Butter vs Margarine
by Willie Victor
Margarine began to overtake butter in popularity in the United States around the middle of the 20th century. Your family may have used margarine instead of butter in the belief that it was better for you because it has less saturated fat, cholesterol, and calories. Even my own Italian family, which made everything from scratch — including pasta — used margarine. Were we wrong?
Both butter and margarine start with the same amount of calories. Butter is slightly higher in saturated fat with eight grams; margarine has five. This is where the similarities end.
Butter is made from churning the cream that rises when milk is allowed to sit. Certified raw butter is a great source of fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E and K. It also contains butyric acid, a short-chain fat that protects against colon tumors.
Margarine, on the other hand, is made from oil extracted from vegetables at high temperatures. This heat damages the oil and destroys vitamin E. This oil would normally be liquid at room temperature, but hydrogen is bubbled into it in the presence of a nickel catalyst to raise its melting point and make it solid. If this hydrogenation is incomplete, the high temperatures tend to flip some of the carbon-carbon double bonds into the “trans” form.
Trans-fats increase:
- inflammation in the body, leading to pain
- LDL (the bad cholesterol)
- the risk of cancer
and decrease:
- HDL (the good cholesterol)
- the immune response
- the insulin response
Margarine also contains these heavy metals:
- Nickel – in excess, can cause lung cancer, kidney disease, and depression
- Cadmium – contributes to arteriosclerosis, high blood pressure, and malignancy
What about cholesterol? The human body manufacturers nearly all its own cholesterol; food provides only a small portion. Balancing your body chemistry is the key to normalizing it. All foods should be eaten in moderation, including butter.
You may pay more for butter, but the nutrition and purity are well worth the price…so is the taste!
For those who have dairy allergies or sensitivities, try ghee. Ghee is clarified butter, which means it has the milk solids removed. It is only these solids which most people with a dairy intolerance cannot consume. Much of the rich flavor remains.
