Post by Tim Wescott on Feb 22, 2004 13:55:32 GMT -5
Margarine or Butter?
Whether margarine is better for your cholesterol level than butter has been debated for years. Although margarine contains less saturated fat, the hydrogenation process creates trans fatty acids that raise LDL, and lower HDL, cholesterol; both considered bad for heart disease risk. The latest volley in this battle appeared in the December 6, 2000 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The experiment included 46 families of two parents and two or more children over 5 years of age. Volunteers were asked to consume diets with specially made baked goods and spreadable fat so that the test fats provided about one-half of daily fat intake. Margarine lowered LDL levels by 11% in adults and 9% in children without affecting HDL levels. Genetics accounted for 40% of the variability in response of the children to the fats but only 19% of the variability in the adults.
HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Although the article focused on individual variation in response to the two fats, the press release from the university where the work was done focused on the serum lipid differences when butter or margarine was eaten. These diets provided several times the usual intake of these fats. A soft, tub margarine was used that contained 7.5% trans fat; this may not give the same result as stick margarine or shortening which have higher levels of trans fats. This study also shows that moderate intake of trans fat is not harmful. Although the fats predicted an average response, one-quarter of the subjects either did not respond to changes in the fat or their cholesterol went up with a switch to margarine.
