Posted by Larry Hoover on November 24, 2002, at 18:43:22
In reply to You brought up margarine, Larry, posted by bubblegumchewer on November 24, 2002, at 17:55:42
> So if you don't mind my asking, I just bought some "smart balance" yellow solid stuff and boy does it taste great and buttery on bread. It boasts "no trans fats!" and "non-hydrogenated." The first ingredients, however, are soy, palm, canola and olive oil. How in the heck did they make it solid without hydrogenating it? And isn't palm oil a definite no-no, if not soy oil as well?
I slipped up earlier when I included saturated fat in my no-no list. There has been so much propaganda vilifying sat fat, that I have trouble sometimes remembering that saturated fat has no effect on blood lipids and cholesterol. It's considered to be neutral. Shorter-chain saturates in coconut oil may well be beneficial. We've been fed a load of bull for years, and the obesity epidemic will certainly serve as evidence of that.
Years ago, McDonalds used to fry their french fries in beef tallow. That was heart neutral. Instead, now they use a vegetable blend full of trans fats and polyunsaturates, which decompose on heating. Beef tallow good. Vegetable shortening bad. McDonald's stupid.
Anyway, from what I can discover, Smart Balance uses palm oil as it's thickener. Palm oil is normally quite solid at room temperature. The other oils are blended in to smooth it out a bit. That's about all there is to this product, as far as I can tell. Other trans-fat-free products use whipped protein as a thickener (think gelatin).
Palm oil is not a problem. It contains many of the fatty acids your body makes when it converts starch into bigger bellies. These fats are quite neutral from a heart-health perspective. They are used as fuel for the body's energy production. But they're not bad, like trans fats.
> I know that they have a website that touts their revolutionary method of solidifying these oils... geez, can a person help but be confused in the world of margarine wars??? Should I just eat butter?
You know what? Butter is good for you. Better for you than Smart Balance. Particularly if you can get it from cows fed on pasture. Butter isn't a bad guy. Slabs of it (i.e. overconsumption) are.
>Any insight into this, Larry? I'm not going to give up the solid yellow stuff since as I said, I seem to have a good blood fat balance, but I was mainly thinking about my typical male overweight hub when I bought the stuff.
You might want to consider looking at the Atkins diet. High-protein. High-fat. Low carb. Obesity is linked to high carb intake, even on calorie restricted plans. The low-fat diet is collapsing under the weight of contrary evidence. The emperor has no clothes.
If you're going to fry something, use a saturated fat (naturally solid at room temperature).
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:128719
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021122/msgs/129106.html