This is a wonderful, in depth article on how margarine and butter substitutes are created and the affect this process can have on the human body! I realize that this may not seem like a hot topic for a blog post, but believe me, if you take the few minutes it will take to read this – you will be glad you did!

My hope is that I can help educate people and cause people to open their eyes in the area of their health, because literally WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW IS KILLING YOU! I am so astonished at how our society has been so wrongly educated on food, by misinformed doctors and nutritionists alike along with the media, that most people are afraid to eat ‘real’ food.  They’ve been told that all these natural sources of food are causing all the sickness in the world and have been steered to eat processed and man made foods with the impression that they are doing the right thing for their body.

Wrong!

Extremely wrong!

Today I’m going to focus on one of the major offenders in the eyes of the FDA and the American Medical Association and that is BUTTER.  You heard me right, butter.  The war between butter and margarine and other butter substitutes.  I can almost guarantee the majority of you don’t eat butter because it has saturated fat in it, which you have been told is bad for you and is clogging your arteries, causing high cholesterol, heart disease and more.  I can almost guarantee that you probably have been told to switch (or may have always been on) a butter substitute like Smart Balance, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, Country Crock, margarine, vegetable spreads or vegetable shortening. If I can be so bold in saying this – You are doing your body more harm than you know by doing this and you are slowly causing your body to shut down, which eventually brings sickness, disease and death.

(the good)

 Here’s why:

Simply stated, butter is from a real source and ALL margarine and vegetable spreads are man-made, processed counterfeits.  In all my study of hormones {which in fact RUN and OPERATE our physical body}, my eyes have been opened to the TRUTH that EVERYTHING we eat, breathe and drink WILL affect our hormones and how well our body functions.  When we start putting foreign substances in our body that our hormones cannot recognize, it wreaks havoc on our entire system of operation.  Our hormones know what to do with bananas when we eat them.  Our hormones do not know what to do with the bag of Dorito’s when we eat them.  They are unsure of how to convert all those unrecognizable ingredients and his throws our magnificently designed bodies in a whirlwind. I am baffled that a doctor will tell you it’s more healthy to eat a processed, refined cereal and tell you that eggs are very unhealthy for you.  They are promoting a person to put foreign substances in their body that will not be recognized, leading to deterioration of their body, over eating a natural source of food that the body can utilize and use as building blocks to your health.  Absolutely baffles me! So, on the subject of butter, we have all heard that butter is bad for us because it contains saturated fat and we need to start using margarines and other substitutes instead. So, what we have here is:  Eat Fat or Plastic.  Which would you choose?  Common sense should tell you to choose the natural fat source over plastic.  Need more facts before you make your decision?

(the bad)

 How about these?

• Saturated fats do not oxidize when they are heated, whereas polyunsaturated fats do (the oils the FDA is pushing Americans to use). If you are not aware, oxidation in our bodies is dangerous and can lead to cancer forming cells.
• Eating natural products like butter and coconut oil does not impact your cholesterol levels negatively.  They are made up of small and medium chain saturated fat and your body uses most of those fats for energy as oppose to storing it.
• Butter is amazing for your ‘sex’ hormones: estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone and the hormone DHEA.
• It {butter} can prevent cancer.
• It {butter} can prevent heart disease.
• Butter also has fewer calories than most refined vegetable oils.  As I stated earlier, butter is made up of medium and short-chain fatty acids which contain extremely healthy compounds.  These compounds, like lecithin, actually assist the body in breaking down cholesterol.
• Butter protects against free radical damage (which is abundant in the human body in this day and age).
• Butter is a rich source of the easily absorbed vitamin A {and also contains fat-soluble vitamins E, D and K}. It also contains vitamin C and the much needed trace mineral, selenium, which is an anti-oxidant.
• When you eat butter, lipoprotein (a) – a subdivision of LDL {bad cholesterol} – is lowered.  This is a good thing.  Did you know that cholesterol is needed to maintain intestinal health, but is also needed for brain and nervous system development in the young. Even human breast milk is extremely high in saturated fat and cholesterol – something growing kids need!
• Real butter is also rich in conjugated linoleic acid {CLA} – which has amazing cancer-fighting properties.  It also has fat-burning properties.  Real butter also has a short-chain saturated fat, butyric acid, and it has anti-fungal properties.
• A great point to emphasize here is that real butter does not interfere with cellular communications nor does it cause abnormal hormonal secretions.  Margarine and butter substitutes do!  Not good! Our cells make up our body.  We need them and we need them functioning properly and the way they were intended to!
• Medical authorities bash butter as being atherogenic – even though scientific evidence shows how healthy butter actually is for the body.  Look at the French.  They eat more saturated fat from natural sources than we do and they don’t have the obesity problem like Americans nor do they have a high rate of heart disease like Americans.
• Butter is stable at high temperatures. It does not oxidize or create free radicals NOR does it interfere with hormone production!  We need this!
• The natural trans-fats found in real butter are completely different from the artificial and manufactured trans fats found in margarine and hydrogenated vegetable oils {which happen to be carcinogenic, which means cancer causing}.
• Real butter also contains glycospingolipids, which are a type of fatty acids that protect against gastrointestinal infections.  These are extremely beneficial in the young and elderly (which is just another reason why nobody should be drinking skim or low fat milk {yet, another post}.  You can find those who do drink low fat or skim milk have higher incidents of diarrhea than those who drink whole fat milk.
• Even the new “non trans fat” margarine is likened to ‘liquid plastic’ by many doctors. It’s no better than margarine in it’s original fake form!  Plastic is plastic.  Our body doesn’t know what to do when plastic enters it. Yet, it knows exactly what to do with natural sources of saturated fat when it enters it!  The choice is easy!

