Nasty Food product of the month 11 May 2007 05:04 am
Nasty Food Of the Month: Margarine
Image from bigoven.com
I don’t think I ever understood the appeal of margarine. Greasy and weird tasting… ick. It seemed weird to me that the stuff never aged, never grew mold. But there’s a lot of positive press for it, when research is spun to isolate one element and then create a product that addresses that one element, and then science enters in, and the audience already eats a host of non-foods anyway….
My instinct tells me that no matter what the latest research says, when faced between a real food and a non-food, my body will always know what to do better with the real food.
The book Nourishing Traditions, which honestly changed my food life more than any other book I’ve read on the subject, has this to say about the globby-perpetually-yellow- I-can’t-believe-people-eat-this-stuff…..
“Hydrongenation is the process that turns polyunsaturates, normally liquid at room temperature, into fats that are solid at room temperature–margarine and shortening. To produce them, manufacturers begin with the cheapest oils–soy, corn, cottonseed or canola, already rancid from the extraction process–and mix them with tiny metal particles–usually nickel oxide. The oil with it’s nickel catalyst is then subjected to hydrogen gas at a high pressure, hig-temperature reactor. Next, soap-like emuslifiers and starch are squeezed into the mixture to give it a better consistency; the oil is yet again subjected to high temperatures when it is steamed cleaned. This removes it’s unpleasant odor. Margarine’s natural color, an unappetizing grey, is removed by bleach. Dyes and strong flavors must then be added to make it resemble butter. Finally, the mixture is compressed and packaged in blocks or tubs and sold as a health food.”
from another page:
” Excess consumption of polyunsaturated oils has been shown to contribute to a large number of disease conditions including increased cancer and heart disease, immune system dysfunction, damage to the liver, reproductive organs and lungs, digestive disorders, depressed learning ability, impaired growth, and weight gain.”
“One of the reasons the polyunsaturates cause so many health problems is that they tend to become oxidized or rancid when subjected to heat, oxygen and moisture as in cooking and processing. Rancid oils are characterized by free radicals–that is, single atoms or clusters with an impaired electron in an outer orbit. These compounds are extremely reactive chemically.”
And aw gee, free radicals are badies of the kind where the info about them is widely available. Want more facts and research documentation? It’s in the book. But really….my largest selling point against margarine and in favor of butter is how good it tastes, how real it is, (organic bodies can deal with organic foods much easier than plastic…common sense!), and good I FEEL. Saturated fat is necessary for learning, concentration, emotional stability, growth, and health. Butter doesn’t need to go through a huge process and then have nutrition and taste added in because it’s already, quite naturally, there!
One more nasty on margarine:
“I put a cube of margarine, the kind I had been selling, on a saucer and placed the saucer on the window sill in the back room of my store. I reasoned that if I made it readily available and if it was real food, insects and microoraganisms would invite themselves to the feast. Flies and ants and mold would be all over it just as if it were butter. That cube of margarine became infamous. I left it sitting on the windowsill for about two years. Nobody ever saw an insect of any description go near it. Not one spect of mold ever grew on it. All that ever happened was that it kind of half-puddled down from the heat of the sun beating through the windowpane, and it got dusty….”
on 11 May 2007 at 7:30 am 1.Mary said …
EEWW!
I did taste something nastier than margarine a few times: Olivio, made with olive oil. Now, you may think that olive oil would be taste good, right?
Blech. Plastic is plastic. Olivio actually tasts worse than margarine.
I’m going to go eat a piece of spelt bread and real organic butter. The memory of Olivio is making me ill.
on 11 May 2007 at 7:56 am 2.Susan said …
When my mom was growing up, during the depression, her mother made good homemade butter. However, once margarine came along, her mother started buying that and stopped making butter!! My mom said butter “hurt” her mother’s stomach. To this day my mom eats margarine. I grew up on it. For years, I have been eating only unsalted butter. I can’t stand the taste of margarine now!
Susan
on 11 May 2007 at 1:23 pm 3.Queenofthehill said …
My mother keeps no butter in her house — just spray margarine. She’s convinced it is healthier. I’ll be sure and send her your blog!
I love butter. Nothing beats a big schmear on freshly baked bread. Hmmmm… think I’ll go bake some bread!
on 11 May 2007 at 2:56 pm 4.Maryam said …
I love butter, and I hate Margarine too! I never understood why a recipe would call for margarine instead of butter, that never made sense to me. Butter always makes it better!
on 15 May 2007 at 3:17 pm 5.Emma said …
Health organizations recommend that anyone over the age of two initiate a heart healthy diet that includes maintaining a healthy weight, eating a balanced diet, and keeping their saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol intakes low. I always try to consume a heart healthy diet because heart disease runs in my family and I also work with the National Association of Margarine Manufacturers so I know how important a healthy diet is!
An overall healthy diet includes consuming a wide range of foods in moderation. A heart healthy diet includes fruits and vegetables, grains, dairy products, meat and beans, and oils
Simply switching to margarine can greatly impact family health, as margarine products contain no cholesterol, little to no trans fats, and taste great!
on 15 May 2007 at 3:30 pm 6.Tia said …
Bwwwhahhahhahaaa
You mean I’ve got “margarine spam”??!?! Oh yeah…plastic food is good for your heart!
Interesting…breastmilk and whole milk are recommended for young babies for their brain development. It is the fat and cholesterol content specifically that facilitates this. And yet, margarine sellers and a whole lot of other food processors want us to switch our diets to fat free, low fat, and plastic foods. Does anyone else wonder what effect this has on attention span issues, depression, concentration, memory problems? Who among us wants our brain development and growth to slow or halt at age 2? And yet, we feed it as if it no longer needed the same thing it needed before. Hmmmm….
No thanks Emma. I like my food REAL.
on 16 May 2007 at 8:38 pm 7.Cathy said …
I went to a decent restaurant recently with my mom. The bread (a very nice, crusty little baguette) came with butter in a little dish. I took a bite, and told my mom that something was wrong with their butter. Turns out, it was margarine! I had to ask for real butter - weird! I could not believe it. After all, we weren’t at Cracker Barrel. And the bread was so nice, we were really surprised that this restaurant served margarine with their bread. It just seemed so, um, cheesy. (But not in a good, yummy, real food kind of cheesy way). Ha ha!
on 22 May 2007 at 7:35 pm 8.The Nourisher said …
Emma, is that your real name?
How much are you being paid by what ever margarine company you work for to disseminate this schlup? Heart Healthy My Saturated Fat Ass.
Humans have been able to extract oils from seeds for thousands of years, without the need for the dangerous hexanes and extremely high temperatures that your company uses before it bleaches, deodorizes and colours the grey inedible slop that results. Why have our ancestors only extracted oils from olives, sesame seeds, coconut and palm oil? And what the hell is a Canola anyway.
http://editor.nourishedmagazine.com.au/articles/is-canola-oil-healthy
on 23 Sep 2007 at 8:51 pm 9.Living Deliberately » Nasty Food of the Month: Diacetyl in your microwave popcorn said …
[…] through massive ad and info campaigns but still hanker for the flavor of the real thing. See Nasty Food of the Month: Margarine for more fake butter […]
on 17 Apr 2008 at 7:01 am 10.Living-Deliberately.com » Favorites From The Archives: The Nasty Food, Margarine said …
[…] Nasty Food Of the Month: Margarine […]