What is Healthier? Butter or Margarine?

The Dietary Facts for Butter & Margarine

Ah - the creamy taste of butter. There's nothing quite like it, except perhaps when it becomes married to bread - fresh out of the oven. Particularly when you're standing there, like a wedding guest waiting to catch the bouquet.

But sometimes, that bouquet - no matter how beautiful, can be filled with buzzing bees with pointy stingers.

Time to Cut the Butter

Yes, we are sad to say that this little yellow dob is brimming in saturated fat and is very efficient in clogging the arteries which in turn, leads to heart disease - a very good reason to 'start cutting the butter'.

And margarine doesn't get a clean bill of health either because the fatty acids may do as much damage to those arteries as good old fashioned churned butter.

So much badness to report - it's enough to make a grown dieter cry. BUT - another downside is that foods high in saturated fat also contribute to weight gain, which also emerges a Deep Diet Thought," Is heart disease actually due to the foods we eat OR does weight gain cause heart disease?"

But that's an article for another day because today, we're here to get the facts on those common fats that are so prevalent in the average Joe's and Joe-ette's daily food and drink selections.

So how does the yellow blob stack up to margarine? Here's the Diet Stick:

Nutrition Facts: Butter, Margarine

In this corner, we have Butter weighing in at 68 calories per serving!

Wait. Is that 68 OR 45 kcals?

Well, it depends on the type or variety used as well as the brands being examined.

For example, whipped varieties contain about 30% fewer kcals than solid forms. It's also easier to spread and a little goes a long way.

Butter Trick for Dieters

When using any type of fat, take 1/2 of the amount that you would usually use and add chopped, fresh herbs such as sweet basil. You'll add a healthy dose of green to your diet plan, as well as new and exciting flavor that will leave you laughing all the way to the bathroom scales.

In Summary, Better Butter Choices

A better choice is the whipped variety as a little goes a long way and it also comes with a nice calorie-reduction tag at about 30% off the regular calories in solid varieties. What a sale!

An even better choice is whipped vegetable-based margarine.

And even a better choice is light or diet-wise margarine and spreads.

Just a caveat: No calorie sprays lean a good ways over the sodium pit that can be found on the Old Weight Loss Trail. Five shots from most bottled varieties contains about 75 mg of sodium, but who can stop at five teensy shots unless one is a Power Dieter?

Also, the base of most of these mock-butters is soybean oil and as we know, oil doesn't come without calories. The key to the no-calorie sprays is using the minimal amount as suggested on the container label.

And even better selections include foods that add flavor without adding fat grams such as spices, herbs, extracts, honey, jams, and preserves.

The yellow blobs are 100% fat but most importantly, they lack fiber which works to balance the fat making it painfully easy to fall off the balance beam straight into the Fat Pit.

So does all of this mean that dieters should abstain from the tempting sweetness of this creamy selection? Of course not - as long as it is enjoyed in moderation.

Try to bring the focus of all sources of fats to the flavors involved rather than focusing on how much of a product you would like to enjoy at meal time. Savor the flavor and lube those hot buns lightly - and weight loss will come much swifter.

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