In this "Ask the Doctor" column from the Hypertension and Stroke White Paper, a reader asks, "Which is healthier: butter or margarine?" The answer may surprise you.
A. Trans fat-free tub and liquid margarines are healthier choices than butter because they contain the least “bad” fats.
The trouble with butter is that it has both saturated fat (7 g per tbsp) and cholesterol (33 mg per tbsp), which can raise your total and LDL cholesterol levels and clog your arteries. Regular margarine isn’t necessarily better: The more solid a margarine is, the more trans fat it contains -- most stick margarines have a whopping 3 g of trans fat per tbsp (as well as 2 g of saturated fat per tbsp).
Since there is no established safe level of trans fat consumption, it’s best to eat as little as possible. Look for margarines that list liquid vegetable oil -- not partially hydrogenated vegetable oil -- as their first ingredient. Some have less than 0.5 g of trans fat per serving and are considered trans-fat free.
Just be sure to control your calories when using these products, since fats are the most caloric foods we eat: On a diet containing 2,000 calories a day, the Dietary Guidelines recommend no more than 6 tsp of oils and fats a day.
Finally, when cooking, use oils that are high in monounsaturated fat -- like olive or canola oil -- instead of butter or margarine. Monounsaturated fats are considered healthy when consumed in moderation because they reduce harmful LDL cholesterol levels and raise beneficial HDL cholesterol levels.
