Margarine - Plastic on our Bread?

Margarine is undeniably unnatural. Its popularity soared years ago when people started worrying about eating saturated fat from animal sources. Since butter contains saturated fat, it became a nutritional bad guy, and margarine - made from “healthier” vegetable oils - took its place.

The problem is, however, margarine is hydrogenated, which converts it to an unnaturally saturated fat, which is a definite no-no. Unnatural saturated fats are full of trans fatty acids, and those are dangerous to your health. Margarine dramatically increases the risk of coronary heart disease as compared to butter. In fact, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, eating margarine can increase heart disease in women by 53 percent over eating the same amount of butter.

Let’s take a look at the chemical makeup of margarine. Is it made of good, healthy, natural ingredients? Are the ingredients blended in a form that will be beneficial to your health?

Of course not.

Margarine was created for the sole purpose of making money by using oils that would ordinarily be either used in industry, or discarded because they were unfit for human consumption because of rapid oxidation (rancidity). The application of hydrogen to this liquid oil turned it into a solid, somewhat butterlike form, and with the added steps of deodorizing it (stale fat stinks), coloring it, and adding artificial flavors so that it can taste somewhat butterlike, a new “food” was born. Those in the margarine industry will continue to rail against study after study that finds that this “food” just plain ol’ bad for people. You think the tobacco lobby was bad? They have nothing over these guys.

And it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see how our heart health started deteriorating at the point where margarine, Crisco, and other hydrogenated fats started displacing butter and other natural lipids as our main source of dietary fats.

So why would you want to use this stuff instead of butter? Butter is made up of cream. Period. (Read labels, though. The “food” industry has ways of messing up natural foods). Go to a store that sells natural foods (Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, for instance), spend the extra money - butter is more expensive than margarine - and buy the real stuff.

You need to check out this video by Sean C., owner of the website Underground Wellness. The young man has amazing insight into today’s modern food industry and how we should be eating for health. And  then do a little investigation for yourself. Please don’t take my word for it. Decide if this factory-made stuff is better for you than what nature has provided. I use butter from cows that haven’t been given growth hormones. Yes, there’s a future rant!

I know you’re still skeptical, but try this as an eye-opener.  Take a dab of a factory fat such as Crisco or stick margarine and put a dollop of it onto the back of your hand.  Do the same with a natural saturated fat such as butter or coconut oil.  See which ones melt at body temperature and which ones do not. Then tell me what you think!

Related articles

• Calif. Bans Trans Fats From Restaurants
• Trans fat battle being won on some fronts: report

Sphere: Related Content