| BUTTER
VERSUS MARGARINE
The following article (extracted from Dr.
Lawrence Wilson's information dense site) is one of the best
that I have seen on this issue. While the propaganda mill of the
industry has hood winked us into thinking that their counterfeit
copy is better - the real reason is the considerable profit that
margarine, and other processed foods bring over the more expensive
natural products. The cost of the margarine is based on denatured
vegetable oil which only costs a few cents, while good butter may
cost a few dollars. This provides considerable room for easy profits.
It does not take rocket science to market margarine just slightly
less than butter and pocket the resulting huge profit.
Chris Gupta
Dr. Price's older out of print edition of "Nutrition
and Physical Degeneration" mentioned below is available
free from my favorite Soil
and Health Library till the end of this year when the copywrite
laws change and the gem will be removed. CG
BUTTER
VERSUS MARGARINE
In the rush to lower cholesterol, many health authorities recommend
eating margarine instead of butter. However, there is more to consider
about margarine than just cholesterol.
WHAT IS MARGARINE?
'Hardening'
vegetable oil by bubbling hydrogen through it at high temperature
produces margarine. The hydrogen saturates some of the carbon-carbon
bonds of the oil. The product then becomes hard or solid at room
temperature. When the carbon bonds are saturated, the product is
called a saturated fat. Margarine contains some saturated fat. Otherwise
it would not be hard at room temperature. The ads and the packaging
for margarine are often deceptive. Advertising often states it contains
'polyunsaturated oil'. However, the processing saturates or partially
saturates the oil.
Margarine begins as chemically-extracted, refined vegetable oil.
This is a poor quality product to begin with. The high temperature
needed to produce margarine destroys any vitamin E, and perhaps
other nutrients left in the oil. Also, the final product
contains trans-fatty acids. These are man-made fatty acids. Research
shows that trans-fatty acids increase inflammation in the body.
This can worsen illnesses such as colitis and arthritis. Very recent
research indicates that trans-fatty acids in margarine raise LDL
levels. LDL is the "bad" cholesterol.
Hardening agents used in the production of margarine include nickel
and cadmium. Nickel is a toxic metal that in excess causes lung
and kidney problems. Cadmium is among the most toxic of the heavy
metals. It may contribute to serious diseases such as arteriosclerosis,
high blood pressure and malignancy.
WHAT IS BUTTER?
Cream is the raw material for butter. Butter is a partially saturated
fat, just like margarine. However, butter is a natural product that
does not contain trans-fatty acids. Butter is an excellent
source of fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamin A, D, E and K. These
are not found to any degree in margarine. The vitamin content
of butter varies seasonally, depending on the diet of the animals
from which it is derived. Butter also contains some milk solids,
giving it a whitish color. Ghee or clarified butter does not contain
the milk solids.
Dr. Weston Price identified
a factor in butter that is essential for proper growth and development
of the bone structure. He called it 'activator X' and wrote about
it in his book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. Dr. Price was
able to reverse severe tooth decay in children by feeding them one
meal a day of highly nutritious food - including butter.
Although many people are sensitive to cow's milk dairy products,
often butter is well- tolerated. This is because butter is almost
a pure fat, and does not contain many of the allergens found in
other milk products. Butter made from certified, raw
(unpasteurized) cream is available in some areas. It the best
quality butter available next to making it from your own cow.
IS AVOIDING BUTTER THE WAY TO CONTROL CHOLESTEROL?
The observations of many natural health practitioners indicate
that a balanced body chemistry is the key to normalizing cholesterol.
Dr. William Koch, MD, an eminent physician, wrote:
"Cholesterol ... is no problem when the oxidations are efficient
and diet is sensible. In all our observations, high levels drop
... it steadies to a good normal when the oxidations are re-established
to normal." (Normal oxidations refers to the efficient burning
of food and the generation of adequate energy from food.)
Most cholesterol is manufactured within the body. A maximum of
about 4% of all cholesterol comes from the diet. Cholesterol is
the raw material for the adrenal stress hormones and the sex hormones.
