|
|
Everybody has heard about margarine, right? It's like butter, only it
has no cholesterol, is low in saturated and trans fats, AND it lowers
your chance of heart attacks. But wait! Put down that margarine-laden
sandwich for a second and let me tell you something.
Sure, margarine has no cholesterol, and yes, butter has more
saturated fats than margarine by 8 to 2 grams, but... great Scott!
What's this!?! Who
told us that margarine was low in trans fats?
Trans fats are created through the hydrogenation of
vegetable oils. Hydrogenation is the process when oils are turned into
solids, and that's exactly what margarine is. Manufacturers use this
hydrogenation process to make products last longer, without giving a
rip about our health (how rude!). Now, since margarine is basically
pure hydrogenated vegetable oils, it is VERY high in trans fats.
Trans fats are trans fatty acids, and they cause LDL to increase. Stick
with me here, it's important.... LDL is a bad kind of
cholesterol that gets stuck along the walls of veins and arteries. When
LDL builds up in your body, it causes a wonderful (sarcasm!) condition
called atherosclerosis (BIG
word, huh?). Atherosclerosis can make it really easy for you to get
heart disease AND have strokes.
Trans fats may also get rid of HDL, which is the good cholesterol in
your blood.
Now, should we have butter instead? Well, both actually have the same
amount of fat, so it doesn't really matter, unless you like the taste
of one over the other. All I am saying is margarine is NOT all it's
cracked up to be.
If you still want some good margarine, look for the "hydrogenated oil
free" kinds, like the ones Becel??? have.
This is FireBeam, eating a sandwich with margar... BUTTER.
*click*
Sources:
#offsite_article( 'http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/greenline/98v1/gl9803.14.html' '' )http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/greenline/98v1/gl9803.14.html
#offsite_article( 'http://www.margarine.org' '' )http://www.margarine.org/ -- This is a pro margarine site.
|
