One of the biggest kitchen debates is butter versus margarine. Butter a natural product versus margarine a man made product. An animal based fat versus a plant based fat.
Margarine Facts
Margarine is a vegetable-oil-based, butter-flavored spread that contains 80% oil. Originally margarine was touted as being healthier than butter since it is plant based. However, margarine is hydrogenated and has trans fat which can raise LDL or bad cholesterol and lower HDL or good cholesterol. The other problem I see with margarine is that some brands have a long list of ingredients on the label- it’s a processed food.
Newer margarine spreads (the tub type) are now made without the trans fat. Stick margarine still contains trans fat and should be avoided at all costs!
Butter Facts
Butter on the other hand, has one or two ingredients. Cream is the number one ingredient and salt if it is salted butter. If you are looking for a more natural product, butter would be it!
Butter gets a bad rap because it has more saturated fat since it is an animal based fat. Saturated fat is a concern since it could put a person at risk for heart disease. People with high cholesterol should reduce the amount of saturated fat in their diet.
Whipped butter is also healthier than stick butter as it has less saturated fat and 50% less calories.
So what do we use in our household?
I generally use butter for baking. I like that it is a natural product and not processed. Hubby likes to use tub margarine on bread since it is soft and easy to spread. Hubby also has slightly elevated cholesterol so a tub margarine is probably better for him.
Otherwise for cooking, we use olive oil or coconut oil.
No matter if you use butter or margarine, the key is keeping the portions small. Don’t slather the bread, put a smear on!
What do you prefer butter or margarine?
More butter posts:
Butter for Baking: Salted vs. Unsalted Butter
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