Butter Vs Margarine
Monday, December 5th, 2005Butter is made from the fat portion of cow´s milk, by agitating the milk fat in a churn until coagulation (solidification) occurs. Saturated fats are found in cow´s milk, but there is also a small amount of trans fats that occur naturally. Cow´s milk normally contains up to 3.7 % milk fat, but milk with 2% and 1% fat are common in dairy cases. Skim milk contains about 0.2 % milk fat.
Vegetable oils are the base for margarines. Soybean, olive, corn and canola are common oils used in the manufacture of margarines. But oils are liquid at room temperature. In order to produce solid margarine, unsaturated fats in the oil are converted to saturated fats by a process called hydrogenation. The level of unsaturated fats goes down in margarines and the level of saturated fats goes up. Even more important is the fact that during the process of hydrogenation to produce margarines, trans fatty acids are produced. Trans fat like saturated fat raises the level of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, or the bad cholesterol in the blood, and so we should be limiting the amounts of trans fat in our diet. Yes, butter does contain less trans fat than margarines, but when the total of trans and saturated fat is compared, traditional vegetable margarines come out ahead of butter. Even better are margarines that are not hydrogenated. These products should be trans fat free.
Different Types of Fat in Butter and Margarines (grams/serving)
product total fat saturated fat(1) trans fat(2) (1) + (2)
butter 10.8 7.2 0.3 7.5
stick margarine 11.4 2.3 2.4 4.7
(82% fat)
tub margarine 11.2 1.9 1.1 3.0
(80% fat)
sources: United States Food and Drug Administration
Table of Trans Values,1995;
USFDA Composition DATA, 1995
Note: a serving is defined as 13-14 g,
approximately 1 tablespoon
In the latest round of butter versus margarine, news that margarines are high in the artery-clogging fat called trans fat made it look like butter was the champion. But not so fast say nutritionists.
The healthier choice is one of the soft margarines, without a doubt, some say.
Butter is extremely high in saturated fatty acids, and saturated fatty acids are the most potent in terms of increasing LDL "bad" cholesterol levels. A lot of margarines are now trans fat free, and you can tell by the consistency — the softer the better.
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