Butter or margarine?

So, which is better for your health, butter or margarine?  And why?  For years we heard “skip the butter and choose the margarine”.  Margarine popularity soared and butter became a no-no.  But, has something changed?  Is butter back?  Eat This, Not That! Has an interesting article, “What Happens to Your Body When You Eat Butter?” 

Are there health benefits to going back to the real thing, butter?

Registered Dietitian, Vanessa Risetto notes that butter does provide some vitamins like vitamin A and some Vitamin E, B12 and vitamin K.  Butter also has lauric acid – sounds bad but it actually is important in treating infections.  Butter also has the fat called butyrate.  You don’t need to know the name of the fat but to know that it promotes healthy bacteria in your gut. 

What about saturated fat?  Isn’t butter high in saturated fat?

Yes, butter has some saturated fat.  We don’t have to eliminate saturated fat from our diets but we should try to cut back on our intake of saturated fats.  The American Heart Association indicates we should try to limit saturated fat to about 120 calories a day or 13 grams of saturated fat a day.  The heart association also doesn’t recommend eliminating fats like butter but to replace some of the saturated fats in our diet with healthier fats like monounsaturated fats (such as olive oil, canola oil) or polyunsaturated fats (such as safflower oil, corn oil). 

Interesting that the dietitian Risetto stated, “If you use a tablespoon of butter here or there, you’re going to be just fine.”

Should you switch from margarine to butter?

For years, we used little butter.  Yes, for baking on special occasions, but not every day. Then, I looked at all the ingredients in the heart healthy margarine we were eating and I became concerned. 

Ingredients: Vegetable Oil Blend (Canola, Palm, and Olive Oils), Water, contains less than 2% of Salt, Pea Protein, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Sunflower Lecithin, Vitamin A Palmitate, Beta-Carotene (Color), Vitamin D, Monoglycerides of Vegetable Fatty Acids (Emulsifier); and Potassium Sorbate, Lactic Acid, Calcium Disodium EDTA (To Preserve Freshness).

Although the product (Smart Balance) is advertised as supporting heart health, it has so many ingredients including potassium sorbate, lactic acid, EDTA.  We decided to give real butter another look.  Butter can be very hard to spread so my husband bought Land O Lakes butter with canola oil.  Canola oil is heart healthy and makes the butter very easy to spread.  And the ingredients in this butter?  Only 3 simple ingredients:  Sweet cream, canola oil and salt.  No artificial ingredients.  One business writer stated, “Butter has no mysterious ingredients”.  Well said.  Interesting that when I called my older daughter, she said she tried real butter from a local farm, but it is too hard so she bought a butter with canola in it.  She had already made the switch from margarine to real butter but a spreadable real butter.

The Land O Lakes butter with canola oil is low in saturated fats, only 4 grams per serving of 1 Tablespoon.  A serving also has monounsaturated fats and good for the heart, polyunsaturated fats.  Some say butter has cholesterol and it does, but very little at only 15 mg per 1 Tablespoon.

Butter with canola oil makes it easy to spread.

In our family, we are switching to more real foods and giving up some of the fake foods.  We drink real milk, not fake milk, and now use real butter instead of fake butter.  Try some butter with canola oil, you might like it.

Sources:  article , notes , gut , Association , stated , ingredients , Land O Lakes , butter , writer    Image sources:  Butter with Canola oil   , Bread and butter , Margarine