Diet Myths, Facts and Tips #8
Diet Myth
"Margarine is healthier and lower in fat than butter"
Diet Facts
Often hailed as a healthy alternative to butter, margarines aren’t always a better choice. To start with, ordinary margarines contain just as much fat and as many calories as butter and so offer no real slimming benefits. Worse still, they may also contain hydrogenated vegetable oils, which create trans fats – and these are thought to be as harmful to our heart health as saturates.
Ironically, it’s the processing of pure vegetable oils – a good source of heart-friendly polyunsaturates – that creates these trans fats! In the meantime, low-fat or reduced-fat spreads contain less fat and fewer calories than butter or ordinary margarines, making them a better choice if you’re counting calories – but they may still contain hydrogenated fats.
Diet Tips
If you like the taste of butter there’s no reason why you can’t include it in your diet, providing you count the calories.
Leave it out of the fridge so you can spread it thinly and use it on just one slice of bread when you make a sandwich so you get all the taste but half the calories.
If you’re worried about the trans fat content of margarines and low-fat spreads, you’ll need to scour the ingredients list for hydrogenated fats or hydrogenated vegetable oils. If a product contains either, it will almost certainly contain trans fat. Bottom line: if you’re trying to lose weight, whether you choose butter, margarine or low-fat spread, you should use them sparingly as they’re all high in total fat.
Article Source: weightlossresources.co.uk
"Margarine is healthier and lower in fat than butter"
Diet Facts
Often hailed as a healthy alternative to butter, margarines aren’t always a better choice. To start with, ordinary margarines contain just as much fat and as many calories as butter and so offer no real slimming benefits. Worse still, they may also contain hydrogenated vegetable oils, which create trans fats – and these are thought to be as harmful to our heart health as saturates.
Ironically, it’s the processing of pure vegetable oils – a good source of heart-friendly polyunsaturates – that creates these trans fats! In the meantime, low-fat or reduced-fat spreads contain less fat and fewer calories than butter or ordinary margarines, making them a better choice if you’re counting calories – but they may still contain hydrogenated fats.
Diet Tips
If you like the taste of butter there’s no reason why you can’t include it in your diet, providing you count the calories.
Leave it out of the fridge so you can spread it thinly and use it on just one slice of bread when you make a sandwich so you get all the taste but half the calories.
If you’re worried about the trans fat content of margarines and low-fat spreads, you’ll need to scour the ingredients list for hydrogenated fats or hydrogenated vegetable oils. If a product contains either, it will almost certainly contain trans fat. Bottom line: if you’re trying to lose weight, whether you choose butter, margarine or low-fat spread, you should use them sparingly as they’re all high in total fat.
Article Source: weightlossresources.co.uk
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