October 20, 2005

Butter vs. Margarine Apparently loose on the Internets since June of 2003, Here's a rousing defense of our favorite spread! okay one of them.

The email in question: The difference between butter and margarine? 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 flavours of other foods. Butter has been around for centuries where margarine has been around for less than 100 years. Now for Margarine, very high in trans fatty acids triple risk of Coronary Heart Disease, Increases total and LDL ( This is the bad Cholesterol), Lowers HDL cholesterol and this is the good one, Increases the risk of cancers by up to five fold, lowers quality of breast milk, decreases immune response, and decreases insulin response. And here is the most disturbing fact...... Margarine is but one molecule 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 food.) You can try this for 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, smell differently... Because it has no nutritional value, nothing will grow on it, even those teeny weeny microorganisms will not find a home to grow... Why? Because it is nearly plastic. Would you melt your Tupperware and spread that on your toast?

posted by petebest 18 years ago
  • And for those of you racing to Snopes: Origins: This compilation began circulating on the Internet in June 2003, often under the title "Butter vs. Margarine." Surprisingly enough, there is a fair bit of truth to it. According to the latest findings in the medical world, margarine can increase the risk of heart disease, depending upon the type of fat contained in the spread. Previously, the dietary villain in the development of coronary disease Butter was presumed to be saturated fat, but new evidence points the finger to trans fat (also known as trans fatty acids). Although butter has its own set of dietary shortcomings, it does not contain trans fat. In 1994, Harvard University researchers reported that people who ate partially hydrogenated oils, which are high in trans fats, had nearly twice the risk of heart attacks as those who consumed much less of the substance. Several large studies in the United States and elsewhere, including the Nurses' Health Study conducted by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health, have also suggested a strong link between earlier death and consumption of foods high in trans fat. Trans fats occur naturally in small amounts in some foods, including meat and dairy products, but most trans fats in the American diet are formed when vegetable oils are chemically changed to give them a longer shelf life. Cookies, potato chips, baked products, and the like are particularly loaded with trans fats. The Food and Drug Administration, the National Academy, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. and the American Heart Association all recommend consumers limit their intake of trans fat wherever possible. Moreover, the federal government has insisted that by 2006 all food labels disclose how much trans fat products contain. Until that labelling change comes into effect, consumers should be wary of any foodstuff that makes mention of containing "hydrogenated" or "partially hydrogenated" ingredients. They should also not make the mistake of assuming saturated fats are now good for them or no longer pose any danger to their health. This is not a time to be wallowing in butter.
  • (Cont'd) Although a great deal of the information given in the e-mail is valid, one bit of intelligence is nothing more than hyperbole tossed in by the author in an effort to make his point more strongly. The claim that some comestible is but a "single molecule away" from being a decidedly inedible (or even toxic) substance has been applied to a variety of processed foods, but that type of statement (even if it were true) is essentially meaningless. Many disparate substances share similar chemical properties, but even the slightest variation in molecular structure can make a world of difference in the qualities of those substances. Barbara "gold standard" Mikkelson Last updated: 19 July 2003
  • *wallows in butter*
  • "Because I took LSD, I now know that butter is way better than margarine. I saw through the bullshit." -Mitch Hedberg
  • Hey, pete, we'd butter not eat that stuff, huh? Eh? Eh? *moonwalks, does pistoly thing with hands*
  • So you're saying butter has a light side, as well as a dark side?
  • Though I'd hate to see us margarinealized for doing so, huh? *high-fives self*
  • I mean, we might be spreading ourselves a little thin, right? *does James Brown shuffle dance*
  • *clocks MCT with folding chair*
  • But I say one good churn deserves another, wouldn't you? Who's with me? *licks finger, touches ass, makes hissing "hot bacon" sound*
