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To my dearest housemate, Elysia, I say sorry! ><" sounded like Rudd...Anyway I'm writing this similar post with Elysia's after being inspired by one of lectures I've attended a few days ago on organic chem. I bet many have heard of the hot debate "Which is a healthier choice? Butter or Margarine." Well, after reviewing a number of articles from reliable sources, I would say neither is good for us, as both butter and margarine are loaded with saturated fat and trans fatty acid (the not so good stuff for our body). Fact * Trans fat increase blood cholesterol and lowers the high density-lipoprotein which is the "good" cholesterol in our body - http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/butter-vs-margarine/AN00835.Butter is made from natural dairy product, fresh cow's milk. For the past few decades, it has been recognised as a main contributor to many diseases such as heart disease. Nonetheless, a small amount of it can extinguish the feeling of hunger and it provides double amount of energy compared to carbohydrate; which I find it to be still an important accomodity as a source of energy for people in poor and developing countries.
Margarine on the other hand is form from vegetable oil through a reaction called halogenation. The natural state of vegetable oil is in the form of liquid and it undergoes this solidification process in order to form a consistency that is suitable for bread spread and other cooking purposes. Even though it contain much less cholesterol compared to butter, there is a flaw to margarine.. it contains colouring! wth. Believe it or not, the natural colour for margarine is white. Manufacturers have added the colour to make it look more appetizing.
Despite the facts mentioned, I have not plan on giving up my tub of margarine or my big slab of butter that is sitting in my fridge yet. I would still stubbornly prefer to have butter in my cakes and margarine on my bread.
At the end of the day, we should enjoy these foods as long as we are taking it in MODERATION amount. I would advice people to look for margarine with the least trans fat/saturated fat and contained plant sterols which have cholesterol lowering properties. Learn to read food labels to compare between other different brands!