 

(the bad)

 

 WHY SATURATED FATS ARE NOT ONLY GOOD, BUT NECESSARY FOR OUR SURVIVAL

• Saturated fat is used for cellular repair, this is a must for our survival.
• Eating foods rich in natural saturated fat (butter, eggs) actually boosts the production of steroid hormones (hormones built upon cholesterol), including estrogen, progesterone and testosterone.  These hormones (known as sex hormones) keep you looking young and great, and help prevent wrinkles (woohoo) and prevent osteoporosis.
• DHEA is an adrenal sex hormone that prevents autoimmune diseases and saturated fat is needed to produce this hormone.
• Saturated fat is important for cellular function.  Doesn’t sound important?  Well, your entire body is made up of cells, so, yea, it’s important.
• Saturated fat improves proper absorption and conversion of essential fatty acids {such as omega-3 fatty acids.
• Saturated fat is NEEDED for calcium to be deposited into the bones.  Can you see a relation here of the past few decades where people have been told to stay away from saturated fat – and I rise in fragile bones, calcium deficiency and the like?
• There are scientific studies that prove that saturated fat is not the cause of heart disease, but rather trans fats.  This is a post in and of itself!
• This saturated fat that is necessary for our physical survival is found in BUTTER and yet our authorities are telling us to stay away from it!  NOT GOOD!

LOOK AT THE EVIDENCE

• In the late 19th – early 20th century, the American diet contained more fat than most people eat today.  The fat intake varied from 32%-44% for the average person – 36% of total calories being saturated fat.  Most common fats used in those days were rendered from: lard, beef, poultry, pork, coconut and butter.  When you research you will see that heart disease was rare in those days!  {side note:  when I educate my clients on nutrition, I recommend a 40/20/40 ratio of carbs/protein/healthy fats and I’ve seen amazing success when this ratio has been followed}.
• In 1911 Proctor & Gamble launched Crisco (which is a hydrogenated vegetable oil).  It was more economical to produce than butter.  By 1938, Crisco was now a household staple and the consumption of vegetable oils had tripled.
• Between 1900-1950, margarine consumption quadrupled and butter consumption plummeted.
• By 1950, the American Heart Association reported that the U.S. was in the midst of a coronary heart disease epidemic – yet the cause, to them, was unknown.

It’s time we wake up, get educated and become pro-active about our health!  I hope this information has given you something to think about!  I can tell you that for at least 16 years I have only eaten real butter.  I CANNOT stand the taste of margarine and I won’t let it pass through my lips.  To me, it’s poison and I treat it as such!

Below is an excerpt from a website I glean so much info from.

“All margarines are made from assorted vegetable oils that have been heated to extremely high temperatures. This insures that the oils will become rancid. After that, a nickel catalyst is added, along with hydrogen atoms, to solidify it. Nickel is a toxic heavy metal and amounts always remain in the finished product. Finally, deodorants and colorings are added to remove margarine’s horrible smell (from the rancid oils) and unappetizing grey color. And if that is not enough, in the solidification process, harmful trans-fatty acids are created which are carcinogenic and mutagenic. What would you rather have: a real food with an abundance of healthful qualities or a stick of carcinogenic, bleached, and deodorized slop? Some of you might be watching your weight and be rather hesitant to add butter into your diet. Have no fear. About 15% of the fatty acids in butter are of the short and medium chain variety which are NOT stored as fat in the body, but are used by the vital organs for energy. When looking for good quality butter, raw and cultured is best.  This might be hard to find, however. Organic butter is your next best thing, with store-bought butter being at the bottom. Remember what we’ve said about commercially-raised cows; its worth a few extra cents to gethigh quality butter for you and your family.”

{taken from Dr. Mercola’s website}

To Read How Margarine Is Made CLICK HERE!  To Read comparisons between Butter and Margarine, CLICK HERE!   I have received this information through much research and study from books, magazines, articles, studies, etc.  A few of the sources I can tell you of are: Dr. Michael Aziz, M.D., Dr. Mercola, and numerous doctors that are a part of the {A4M} American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine. Disclaimer:  The information contained in this article is meant for educational purposes only and is not meant to diagnose or treat any individual.

I hope this information serves you and your family and helps you make better, safer and healthier choices in the future!

Live on Purpose!

xo Kari

***This blog article was originally entitled: Fat or Plastic. You Choose.