Sorry this post is on the long side but just to try and clear up some misconceptions of margerine from an earlier post on this thread. Though I PREFER BUTTER ANYDAY over margerine,there are lots of misconceptions about a lot of different packaged foods. We do buy some processed foods when necessary ourselves but we also have the privilage of having enough property to grow nearly all of our produce that we eat fresh and either can or freeze.
The following quoted message was received in an email:
>Interesting. Going back to "you can't fool Mother Nature".....
>
>Margarine was originally manufactured to fatten turkeys; when it killed
>the turkeys, the people who had put all the money into the research wanted
>a payback so they put their heads together to figure out what to do with
>this product to get their money back.
>
>It was a white substance with no food appeal so they added the yellow
>coloring and sold it to people to use in place of butter. How do you like
>it? They have come out with some clever new flavorings.
>
>DO YOU KNOW... the difference between margarine and butter? Both have the
>same amount of calories. Butter is slightly higher in saturated fats at 8
>grams compared to 5 grams.
>Eating margarine can increase heart disease in women by 53% over eating the
>same amount of butter, according to a recent Harvard Medical Study.
>
>Eating butter increases the absorption of many other nutrients other foods.
>Butter has many nutritional benefits where margarine has a few only
>because they are added!
>
>Butter tastes much better than margarine and it can enhance the flavors of
>other foods. Butter has been around for centuries where margarine has been
>around for less than 100 years.
>
>And now, for Margarine..! . Very high in trans fatty acids. Triple risk of
>coronary heart disease. Increases total cholesterol and LDL (this is the
>bad cholesterol). Lowers HDL cholesterol, (the good cholesterol). Increases
>the risk of cancers by up to five fold. Lowers quality of breast milk.
>Decreases immune response. Decreases insulin response.
>
>And here is the most disturbing fact.... Margarine is ONE MOLECULE away
>from being PLASTIC... This fact alone was enough to have me avoiding
>margarine for life and anything else that is hydrogenated this means
>hydrogen is added, changing the molecular structure of the
> substance).
>
>You can try this yourself: Purchase a tub of margarine and leave it in
>your garage or shaded area. Within a couple of days you will note a couple
>of things: no flies, not even those pesky fruit flies will go near it (that
>should tell you something). It does not rot or smell differently because it
>has no nutritional value, nothing will grow o! n it, even those teeny
>weenie microorganisms will not a find a home to grow.
>Why? Because it is nearly plastic. Would you melt your Tupperware and
>spread that on your toast?
>
>Share This With Your Friends.....(Butter them up!)
Well, after some investigation, I discovered that the main crux of this email originates from an email circulation that occurred in June 2003. Apparently, the first 2 paragraphs and the opening and ending lines of the message were added. The rest of the body of the article has remained unchanged.
I had to get to the bottom of this piece of information. Lets begin with the definitions of Margarine and Butter:
margarine also margarin (mär j r- n)
n.
A fatty solid butter substitute consisting of a blend of hydrogenated vegetable oils mixed with emulsifiers, vitamins, coloring matter, and other ingredients.
butter (b t r)
n.
1. A soft yellowish or whitish emulsion of butterfat, water, air, and sometimes salt, churned from milk or cream and processed for use in cooking and as a food.
Margarine first originated in 1869 by a French food chemist. The word margarine came from the Greek for "pearl," because the original version was hard, white, and glossy. In addition, it was used as a low-cost substitute for butter and initial used animal-fat oils. In the later part of the 20th century, there was an industry shift and, today, they are almost exclusively created using vegetable oils.
However, due to the different types of fats (polyunsaturated, unsaturated, saturated, hydrogenated, partially-hydrogenated etc.), a lot of personal nutritional investigation is necessary before deciding on the best margarine. The point is that not all margarines are good and, at the same time, not all are bad either as the email suggests.
To put it simply, the issue of the Margarine vs Butter debate is still ambiguous. As Yale University's Dr. David Katz is quoted as saying, Butter is better than the bad margarines, the good margarines are better than butter. It may be useful to note that avoiding both butter and margarine might well be a far more beneficial approach.
However, the emphasis on the molecular structure is greatly exaggerated. Even though there is only a slight difference in the molecular structure between plastic and margarine, it does not necessarily mean that they are both identical in terms of their properties. At the molecular level, even the slightest difference can make a huge difference.
As reported in the Urban Legends website , The claim that some comestible is but a single molecule away from being a decidedly inedible (or even toxic) substance has been applied to a variety of processed foods, but that type of statement (even if it were true) is essentially meaningless.
The bottom line is that, although they may be molecularly quite similar, eating margarine is NOT like eating plastic just as eating salt (which is, scientifically, Sodium Chloride) is not the same as eating Sodium and drinking Chlorine at the same time (both of which are poisonous to humans).
Looking at the initial paragraphs comments on the use of margarine to fatten up turkeys, theres no evidence to suggest such a thing ever occurred. Margarine was created to offer a cheaper alternative to butter, which, in the late 19th century, was an expensive necessity. Flavouring and colouring are indeed added though. The line you cant fool mother nature was adapted from a margarine commercial where the synopsis was that Mother Nature was fooled into believing that the margarine that she had tasted was butter.
This is the full scoop on the facts of the email. I hope that this piece of information has been useful and good luck with your choices over butter and margarine
- May 2005
Sources:
*Definitions taken from
http://www.dictionary.com
*Information on the beginnings of Margarine is available on the online health journal NaturoDoc from an article by Dr Andrew Weil
http://www.naturodoc.com/library/nutrition/margbutt.htm
*Dr David Katz comments were taken off an ABC News article dated April 2005 -
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Health/story?id=692388&page=3
*Urban Legends website addresses the initial email that was created in June 2003 -
http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/butter.asp
*The commercial can be viewed at
http://www.advertisementave.com/tv/ad.asp?adid=357
