants a slice of it.