Margarine V Butter

[Valeriea]

Can anyone say which is more healthy? Is it okay to eat sunflower marg or is it also bad?

[sunny-dave]

Fat is a necessary part of any diet - there is nothing inherently wrong with butter (or full fat margarine) eaten in moderation. Sunflower margarine is the same calorific value as butter - but may have slightly lower saturated fats.

Low fat alternatives can help by reducing calories and (sometimes) saturated fats.

Me personally, I'd rather cut down by eating half the quantity of 'real' butter rather than moving to a 50% low fat alternative.

[sasskins]

Same here.

[Booldawg]

I worked with guy a few years back, incredibly intelligent and amusing. He always maintained your body knows how to deal with butter. He used the anecdote about a scientific experiment whereby they left a tub of marg in a field for 6 weeks and came back and it was still ok for consumption (due to non-natural ingredients)

But then he was heavily into homeopathy (he's now qualified as a practioner) so he's a bit 'organic'

[pastafreak]

Butter-always...and adding it to cooked veggies helps the body take up the nutrients in them.
I too have heard the story of the marg left out-nothing will grow on it-such as mould-because it has nothing 'living' in the ingredients-it's all fake.

[Bert]

Sorry to be a bit pedantic here, but 'marg' (margarine) has a legal definition. By law, it must be at least 80% fat, which is the same as the minimum fat content for butter. Anything less than 80% fat has to be named as "X% fat spread". If all the fat has a vegetable source, it can be named "X% vegetable fat spread". There are other (unlikely) possibilities. These legal names will usually be found in very small print on the bottom of the tub, in compliance with the legal requirement that the (true) name of the food shall be easily legible and in a prominent position(!). Ha-bl**dy-ha. The names you will see on the top of the tub - I can't believe it's not sh*te, Utterly butterly, etc don't count, since a test case for the protection of the word "butter" was lost.

[Valeriea]

Thanks everyone for your great answers. I think I will buy butter and eat it in moderation.

[murraymints]

stopped buying anything full fat some years ago..milk cheese butter etc