Butter or margarine: which is healthier?

“Starting in the 1950s, the idea gradually emerged that saturated fats are bad for you and they had to be replaced with polyunsaturated fats,” which are found in margarine, explains Nita Foroui, professor of nutrition at the University of Cambridge in the UK.

Now the situation is changing again.

Happened in Australia increasing butter consumption in recent years compared to margarine, says Claire Collins, professor of nutrition and dietetics at Newcastle University in Australia.

“There is a lot of confusion around butter, including the types of fat, so maybe people are going back to eating what they like best,” he says.

Scientists have been researching the health benefits and costs of various spreads for decades. And when it comes to butter and margarine, there’s a lot to unpack.

To make butter, first heat the milk and then stir it to separate the cream.

The cream is then cooled, churned and the buttermilk, which is the liquid remaining after the solid butter is separated, is extracted. Sometimes salt is added.

Margarine is made beat butter and water to form a solid product before adding other ingredients such as emulsifiers and colors.

Historically, margarine manufacturers added hydrogen. for converting liquid oils into solid fats and make them more distributable.

But they soon realized what it had created “hydrogenated” or “trans” fatsa type of unsaturated fat that has become notorious for its harmful health effects, such as coronary heart disease.

Researchers have shown that a diet high in artificial trans fats increases levels of bad LDL cholesterol and decreases levels of good HDL cholesterol, leading to an increased risk of heart disease, says Lisa Harnack, professor of nutrition at the University of Minnesota in the US.

In fact, the trans fats in some margarines have an even more negative impact on cholesterol levels than the saturated fats in butter, says the expert.

trans fats are a form of unsaturated fatbut research suggests that a diet high in trans fats may have worse health effects.

“The general principle is that foods high in saturated fat are more likely to increase blood cholesterol levels if you already have heart disease, high cholesterol, or other risk factors for heart disease,” says Collins.

But according to WHO estimates, trans fats can reach cause 540,000 deaths per year worldwide.

The truth is that the idea that switching to a low-fat diet can reduce the risk of heart disease has been challenged in recent decades.

In fact, important studies have demonstrated the beneficial effects diets high in certain high-fat foods such as nuts and extra virgin olive oil, which contain polyunsaturated fats.

“We shouldn’t worry so much about the total amount of fat, it’s how much fat is in it that matters,” Foroohi says.

Specifically, from the three types of fats that we eat –saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated– We need to be aware of the amount of saturated fat we eat.

The general recommendation is that Saturated fats should not make up more than 10% of our total energy.. But it’s more complicated.

“There is now a growing consensus that saturated fat is not a one-size-fits-all. They are made up of individual fatty acid chains, the length of which is determined by the number of atoms in the chain, giving each individual fatty acid different properties and different effects on the body. health,” says Foroohi.

“This got us thinking: Maybe it’s not helpful for us to look at nutrients in isolation?” says Foroohi. Can we say that if saturated fat comes from dairy or fish, it is different from saturated fat from meat (for example)?

Foroui discovered that saturated fats from meat and butter are associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease compared to fats from fish or fermented milk products such as yogurt.

” Food is more than the sum of its nutritional parts.“, he says. “They have macronutrients, a lot of different micronutrients, vitamins, minerals, fiber, salt, additives, and some of them are fermented.”

Although butter is considered “processed culinary ingredient”According to the most widely used processed food classification system, margarine is an ultra-processed product.

Numerous studies have linked ultra-processed foods with harmful health consequences such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

However, there is no long-term evidence specifically comparing the health effects of butter and margarine.

This is partly due to the fact that some studies analyzing the impact of different foods on our health They group butter and margarine into the same food type along with others.

One study, for example, found that the spread was associated with an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, but the research needs to be more detailed, says Melissa Lane, a research fellow at Deakin University in Australia.

“We need more research to compare subsets of ultra-processed foods with their non-ultra-processed alternatives, and the results may differ depending on the health effects being studied,” he says.

“Margarine has a better nutritional profile in terms of lower saturated fat content than butter. Both foods should be considered in the context of the entire diet. But evidence suggests that there is link between poor health and ultra-processed diets in addition to nutrients.

Additionally, Lane says, you can choose less-processed alternatives such as olive oil, which contain healthy mono- and polyunsaturated fats, and aim to reduce your overall consumption of ultra-processed foods without focusing too much on specific foods.

While there is plenty of research demonstrating the negative effects of a diet rich in ultra-processed foods on our health, the counterargument is that some of these foods contain nutrients that provide benefits.

For example, margarine contains some nutrientsincluding vitamin A.

There is less evidence of margarine’s impact on our health because although the nutritional profile of butter varies very little from country to country, margarine has a broader definition and over time, the situation has changed, says Foroohi.

So, in the USA, for example, the presence of trans fats in margarine is prohibited, although they are present in other countries.

Although there is much less research on margarine, Foroohi adds: foods with less saturated fat, high in polyunsaturated fats and without trans fats The best option.

What really matters, experts say, is our long-term dietary habits, as well as our overall saturated fat intake over weeks and months.

“The bottom line is that it depends on how much you consume. If you butter your toast once a week and the rest of your diet is healthy, it probably doesn’t matter. But most people don’t. do,” he says. Collins.

“People’s diets are dominated by high-calorie, nutrient-poor foods. We don’t cook from scratch or buy as much fruit and vegetables, so we don’t realize how high our fat intake is.”

Whatever you choose, it should ultimately be based on your own health needs, and remember that whatever you choose is only part of the overall food puzzle.