Butter vs Margarine

Butter has 6 grams of saturated fat per tablespoon.  Saturated fat is the bad kind of fat 
(see Good and Bad Fats post from 6/18/2018 which explains good and bad fat.)  

The American Heart Association recommends 5% to 6% of calories from saturated fat.  For example, if you need about 2,000 calories a day, no more than 120 of them should come from saturated fat.  That’s about 13 grams of saturated fat per day.  American Heart Association

There are 8.4 grams of saturated fat in the cookies that I eat everyday.  Compared to other foods this is a lot of saturated fat! 

For example, one slice of cheddar cheese has 6 grams of saturated fat.  Six ounces of grilled chicken has 4 grams, one ground beef hamburger has 3.2 grams, one pork sausage patty has 2 grams, and one large egg has 1.6 grams.

Because of the high saturated fat content in butter I decided to investigate margarine as a replacement to butter.

Margarine is a highly processed food made from vegetable oils.  Margarine products are available in sticks, tubs, bottles, or sprays. Margarine and vegetable oil spreads contain less saturated fats than butter. However, they vary in their proportions of saturated, unsaturated, and trans fats they contain. USDA Health Guidelines

So what should you choose? That depends on your nutritional goals. Want lower fat?  Margarine might work for you.  Less processed food in your diet?  Butter looks to fit the bill. The table below is a summary of the pros and cons of butter as compared to margarine. The green X indicates it is the better choice for that particular category.

	Butter	Margarine
Saturated Fat		X
Trans Fat	X
Cholesterol		X
Natural Ingredients	X
Calories		X
Butyric Acid	X

Fats
Saturated and trans fats can negatively impact your health by raising bad cholesterol levels (LDL) in your blood. Dietary Fats  Butter has 6 grams of saturated fat while margarine has 2 grams per serving.  Butter does not contain any trans fat but most solid sticks of margarine contain trans fat.  Parkay Margarine Sticks have 2 grams of trans fat.  

You may have noticed that on a food label total fat grams do not always equal the sum of the trans, saturated and unsaturated fats.  This is because other types of fatty substances are not required to be listed separately on the food label.   

Cholesterol

Butter has 30 milligrams of cholesterol per serving while margarine does not have any cholesterol.  The body makes all the cholesterol it needs.  Cholesterol is used to make hormones, Vitamin D, and substances that help food digestion.  If you have too much cholesterol in your blood, it can combine with other substances and form plaque.  A buildup of plaque can lead to coronary artery disease. MedLine Plus

Natural Ingredients

Butter typically contains two ingredients.  For example Land O Lakes Butter include sweet cream and salt.

Margarine contains many ingredients.  Parkay Margarine Sticks have the following ingredients:  Vegetable Oil Blend (Liquid Soybean Oil, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil), Water, Salt, Contains less than 2% of the Following:  Dried Whey, Vegetable Mono-and Diglycerides and Soy Lecithin (Emulsifiers), Potassium Sorbate and Sodium Benzoate (to Preserve Freshness), Natural and Artificial Flavor, Phosphoric Acid (Acidulate), Vitamin A Palmitate, Colored with Beta Carotene (Source of Vitamin A), Flaxseed Oil.  Wikipedia  

I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Original Soft Spread Margarine ingredients include: Purified Water, Soybean Oil, Palm Kernel Oil, Palm Oil, Salt, Soy Lecithin, Natural Flavors, Vinegar, Vitamin A Palmitate, and Beta-Carotene (for color).

Calories

Butter has more calories than margarine.  Land O Lakes Butter has 100 calories while I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Margarine has 60 calories.

Butyric Acid
Butter contains 2-3% butyric acid.  Butyric acid has many health benefits.  It supports the health and healing of cells in the small and large intestine.  Butyric acid can help with weight loss, aid in digestion, provide IBS relief and calm inflammation. Dr. Axe

This table shows a comparison of butter, unsalted butter, light butter, tub margarine and stick margarine.  

	Butter - Land O Lakes Unsalted (1 tbsp)	Butter - Land O Lakes (1 tbsp)	Butter - Land O Lakes Light (1 tbsp)	Margarine - I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter (1 tbsp)	Margarine - Parkay Sticks
Total Fat (grams)	11	11	6	6	6
Saturated Fat (g)	6	6	3.5	2	2
Trans Fat (g)	0	0	0	0	1.5
Monounsaturated Fat (g)	0	0	0	1.5	0
Polyunsaturated Fat (g)	0	0	0	3	0
Calories	100	100	50	60	80
Cholesterol (mg)	30	30	15	0	0
Sodium (mg)	0	90	95	90	110
Vitamin A*	10%	10%	10%	15%	10%

% of daily requirements based on 2000 calorie diet)



Based on this information I decided I am eating too many cookies.  I plan to replace the cookies with almonds and apples for my snack. When I eat pasta, popcorn and potatoes I plan to use margarine instead of butter. 

If you plan to eat margarine instead of butter it is important to read the nutrition label to identify the calories, saturated and trans fat content and choose foods with no trans fats and lower amounts of saturated fats.