Friday Food Face Off: Margarine vs. Butter
December 5, 2008
Not much of a contest. Butter is so much better than margarine–in colour, texture and definitely in taste!
Since Meghan describes butter as a “fabulous fat” (in small doses, of course), I’m thrilled that it is the contest winner.
Butter: An animal fat made from the churned fat/cream that rises to the top of milk if it’s left to sit.
Unlike margarine, butter contains natural fatty acids that are good for our bodies and it is a source of Vitamins A, D, E and K. And while it may be slightly higher in fat, it has the same amount of calories.
So why does the Heart and Stroke Foundation still recommend margarine over butter? “Cook with olive, canola and peanut oils (monounsaturated) or safflower, sunflower and corn oils (polyunsaturated) when cooking. Also use non-hydrogenated margarine and substitute it for butter in your recipes.”
I am not a nutritional expert, but I’m coming round to the idea that a whole food is always preferable to one that is processed, contains additives and/or preservatives.
So for me, it’s butter all the way.
Update for my regular readers: I bought some of the infamous organic Almond Butter and I am officially converted. It is currently standing upside down in my fridge!
The beautiful pic of the buttery stick is courtesy of yours truly.
Entry Filed under: 12 Grain Program, Acitvism, Diet Rehab, Grain of the Week, Health, Local, Toronto, Vegetarian. .
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1.
Heather @ SGF | December 5, 2008 at 11:56 am
Margarine, for me, is a fake food. I don’t buy it. It’s some funky concoction of a lab experiment. Before I was vegan, it was butter only. When in doubt, go with real food
Glad to hear you like the almond butter! A little trick… when I make stir fry, I some times jazz it up with a little almond butter. Fabulous taste!
2.
Meghan Telpner | December 5, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Why does the Heart and Stroke Foundation promote margarine? Well… because they are paid to. Each and every single food like product with the little heart smart check mark have paid dearly for the check mark. It means nothing nutritionally. The more money a food manufacturer has, the more nutrition claims will be on their packages. Paid paid paid.
3.
Amanda | December 7, 2008 at 11:12 pm
Butter! I won’t have margarine in my fridge. As far as it’s concerned it’s an evil tub of chemicals. BTW have you ever tried French butter? it is divine…
4.
Breanna | December 9, 2008 at 3:28 pm
If there was one thing that I was raised on growing up, it was that there are two evils: margarine and canola oil.
Ok, well I’m sure the list is a lot longer than that, but you get my point!
It is so often that things are packaged “LOW FAT FAT FREE EAT ALL YOU WANT A LOSE WEIGHT”, when I wish they would be honest about it: “this may give you cancer! this contains many preservatives and chemicals!”.
I feel that people are so afraid of the F word, that they don’t even bother distinguishing between the two. I think as long as the fat is natural, our body is designed to digest it and it can even be good for us.
A little tip: My favourite thing to use instead of mayonnaise on a sandwich is spreading avocado. mmm
And once again Meghan beat me to the punch
– yes, anytime you see health checks, or even the word ORGANIC, you still have to watch and check the label. That is just paid for, and North American standards as to what is considered organic are very relaxed.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe at one point it was the case where all the food needed to do was contain 1 organic ingredient to be advertised as organic.
5.
Liz | December 10, 2008 at 12:19 am
Hey Breanna–thanks for your comments. I’m not sure about past certification, but according to this Government of Canada site, for multi-ingredient products to be sold as ‘organic’, 70% of those ingredients must be organic. You raise a very interesting point about how deceiving labels and marketing can be–this is something I will have to look into and get back to you!