  • *remembers margarine ad slogan from 70's era TV:* It's not nice to fool mother nature. How, uh, ironically prescient.
  • somebody do the test where you leave margarine out and see if bugs get in it. g'waaan - you know you want to
  • Hurrah, die Butter ist alle! [jpg, 154k]
  • I use margerine right now for the simple reason that I can't get butter for 39 cents.
  • You know when you fry an egg and it turns all white and stiff? Plastic. Well, long-chain polymers actually, but I won't tell if you don't tell.
  • loto: just get the ones that say "no trans fats!" and you're safe(r).
  • I just found my new desktop wallpaper.
  • Dude, those are like 50 cents a tub!
  • I direly hate that "It's this close as a molecule I obviously don't understand one damn thing about chemistry you wouldn't want to eat THAT NOW WOULD YOU AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" nonsense. Dihydrogen monoxide aaaaaaahhhhhh!!! That said. Margarine is evil. Just not because of that. Besides, HURF DURF MARGARINE EATER doesn't have the same ring to it.
  • You youngsters should have seen the stuff in it's first incarnation, as oleomargarine, a pasty white substance in a bag that one squeezed the dye through, if choosing that orange option. After the malleability novelty wore off, no one ate it and poor mother returned to the natural order of life. Milking cows and seperating the cream and making your own butter is wonderful, although a wee bit time-consuming.
  • Butter tastes better but margerine is easier to spread...
  • there can be only one: BUTTER!! (cue celestial music)
  • mmmmm, hot buttered monkeys...
  • Scene begins with a man spreading margarine on his toast. He takes a bite. Suddenly, a crown appears on his head, and a great fanfare sounds. Man: What just happened?!? Woman: Why honey, you just had some Royal Margarine! Man: Wow! I feel like a king! And now that I am a king... Woman: Yes, "Your Majesty"? Man: Get this junk outta here and bring me some butter! (With apologies to Wayne & Shuster. And women. The scene was written, like, 35 years ago, okay?)
  • butter PAR-KAAAAAAYYYYYYY!
  • nonsense. Dihydrogen monoxide aaaaaaahhhhhh!!! you're laughing now, but dihydrogen monoxide (H2O) is but two oxygen atoms short of being hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), which is corrosive and may cause explosions! ONLY TWO ATOMS! btw an easy rule of thumb to judge the relative 'healthiness' of oils is simply the product's fluidity... saturated fats are usually solid (margarine, etc) and bad for your health, while liquids (extra virgin olive oil, etc) are better. and that's one to grow on.
  • I just noticed the title of this thread. It's an NZ pronunciation exercise.
  • There have been a number of copyright infringements on the kitfisto school of comedy in this thread. Butter'll let them slide just this once! Eh! Eh??? You know it makes sense! *Body-pops*
  • In Quebec margarine has to be white by law (keeps the dairy farmers happy), so it looks like lard is being spread on toast. Of course, in Quebec, it just might be lard! Ever such a Distinct Society.
  • So who's with me on my new yellow-margarine NY/Quebec smuggling ring? We're gonna be rich, I tell ya'!
  • Ooh la la! Sacre jaune!
  • : get the butter
  • Aaaand it's Chyren by a nose!! Oh Boy what a a race!
  • The Case For Butter [Alton Brown, Good Eats, a great episode...]
  • But that butter's pretty useless if you lactose-t! Huh? You get me? YEAH! *does the hambone*
  • That's enough.
  • I dairya to do one more!
  • No whey!
  • Oleo stop it!
  • Sorry, I'm out of ideas. I guess I'd butter stick to what I kn-oleo! Huh? GIVE IT UP! *air guitar, head thrash*
  • Somebody please kill me.
  • *pulls the mighty butter sword from its waxen sheath*
  • Enough with the bad jokes or I'll cream yaz. *shakes running vibrator
  • Nice greased dildonic crosstalk, GramMa!
  • AB: I see. So what's churning really about? WS: Well, we have a continuous churning process which basically means that that 42 percent fat cream is pumped into what is called a churning section. And in the churning section, what we do is we take cream which is basically fat that's wrapped in water and we put it against an abrasive surface and we liberate the fat. AB: Liberate the fat. WS: Right.
  • A new study suggests that women with dense breast tissue are at significantly elevated risk for breast cancer. In other news, did you know MoFi doesn't have a breast cancer thread that can be identified by the sidebar title? This FPP shows up in a search for the term tho. For. Some. Reason.
  • I just read at the top of the page: > butter is slightly higher in saturated fats at 8 grams compared to 5 grams Yeah, and when I'm 40 I'll be slightly older than a 25 year old.