How Margarine is Made

Originally margarine was made as a cheaper substitute for butter. They would cut down the butter but adding beef fat or mix the beef fat with milk.

Eventually the animal fats got substituted with polyunsaturated fats (pufa).

Ingredients in a Becel Margarine include: canola oil (74%), water, modified palm and kernel oils, salt, butter milk powder, natural flavour, lactic acid, vitamin a plamitate, vitamin d3, beta carotene, soy lecithin, calcium disodium EDTA

Ingredients in butter: pasteurized cream, salt

When I went back to Portugal last summer I noticed people using Becel margarine so much more than butter and they all said it was because its the healthier option. Understandable because its the same narrative thats sold here in North America, that its a healthier alternative to for cholesterol and cardiovascular disease.

Saturated fats have more hydrogen which is why they are hard at room temperature (more hydrogen, harder texture).

Polyunsaturated fats have more double bonds (less hydrogen) which is why they are liquid.

Essentially to make margarine, its has to be changed on a molecular level.

The polyunsaturated oil has to be emulsified with water and then injected with hydrogen. This process is called hydrogenation. As a result of hydrogenation, you get trans fat (not very cholesterol or cardiovascular friendly).

If you are dealing with high cholesterol there are SO MANY other factors to consider before removing butter from our diet.

I consider butter to be nutrient dense it contains fats that are needed for our cell membranes and for sex hormones. It also contains fat soluble vitamins like Vit A, D, E, K..

Of course people shouldnt be eat loads and loads of butter on a daily basis, no. But having it in small amounts in our diet, I find it to be helpful rather than probelmatic.

High Cholesterol:

According to Harvard, 20% of our cholesterol is from the diet while 80% is produced in the body.

If you have high cholesterol other areas to look at would be: inflammatory markers + thyroid + the liver.

All of these are something to consider before eliminating something like butter from your life and replacing it with hydrogenated oils heated at high temperatures.