Butter. Why is there a debate? Since the early 1990s, the dangers of trans fats and hydrogenated oils used in margarine have been documented in countless scientific studies. Trans fats are known to cause heart disease, obesity, cancer, diabetes and other degenerative diseases. In addition, these substances are linked to low birth weight in newborns and infertility.

 

 

The reason why people are confused is because of the deeply entrenched myth that saturated fats are harmful. They are not. You need these fats within your body to do good things. Of course, too much of a good thing is not good but the main point is when scientists go back to all those studies that made saturated fat the bad guy, guess what? When the researchers take into account the real culprit - trans fats - it turns out that saturated fats do not cause any serious health concerns. In other words, saturated fats have been blamed for decades for what was really caused by trans fats! But that message has had a hard time getting out because there are vested interests in promulgating the deception to sustain the market for these products which were developed as an alternative for butter.

Processed Food Versus Natural

 

Most people are unaware of how margarine is made. Just investigating these processing/production details should convince you that the natural product, butter, is definitely the healthier choice. Typically margarine is made from cheap, poor quality oils that are rancid because the oils have been extracted from seeds using high temperature (which causes the rancidity). Some of the oils, like cottonseed oil are not suitable for human consumption because they contain naturally toxic substances. Most of the oils come from seeds that are genetically modified (GM or GMO).
 
Partially Hydrogenated
 
A hydrogenation process is used where hydrogen molecules are forced into oil molecules via high heat, high pressure, and toxic catalysts like nickel. At the end of this process, margarine is a grey, smelly blob. It is then bleached and deodorized, artificially flavored and dyed yellow to look like butter. It is polyunsaturated at this point but only humans are foolish enough to eat it - rats and cockroaches won't touch the stuff.
 
Real Food
 
Natural foods (foods you can trace their ingredients to living sources in one or two steps) have stood the test of time generation after generation. Man-made, altered food (known as "edible food-like substances") have proven to be less than helpful and often harmful. So, when faced with a question as to what to eat, it is always wise to choose whole foods. Real food is so complex, we still don't know how all of the components work or even what they all are. We need to be very careful with efforts to modify our food supply. We don't adequately test altered foods before allowing them to enter into our food supply. We don't fully understand the ramifications until years later and even generations later. Caution is imperative because eating food is the most intimate thing you ever do. What you eat becomes you - for good or bad!