Margarine Lesson: Softer is Healthier

Margarine, like butter, never fails to catch the attention of health experts who point to it as a likely cause of heart disease. While studies on the comparison of margarine and butter revealed that both can indeed increase the risk of heart disease, it is important to understand that margarines are of different types. Ranking the types in descending order, from the most healthful to the least healthy, you have liquid margarines, followed by tub margarines, and stick margarines at the bottom of the list.

Of the three types, stick margarine is the one considered by health experts to cause an increase in the risk of heart disease the most. How stick margarines are made and what they are made of can explain why this is so. In order that the solidness of stick margarines is maintained at room temperature and to lengthen their shelf life, hydrogen is pumped into the unsaturated vegetable oil. This process produces partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. The two main ingredients contained in the resulting hydrogenated vegetable oil - saturated fat and trans fats - are known to cause much harm to the heart. Saturated fat and trans fats both raise the levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol which is branded "bad cholesterol" inasmuch as it causes cholesterol to adhere more easily to artery walls, clogging up arteries in the process. Trans fats can likewise lower levels of the high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol - which is credited for carrying cholesterol away from body tissues - while at the same time elevating the level of triglycerides, blood fats that are considered harmful. Some indications imply that trans fats may also cause an increased risk of breast cancer, although additional studies may be necessary to validate this suggestion.

Tub margarines are considered better or healthier than stick margarines since less hydrogen is added into them. This means that tub margarines contain less of the saturated fat and trans fats that are in stick margarines, and even have more of the unsaturated fat which lowers LDL cholesterol levels as a matter of fact.

The best choices are liquid margarines and the non-hydrogenated margarine spreads. These types are absolutely low in saturated fat. Benecol spreads are highly recommended for this reason. This brand of margarine from Finland contains, as its key ingredient, beta-sitostanol - a plant compound that resembles cholesterol and is proven to lower levels of blood-cholesterol. This ingredient is tasteless, thus having no effect on the spread's predominant quality.

So, margarine is decidedly better for health than butter, but only if you choose the softer types. [Read the Original Article]