Which would you choose?

[Penny Lane]

Butter, with all it's fattening and artery clogging lovely creamy lovelyness

OR

Margarine (spread, whatever..) be it low-fat, GI friendly, omega plus, pro active, 'the healthier choice' and so on?

AND why?

[Uller]

Butter - every time and without fail. I left home 17 years ago and have never bought margarine.

Why? It tastes so much better, it is natural and I'm not sure that all margarines are necessarily healthier.

My dad still uses margarine because he insists on having spread on sandwiches, or on the toast when he does cheese on toast etc. I don't eat much butter, but make the most of it when I do - on a baked potato with lots of black pepper or on hot toast. I would rather have a little bit of butter more frequently than margarine every day.

[Mainer in Exile]

I use butter, as I believe it to be more natural than margarine. Margarine does have a lot of the good things of vegetable oils, but with the transfats that come from the hydrogenation process.

If I had to avoid butter for some reason, I think I'd go with a more natural oil such as rape seed, sunflower, or olive.

[Clara]

Butter. Period.

Margarine is heavily processed, do you know that they have to colour it yellow as it's natural colour is a rather unappetising grey? The process of turning liquid vegetable oils into solid margarine requires a process of adding hydrogen (hydrogenation) which creates both cis- and trans- isomers of the fatty acids created. Trans fatty acids are not good for you.

I'd rather go with butter because as in the case of sugar vs sweeteners at least you know what you're dealing with because it is a natural product that isn't doing any weird unknown chemical messing with your innards, I'd rather have butter and sugar and moderate my intake than use the supposedly better for you alternatives and kid myself that I could have my cake and eat it.

[Millymollymandy]

Marge for spreading on bread because I can't spread butter! Butter always on a baked spud though. And I never buy salty butter which is difficult round here as in Brittany they are so into their locally produced salt.

[kiwirach]

without a doubt.....butter.

why?.....its a natural product. i'd rather have a small amount of butter than regualr amounts of marg, which is vile in my opinion !! i also believe anything that manmade cant be good for you....all those chemicals in it to keep it on the shelf til we use it.....no thanks. keep it as close to natural as possible for me.

[Odsox]

I have sandwiches for lunch during the week and I have olive oil marg spread on them, mainly because it spreads from the fridge and my cholesterol is sky high, but weekends and any other time it's butter.
I also use Butter Buds for mashed spuds, tastes really buttery but nowhere near the fat content.
If I had no cholesterol problem though, it would be butter every time .. and lots of it, and cream too, and channel island milk.

And I never buy salty butter which is difficult round here

Same here MMM, I have never seen unsalted butter in Ireland, not even in T***o. We stock up on unsalted Lurpak every UK visit and freeze it.

[Elizabeth]

Butter, clotted cream and all good Devon things!!!

However I do have olive oil spread when taste is not so important - and the Hubby won't eat butter!!

I was suprised the other day, looking at the ingredients of some margarines, to bake some vegan biscuits, how many margarines have buttermilk.

[Clara]

I have sandwiches for lunch during the week and I have olive oil marg spread on them, mainly because it spreads from the fridge and my cholesterol is sky high, but weekends and any other time it's butter.
I also use Butter Buds for mashed spuds, tastes really buttery but nowhere near the fat content.
If I had no cholesterol problem though, it would be butter every time .. and lots of it, and cream too, and channel island milk.

Then you need to make sure that your spread is labelled as containing no trans fats because whilst both butter and trans fats increase your bad cholesterol, trans fats actually diminish your good cholesterol whereas butter doesn't. It's a minefield eh?

[Odsox]

Then you need to make sure that your spread is labelled as containing no trans fats

Just looked Clara and it contains 0.3g trans fats for per 59.0g of fat .... is that good or bad ?

[Clara]

TBH I'm not the expert but I reckon that to be around 5% of the total fats in the spread, naturally occurring trans fats found in the milk and body fat of ruminant animals are found at levels below, that 2-4% I read.

I wouldn't consciously accept any form of artificial trans fat, the effects simply aren't known. There are good reasons to suspect links not only to heart disease, but also diabetes, liver dysfunction, obesity, prostate and breast cancers and infertility.

And unless you never eat any processed food or go to a commercial bakers or eat out, your margarine will be far from your only source of trans fats, given the lack of regulation in the EU at large. Partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, which is the source of these trans fats, is in virtually everything that comes in a packet these days from margarine, to chocolate bars to anything covered in pastry. Go and have a look in your cupboard.

[Odsox]

And unless you never eat any processed food or go to a commercial bakers or eat out

Yep ... that sounds like me, except the "eat out" bit and we do about 2 or 3 times a year.

Thanks for the advice though, so are you suggesting butter would be better for me everyday instead of this olive oil spread ?
Please say "yes"

[Annpan]

Has anyone devised a method of making your own olive oil spread? maybe mixed with some butter, maybe stored in the fridge - do you think that would make a suitable spread?

I use sunflower spread (according to QI nobody sells marg in the UK anymore) I use it for everything because butter hard to spread on toast and is too rich, too salty or too darned expensive... I make my own butter when I get cheap cream.

[fruitcake]

butter - for many of the reasons as stated above. On a health kick (too many cakes) since new year so off the butter and bread (and the cakes, booze, biscuits, fish suppers etc etc).
Still using vigin olive oil for cooking with though - bought a wee spray pump thingy last year and use it in that.

[Big Al]

Marge for spreading on bread because I can't spread butter! Butter always on a baked spud though. And I never buy salty butter which is difficult round here as in Brittany they are so into their locally produced salt.

Odsox and MMM

Make your own.

500mls double cream in a plastic 2lt milk carton or a 2ltr pop bottle and shake the life out of it. 40 mins later the buttermilk seperates and you are left with the butter. wash under cold water and pst dry. Use the butter milk for making cushty scones.
As for the amount consumed we make 250g each week on a saturday and then when it's gone it's recrimination time.. I mean we do without darling....
I used to be anything in the tub but having made my own before Christmas it is butter for me... but then my waistline is already expanded.

BA