I'm looking for opinions on margarine vs olive oil.

I searched the forums for "margarine" but didn't find a whole lot. could someone give me some data? Which is better for you? I've heard that olive oil is better, but my research below seems to favor margarine.

Fleishman's Margarine, 1 tablespoon:
80 calories
Fat 9g
Saturated fat 2g
Poly. fat 4g
Mono. fat 3g


Del Papa xta virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon:
120 calories
fat 14g
sat. fat 2g
poly. fat 1.5 g
mono. fat 10 g

disclaimer: this is all from memory, I'm gonna google it in a sec.
the big problem with margarine is that its a hydrodrogenated (sp) oil, that is the process where they take an unsaturated fat (liquid at room temp) and make it a saturated fat (solid at room temp) by adding fat groups, while that doesn't SOUND horrible, it is - since these new fats don't exist in nature and our body doesn't know how to handle them...
again, thats just from memory.

- Edit: Ok, I was close http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogenation

Yes the hydrogenation process creates the TRANS fats that are easily the worst, nothing good about these guys. I think margerine is generally considered WORSE than butter in health terms but I could be wrong. Also peanut butter is hydrogenated to keep the oil and peanut material from separating, and has trans fats. Natural PB is not hydrogenated, hence the separated oil at the top, and there are no trans fats so that's why it's so heavily touted around here.

EDIT: Quick note, the next big step on the FDA food labels will be the mandatory inclusion of Trans Fat data. I think the mandate has been passed but the companies still have some time (1-2 yrs?) before they have to comply. Generally healthier foods already list the trans fat cus they have nothing to hide, but within the next few years it will be interesting to see which junk foods are really packing in the trans.

a lot of margarine now is labeled non-hydrodrogenated..... what about that?

a lot of margarine now is labeled non-hydrodrogenated..... what about that?

That's the market (read: capitalism) responding to the demand for healthy substitutes. I use Spectrum Naturals' (http://www.spectrumorganics.com/index.php?id=57) spread on my baked potatoes. Mmmm..... :drool:

I have used Smart Balance over margarine for the past year. It claims to be healthy but I cannot verify this. I use olive oil all the time as well. I would guess that olive oil is more healthy than any unnatural product such as margarine or even smart balance.

Fleishman's Margarine, 1 tablespoon:
80 calories
Fat 9g
Saturated fat 2g
Poly. fat 4g
Mono. fat 3g


Del Papa xta virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon:
120 calories
fat 14g
sat. fat 2g
poly. fat 1.5 g
mono. fat 10 g

Both of those have the same amount of saturated fat (not good), but the olive oil has a much higher percentage of monounsaturated fat (really good). Of course you don't want to go crazy eating fats because they have a lot of calories, but you want to get most of your fats from unsaturated fat because they are essential to your body and they help lower bad cholesteral and raise good cholesteral. Look out for trans fats (really bad) though with margarine.

Just got this in the mail today:

The difference between margarine and butter?
>
>Both have the same amount of calories. Butter is slightly higher in
>saturated fats at 8 grams compared to 5 grams.
>
>Eating margarine can increase heart disease in women by 53% over eating the same amount of butter, according to a recent Harvard Medical Study.
>
>Eating butter increases the absorption of many other nutrients in other foods.
>
>Butter has many nutritional benefits where margarine has a few only
>because they are added!
>
>Butter tastes much better than margarine and it can enhance the flavors of other foods.
>
>Butter has been around for centuries where margarine has been around for less than 100 years.
>
>=====================
>And now, for Margarine...
>=====================
>
>Very high in trans fatty acids...!
>
>Triple risk of coronary heart disease..
>
>Increases total cholesterol and LDL (this is the bad cholesterol)
>
>Lowers HDL cholesterol, (the good cholesterol) ....
>
>Increases the risk of cancers by up to five fold...
>
>Lowers quality of breast milk ...
>
>Decreases immune response...
>
>Decreases insulin response.
>
>And here is the most disturbing fact....
>
>HERE IS THE PART THAT IS VERY INTERESTING!
>
>Margarine is but ONE MOLECULE away from being PLASTIC...This fact alone was enough to have me avoiding margarine for life and anything else that is hydrogenated (this means hydrogen is added, changing the molecular structure of the substance).
>
>YOU can try this yourself: purchase a tub of margarine and leave it in
>your garage or shaded area. Within a couple of days you will note a
>couple of things:! no flies, not even those pesky fruit flies will go
>near it (that should tell you something) ... it does not rot or smell
>differently..because it has no nutritional value, nothing will grow on
>it...even those teeny weeny microorganisms will not a find a home to
>grow.
>
>Why? Because it is nearly plastic.
>
>Would you melt your Tupperware and spread that on your toast?
>
>Share This With Your Friends.....(Butter them up!)

Most margarines, the ones with hydrogenated or partially-hydrogenated in the label, are pure evil as stated above, but the thing about it being one molecule away from plastic doesn't mean anything. It's just an inflammatory statement to impress people. The original author was trying to use that statement to really drive his point home. Likewise, iron is just a few neutrons, electrons, and protons away from being gold - that's even closer. But no one says iron is almost gold.

I'm not sure what to listen, alot of margarine in the market claims that there is no or little sat. nor trans fat in it.

http://www.becelcanada.com/product.asp?pid={480B35F4-6029-44C3-9851-61E938ABB3EB}

just one of the example.

http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/1074274923.Ch.r.html

Just read the label, if it says hydrogenated or partially-hydrogenated, there's trans-fat.

My problem with margarine is that it tastes like ass. I would rather have less olive oil because it tastes so much better.

My problem with margarine is that it tastes like ass.

Ummm.....never mind.