Diet & Exercise

Butter and margarine both get a bad rap.

First let’s look at butter. The problem with butter is that it contains two cholesterol-raising ingredients: dietary cholesterol and saturated fat. Dietary cholesterol is found only in animal products so you won’t find any cholesterol in a plant-based food or food product (such as margarine). Butter’s biggest trouble is its saturated fat content. Saturated fats are solid at room temperature and are found largely in red meat, butter as well as coconut and palm oils. When eaten in excess, saturated fats increase the “bad” cholesterol (LDL). Saturated fat intakes are associated with increases in heart-disease risk. A healthy range of saturated fat is 10-15 grams each day. Just one tablespoon of butter contains over 7 grams of saturated fat!

Margarine is by no means void of artery clogging fat. The controversy with margarine lies with its level of trans fat, largely a man-made fat. Trans fats are formed when hydrogen is added to vegetable oils, making the oil more solid and less likely to spoil. This process is called hydrogenation or partial hydrogenation and allows stick margarine to be firm at room temperature. Trans fats have been shown to increase the “bad” cholesterol (LDL) similarly to saturated fats, and they tend to lower the “healthy” (HDL) cholesterol when eaten in large amounts. The recommended intake of trans fat is zero, one tablespoon of stick margarine packs a whopping 3 grams of trans fat and 2 grams saturated fat.

But a little margarine “know-how” will help you reduce the amount of trans fat you eat. The more solid a margarine is at room temperature, the more trans fat it contains. For example, stick margarine contains the most trans fat, 3 grams in one tablespoon. Switch to tub or liquid margarine and you’ve cut that by almost 2/3, from 1-2 grams trans fat. And the good news is margarine manufacturers are now cutting their trans fat levels even further, to less than 0.5 grams per serving! This low level is allowed to carry the claim “trans fat free or zero-trans fat”.

Now you have some choices and your answer: margarine (the trans-free tub or liquid kinds) is still recommended over butter . For those of you who choose to have a “little” butter once in a while (for example, 1 teaspoon a couple times a month) you shouldn’t have to worry, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. On a regular basis, aim for the growing number of tub and liquid trans-free margarines available on the market today and rest-assured that you are eating in a more heart-healthy manner. Keep in mind, margarines contain greater amounts of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated oils which helps reduce bad cholesterol when used to replace saturated and trans fats.

Plant Sterol Spreads
Spreads contain natural plant sterols that can help lower your LDL (bad) cholesterol levels and may decrease your risk of heart disease as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol. Plant sterols are present in small quantities in many fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, cereals, legumes, and other plant sources.  Promise activ™ Spreads are so powerful, in fact, that eating just two servings a day, along with a heart healthy diet, has been clinically proven successful at reducing cholesterol in as little as two weeks.

Butter

1 Tbsp 102 calories

11.5 g of fat

7 g of saturated fat

0 trans fat

Country Crock Omega Plus Light

1 Tbsp 50 calories

5 g fat

1 g saturated fat

0 trans fat

Country Crock Omega Plus is an excellent way to get Omega 3 ALA into your diet, with 500mg of Omega 3 ALA per serving.

Margarine

1 Tbsp 102 calories

11.4 g fat

1.8 g saturated fat

contains trans fat

Smart Balance Light

1 Tbsp 45 calories

5 g fat

1.5 g saturated fat

0 trans fat

Promise Activ Light

1 Tbsp 45 calories

5 g of fat

1 g of saturated fat

0 trans fats

Smart Beat Squeezable Butter (good on veggies and grilled cheese)

1 Tbsp 5 calories

0 g fat

0 g saturated fat

0 g trans fat

I Can’t Believe it’s Not Butter Spray (great for popcorn and veggies)

1 spray 0 calories

0 g fat

0 g saturated fat

0 g trans fat

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Catherine Kruppa, MS, RD, LD
111 North Post Oak Lane
Houston, Texas 77024
713-316-2707

www.adviceforeating.com

catherine@adviceforeating.com