I’ve mentioned previously that butter is a weakness of mine. But I may cut it out of my diet, eventually. That being said, my stance on this issue is….never choose margarine, occasionally choose real butter, and better yet try non-hydrogenated vegetable-based spreads, such as Earth Balance.
Dr. Andrew Weil wrote an excellent article addressing the Butter vs Margarine debate. Here’s an excerpt that may clear up some of the confusion.
The most significant area of comparison is the different chemical structures of the component fatty acids of the two. Butter is basically a natural product, and its fatty acids are structurally similar to the fatty acids in our bodies. The heat and chemicals used to transform vegetable oils into margarine change fatty acids into unnatural forms that may be most unhealthy to eat.
Unsaturated fatty acids have points of molecular strain, where carbon atoms are connected to each other by double or triple bonds instead of being fully occupied by hydrogen atoms. These strain points determine the three-dimensional configurations of molecules.
In nature, all of these molecules have a curved shape that allows them to fit neatly into the membranes that enclose all cells and many of the structures within them. Chemists call this natural shape the cis-configuration. Heat and harsh chemical treatment can cause unsaturated fatty acids to spring open into a different shape called the trans-configuration, which looks jointed instead of curved.
The body cannot incorporate trans-fatty acids into membranes, and if it tries to do so, deformed cellular structures may result. Eating trans-fatty acids in margarine, vegetable shortening, and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils probably increases cancer risks, promotes inflammation, and accelerates aging and degenerative changes in tissues. I am convinced enough of these possibilities to try to eliminate those fats from my diet.
Many people ask me whether I think it is better to eat butter or margarine. They should be asking whether it is worse to eat butter or margarine, because both are concentrated fats that contribute to the unhealthy excess of fat calories that most of us consume. I don’t keep either of them in my house. But if I were forced to make a choice, I’d take the real thing in modest amounts, and I recommend that choice to you as well.
Check out the entire article here.