If you answered "butter," here’s a study the Health Science Institute reported (which was NOT sponsored by the dairy industry, by the way) which will make you glad you did!
Both have the same amount of calories. BUT…
BOO! Eating margarine can increase heart disease in women by 53% over eating the same amount of butter, according to a recent Harvard Medical Study.
BOO! Margarine is very high in trans fatty acids.
BOO! It triples the risk of coronary heart disease.
BOO! It increases total cholesterol and LDL (this is the bad cholesterol) and lowers HDL cholesterol, (the good cholesterol).
BOO! It increases the risk of cancers by up to five fold.
BOO! Margarine lowers the quality of breast milk.
BOO! It decreases immune response.
BOO! Margarine decreases insulin response.
BOO! HISS! BOO! Margarine is but ONE MOLECULE away from being PLASTIC.
This fact alone was enough to have us avoiding margarine for life and anything else that is hydrogenated (this means hydrogen is added, changing the molecular structure of the substance).
Creepy! 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’ll see a couple of things: no flies, not even those pesky fruit flies will go near it (that should tell you something). It doesn’t even rot or smell differently. Nothing will grow on it - not even those teeny weeny microorganisms won’t find a home to grow on or in. Why?
Because it is nearly plastic. Would you melt your Tupperware and spread that on your toast?
Now for the good guy:
BRAVO! Butter is slightly higher in saturated fats at 8 grams compared to 5 grams in margarine.
BRAVO! Eating butter increases the absorption of many other nutrients in other foods.
BRAVO! Butter has many natural nutritional benefits.
BRAVO! For most people, butter tastes better than margarine and it can enhance the flavors of other foods. (The best flavor claim margarine can make in ads is that it tastes the same as butter.) Butter has been around for centuries where margarine has been around for less than 100 years.
Health Science Institute Panelist, Allan Spreen, M.D, calls margarine “plastic butter” and says it’s very very bad stuff. “I might cheat and drink city water sometimes, but I NEVER eat margarine!” he says. He ought to know, he researches food and has written a book we all might want to read:
Nutritionally Incorrect: Why the American Diet is Dangerous and How to Defend Yourself (Woodland Publishing).
We found this on Amazon.com—used are $6.75.
Plastic butter! Will we ever go within ten feet of margarine again?
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