Fast facts: Why margarine is better than you think

Danna Peña

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Fast facts: Why margarine is better than you think
Its nutritional benefits will make you consider spreading it some more

MANILA, Philippines – Butter, mayo, or margarine?

It’s a dilemma we encounter when making sandwiches, whipping up the perfect baon, or rummaging through the colorful aisle of dips and spreads in the grocery store.

When it comes to choosing a bread spread, margarine is often overlooked, and seen as one of the unhealthier options. But what basis do people have in making this judgment?

Here are fast facts about margarine that will make you consider spreading it some more.

It’s loaded with nutrients 

Margarine contains a variety of nutrients that are essential for our dietary needs. For every 15g, good quality margarine has essential fats and nutrients that can provide around 5% of our daily energy needs.

Check out this list of margarine’s top benefits and nutrients, based from Star Margarine’s product performance statement:

For brain and growth development

Vitamin A – improves eyesight and promotes the growth of strong teeth and bones

Vitamin D – strengthens bones, improves muscle function, and decreases risk of Type 2 diabetes

Folic Acid – essential for proper metabolism

Iodine – maintains the body’s energy levels to avoid depositing calories as excess fat

For energy-building

Vitamin D – strengthens bones, improves muscle function, and decreases risk of Type 2 diabetes

Vitamin B1/B2/B3/B6 – helps digest food to energize the body, builds new red blood cells and helps in bringing oxygen to the rest of the body

So when preparing sandwiches, frying, sautéing, or putting seasoning on your food, don’t hesitate to include margarine as an added ingredient. Surely, it will create a guiltless treat that you and your kids will love.

 It’s high in healthy unsaturated fats

Margarine contains higher levels of healthy unsaturated fats than butter. Studies show that replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats leads to lower levels of cholesterol, which can help reduce risk for heart disease.

Margarine is a good mix of skimmed milk, water and vegetable oils, making it a substance of good fats that are essential to everyone’s diets. Butter, on the other hand, is made from churning cow’s milk by separating the butterfat from the buttermilk.

This makes margarine a preferred choice when a low fat diet is prescribed. Pay attention to the ratio of saturated fats versus unsaturated fats in your diet and make sure to go for the unsaturated option for a happy, healthy heart. 

It’s made from a special blend of healthy oils

Margarine is usually created from plant-based oils such as coconut oil, palm fruit oil, canola oil, and soybean oil. Some versions of margarine are also fortified with plant sterols and stanols, which have powerful cholesterol-lowering properties.

According to the Heart Foundation, plant sterols can help lower levels of blood cholesterol such LDL-cholesterol by roughly 10%.

There’s a wide selection of margarine products in the market that contain zero cholesterol and are trans fat free – such as Star Margarine’s range of Classic, Sweet Blend, Chocolate, and Caramel variants. You will be surprised to find the margarine that’s not only suited to your taste buds, but satisfyingly nutritious, too.

So the next time you’re indecisive about choosing margarine among other bread spreads, check the nutritional labels first. There might a lot of good stuff that you and your kids are missing out on! – Rappler.com

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!