I’m from a country where margarine and solid vegetable fats (shortening and vegetable ghee) are widely produced and consumed, children used to eat slices of bread with margarine outside and TV advertorials were bombarded with margarine commercials.
It’s said that there are only one molecule of difference between plastic and margarine, and no insects won’t settle on margarine when a piece of it are left outside, and solid vegetable fats are harmful for health.
What’s the truth about margarine and solid vegetable fats and the whole margarine vs. butter battle? Are the claims I wrote in the previous paragraph (plastic and no insects) any true? Are solid vegetable fats bad for health?
In: 145
There have been studies that showed margarine was worse than butter for heart health. However they have changed some of the ingredients since then. There is a ton of data on various types of vegetable oils and how they effect your health, but the effects are pretty small in most cases. It’s very hard to prove the effects of one single thing in your diet. It can take decades of research to find even a small change, and even then, the research may be overturned later.
I would say it’s safe to assume that all things being equal, a vegetable source of fat probably is better for you than an animal one. Olive, avocado oils, and nut oils seem to be better for us. Solid fats from plants sources in small amounts are probably ok, and you cannot assume that because they are saturated that they carry the same risks as saturated animal fats. Also margarine doesn’t have that much fully saturated fat, only enough to keep it roughly solid at room temperature.
tl;dr Nobody knows exactly what dietary patterns lead to heart disease. Vegetable oils are an environmentally beneficial and affordable source of calories worldwide.
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