Margarine

General Info

• Around the mid-1950s, trans fat became widely popularized as a "healthier alternative" to saturated animal fats like butter and lard. Its beginnings go back 100 years, to Procter & Gamble’s creation of Crisco in 1911.
• Margarine is not heart-healthy at all – even if it's laced with omega-3!

Unhealthy Components

• Trans fats: Formed during the process of hydrogenation, which turns liquid vegetable oils into a solid fat
• Sodium nitrite (a commonly used preservative and antimicrobial agent) and other chemical flavorings and dyes
• Free radicals: These and other toxic breakdown products are the result of high-temperature industrial processing of vegetable oils
• Emulsifiers and preservatives: Numerous additives of questionable safety added to margarines and spreads. Most vegetable shortening is stabilized with preservatives like BHT.
• Hexane and other solvents: Used in the extraction process and can have toxic effects

Health Risks

• Trans fats:
  • Heightened risk of breast and prostate cancers
  • Heart disease
  • Cancer
  • Bone problems
  • Hormonal imbalance
  • Skin disease
  • Infertility
  • Difficulties in pregnancy
  • Problems with lactation
  • Low birth weight
  • Growth problems
  • Learning disabilities in children



• A US government panel of scientists determined that man-made trans fats are unsafe at any level.
• Free radicals: Numerous health problems, including cancer and heart disease

Alternative

• Good old-fashioned butter made from grass-fed cows, which is rich in conjugated linoleic acid (CLA)