The body often reacts to stress by producing more cholesterol. This
allows the body to make more stress-fighting hormones. As biochemical
stress is reduced through a scientific nutrition program, cholesterol
levels often decrease without the need for restrictive diets.
In fact, eating some animal products often helps balance body chemistry.
In these instances, cholesterol levels or the cholesterol/HDL ratio
improves although the diet contains cholesterol-containing foods.
In general, fast oxidizers or fast metabolizers can eat more butter
and other fatty foods. True fast oxidizers run lower cholesterol
levels. They also burn up fats more rapidly and efficiently. Slow
oxidizers should restrict all fats and oils, including butter. However,
a small amount of butter (1 teaspoon daily) may be eaten by slow
oxidizers.
SUMMARY
The argument for eating margarine and other products containing
hydrogenated oils are their lack of cholesterol. Margarine is also
less expensive than butter. However, margarine contains refined,
artificially saturated vegetable oil. It also contains harmful trans-fatty
acids, and often residues of the toxic metals nickel and cadmium.
Butter is a natural food and a good source of important fat-soluble
vitamins. You will pay more for butter, but nutritionally it is
well worth it.
Further to the post " BUTTER VERSUS MARGARINE" here is
more on this much maligned subject...as usual it's all about profits
and not much about health. But of course health is a good pretense
to meet the bottom line!
See also: Low-Fat,
High-Carb Diet for Morbidly Obese
Chris Gupta
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2005/02/04/saturated_
fat_to_the_rescue.htm
The "American Paradox?"
I've spent a good chunk of the last thirty years debunking the
notion that saturated fat (specifically, fat derived from animals)
in the diet leads to increased rates of coronary heart disease
an absurd assertion that the politically correct, yet medically
ignorant mainstream media has been trumpeting for an equally long
spell. As usual, the boob-tube-and-byline pundits have got it all
wrong…
Yet they'll likely not spill one drop of ink reporting on the latest
in a long string of studies that point to saturated fat as a boon
to the heart-healthy, not the scourge the headlines routinely portray
it to be.
The new study, published in a recent issue of the Journal of Clinical
Nutrition, flies directly in the face of some of the fat police's
most widely-cited research: A 1959-1971 Finnish mental hospital
study which seemed to show that a diet high in saturated fat (in
this case, an institutional diet which was no doubt also sky-high
in refined carbohydrates and sugars) correlated to an up to 65%
greater incidence of coronary heart disease among test subjects
than did a diet higher in unsaturated fats.
But in this latest research, an American study of post- menopausal
women with heart disease, saturated fat in the diet proved to be
associated with a LESSER progression of the disease than did higher
consumption of "healthy" unsaturated fats. Higher fat
intakes in the study were correlated with favorable trends in both
HDL (good) cholesterol and harmful triacylglycerol levels. In other
words: Hated saturated fats effectively slowed down heart
disease.
To refresh your memory, saturated fats are those that remain solid
at room temperature (like animal fats). They are also a major component
of healthy cells, the preferred fuel for the heart and muscles,
powerful antiviral and antifungal agents, and serve as cancer-fighting
genetic "regulators" in the body. Why didn't you already
know these things (if you haven't been with me for a while)? Because
our fat-phobic, animal- rights obsessed mainstream media wouldn't
report on it if it were the cure for cancer…
Since this under-reported study used today's "gold standard"
evaluative method (quantitative angiography) to derive its results,
it poses a direct challenge to less precise prior research
as well as to the misguided popular assumption that saturated fat
in the diet drives heart disease. Now that we Americans are finally
starting to realize the heart-healthy, waistline-trimming benefits
of a higher-fat, low-carbohydrate diet (thanks to the late, great
Dr. Atkins and others), it will be interesting to see whether
this "American Paradox" will get any play at all in USA
Today, Time magazine or on the evening news...
I'm not holding my breath.
Extracted from Jan. 17, 2005 William Campbell Douglass, M.D. Newsletter
archived at: http://www.realhealthnews.com/ddlist.shtml
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/
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