Nutritional Facts about Butter and Margarine

For years debates have been going on trying to decipher whether butter or margarine is better for you, and though both spreads offer advantages and disadvantages one clearly must emerge victorious over the other -- but we will let you decide the answer for yourself.

Butter has been dated back 10,000 years, and was once so expensive that it was used mainly for religious ceremonies. Eventually, it came to serve many purposes including: cosmetically for skin and hair, as a healing property used to fight skin infections, burns, kidney and bladder stones and even eye problems. The ancient Irish, Scots, Norsemen and Finns were so in love with the creamy wonder that they were buried with barrels of it. Ultimately butter survived as a relatively inexpensive treat used to flavor a variety of different foods.

Contrary to rumors that have circulated, margarine was not originally made to fatten turkeys and then sold as a butter substitute when the turkeys died after consuming it, nor is margarine one molecule away from plastic. In reality, French Chemist Hippolyte Mege-Mouries created margarine in 1869 in response to a prize offered by Napoleon III to anyone that could make a satisfactory substitute for butter for the armed forces and lower classes. It is manufactured from an oil or combination of oils through the process of hydrogenation which helps turn a liquid substance into a fatty one of a semi-solid state. But what is the difference? Can something that has only been around for 150 years be better then something that’s been around for centuries?

The truth is, butter and margarine are only ‘margarinely’ similar when it comes to calories- both are 35 calories per teaspoon, but that is where the similarities end. Butter is more natural than margarine, and has higher vitamin content, but the main difference is between the saturated fat that butter carries and the trans fat that margarine carries. Both are bad for you, but which one is worse overall?

The saturated fat in butter is associated with increased heart attack risk, and an increase in ‘bad’ cholesterol (LDL), and around 30 years ago people were told to switch from butter to margarine. However, in a more recent study, it was found that the trans fat in margarine is even worse for the heart than saturated fat. Trans fats also lowers the quality of breast milk and decreases immune and insulin response increasing the chance of diabetes. With that in mind however, there are many trans fat-free versions of margarine on the market nowadays, with added nutrients in it like omega 3 and plant sterols. On the other hand, butter is an excellent source of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K, and most people find it tastes better.

Essentially, what it comes down to is that if you prefer butter, go for it, but don’t consume too much. Otherwise, if you choose margarine, just make sure it’s trans-fat free and has the added vitamins. Either way, just make sure to enjoy each delicious morsel you can!