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Which is best-Margarine or Butter

in The Too Busy to Diet Blog on September 5, 2013

There is always a news story on the evils of margarine and the benefits of butter. So, if the answer is a closed book, why does the question keep coming up? What is the true answer?
The US Department of Agriculture classifies butter to be 80% milk fat by weight. You can see by the chart below that butter has the most calories, fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol. Whip butter has fewer calories, fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol because air is whipped into the product during processing. Light butter is even lower in calories, fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol because some of the fat is replaced by water or gelatin. Butter should be used sparingly because it is high in saturated fat which increases levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol. Most stick margarines are high in trans fats and should be avoided because they increase cholesterol levels.
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) suggests that daily intake of fat should be 20-35 percent of calories, saturated fat should be less than 7 percent of total calories, and trans fat should be avoided whenever possible.
Diets high in saturated fat and trans fat are believed to increase the risk of heart disease by raising blood levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol which promotes atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries. High cholesterol intake can also raise LDL cholesterol.
The best choice would be whip margarines that contain plant sterols that are natural substances that lower cholesterol levels by decreasing their absorption. These would include: Smart Balance, Benecol, and Unilever’s Take Control margarines.

Butter and Margarine Spreads

Spread (Tbs) Calories Fat (grams) Saturated Fat(grams) Cholesterol(mg)

Stick Butter 100 11 7 30
Whip Butter 70 8 5 20
Light Butter 60 7 2 7
Butter/Oil Blend 100 11 4 15
Light Butter/
Oil Blend 50 5 2 5
Stick Margarine 100 11 2 0
Whip Margarine 70 7 1-2 0
Light Whip
Margarine 50 5.5 1.5 0
Trans Free Stick
Margarine for
Baking 80 9 2.5 0

Plant Sterol
Margarine 80 9 2.5 0
Plant Sterol
Margarine Light 50 5 1.5 0