[JerseyGyrl]

"If my preference for butter began with instinct, in the past few years it's been supported by a growing body of scientific research that not only indicates that there is absolutely no reason to stop eating *butter, but also leads to one inescapable conclusion: that decades of government health advice, particularly in regard to heart disease, cholesterol levels and the consumption of fats and oils, have been plain wrong. "

Interesting article
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...#axzz2JuWVRjHv

[berryblondeboys]

Funny you should mention butter. I just asked in a poll on FB about where people KEEP their butter dish?

We have one of each - one in the fridge as my MIL is afraid of it going rancid and one out on the counter in a covered ceramic dish (salted butter). How nice to have it SPREADABLE!

I switched from margarine to butter about 18 years ago.

[nelie]

From my understanding, the reason margarine is worse for you is that trans fats are worse for you than saturated fats were ever thought to be. There are new margarines out that are trans fat free though for those that still want to go the margarine route. Coconut oil is also trans fat free and has some beneficial characteristics that neither margarine nor butter have.

I personally always thought both butter and margarine were horrid. I don't think I've ever bought either but I also don't bake (the only reason my mom would ever buy one or the other). I just don't understand the obsession.

[Skellig19]

Though I indulge in the Daily Mail frequently, I would take any article from them with more than a grain of salt (try a block of salt!)...even if they said the sun rose today, I would still question it.

Not commenting on the butter vs. margarine information just the source. I prefer the flavour of margarine personally, simply because I grew up with it. I have been purchasing the trans-fat free stuff though for spreading on toast and I'm interested in transitioning into using butter in my baking. I just find the flavour of butter too intense. I know that I belong to the minority in this regard! :P

[gooch100]

While I agree with questioning the source, butter with only 2 ingredients - sweet cream and salt is vastly preferable to margarine with a laundry list of ingredients - Liquid Soybean Oil, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Water, Buttermilk, Contains Less Than 2% Of Salt, Soy Lecithin, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative), Vegetable Mono And Diglycerides, Artificial Flavor, Vitamin A Palmitate, Colored with Beta Carotene (Provitamin A). These are the ingredient lists for Land o'Lakes butter and margarine that I got off their website. I would think most brands would have similar ingredient lists.

As with anything, it is all about moderation since neither is good for you in large amounts.

For me, lightly salted butter on toast is so much more tasty than margarine on toast.

[mnemosyne]

I prefer the taste of butter but do not keep it at home because it is too easy for me to use too much butter and too much butter has too many calories. This is also true of spreadable margarines. Ergo, I use spray-margarine in minimal amounts.

When I buy butter I buy "spreadable" butter because I do not use it often enough to feel completely comfortable leaving it on the counter. A mimimal amount of canola oil is fine with me for the convenience.

Also: I made butter out of full fat cream from a local organic dairy in my food processor over the holidays and it was fun, though messy.

[nelie]

And I don't know why you would want to ruin perfectly good toast with either butter or margarine

I personally don't eat animal products though and there are many out there that might like a 'buttery' taste but without the exploitation of animals so they might choose something like earth balance or coconut oil.

But really saying "etc etc is better for you than margarine!" just means that traditional margarine (with partially hydrogenated fats) is just really bad for you and almost anything you might eat would be better for you than trans fats.

[EagleRiverDee]

I'm a butter person. I saw a deal once where they did an experiment with margarine and left an open tub of margarine in a shady spot in someone's carport. It didn't mold, bugs didn't go after it, and it looked virtually the same a month later. Chemically it's basically plastic. No thanks. I'll take the butter.

[nelie]

Originally Posted by EagleRiverDee

Chemically it's basically plastic.

Actually that is a fallacy from misunderstood science. There are things chemically that are the same chemical formula but different configuration, 1 can kill you, 1 can be beneficial. If someone says 'margarine is similar to plastic', that just isn't true because things very chemically similar have vastly different properties. That is what makes chemistry cool though.

Snopes has a decent explanation:
http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/butter.asp

[Suzanne 3FC]

It appears to me that the article is only saying that margarine is not better for you than butter. They are not saying either is good for you. The article is poorly written, and vaguely references an unnamed study. I didn't really take away anything from the article.

If given a choice, I would choose butter because it tastes great and it's all natural. If it's Thanksgiving and I eat my annual roll then I might spread a little butter on it. The rest of the time, I don't consume butter or margarine.

[TripSwitch]

Originally Posted by nelie

And I don't know why you would want to ruin perfectly good toast with either butter or margarine

And I don't know why anyone would want to ruin perfectly good butter with toast

[KittieKat]

I switched Back to butter about 5 years ago, because it taste better and we actually used less of it to get the right "flavor" than with Margarine.