Expert chook mouth for butter versus margarine choice, tok which one dey healthy pass

Butter get high saturated fat – but margarine na ultra-processed food. To know di one wey be di queen of healthy spreads dey tricky.

Butter don be staple food for British diet for centuries bifor margarine come for di early 20th Century.

However, for di middle of di 20th Century, pipo start to replace butter wit margarine sake of di growing tinkin say all fats bin dey bad for our health.

Di food industry respond as dem start to produce low-fat versions of many diet staples, and dietary guidelines tell pipo to reduce dia fat intake.

Small time, attention shift to saturated fat, instead of all types of fat.

"From di 1950s, e start to show say saturated fat na di one wey dey cause most of di wahala, so make dem replace am wit polyunsaturated fat," na wetin Nita Forouhi, professor of population health and nutrition for di University of Cambridge tok.

Now, tins don dey turn again. For Australia pipo wey dey eat butter in recent years high pass wen dem compare am to di pipo wey dey chop margarine, na wetin Clare Collins, laureate professor for nutrition and dietetics for Newcastle University for Australia tok.

"Plenti confusion dey around butter, including fat types, so maybe pipo don go back to dey eat di one wey dem like di taste more. But e go help if pipo understand wetin research dey tok," she add.

As e be so, research dey tok plenti tins. Scientists don dey investigate di health benefits and costs of various spreads for decades. And wen e concern butter and margarine, plenti tins dey to torchlight.

Wetin be butter and margarine?

To make butter, first, dem go boil di milk, try to separate di cream from di milk.

Dem go allow di cream cool, den dem go stir am, and di buttermilk – wey be di liquid wey remain, once dem don separate di solid butter – dem go remove am. Sometimes dem go add salt to di butter mixture wey remain.

To make Margarine, dem go beat oil wit water to form a solid product, bifor dem go add oda ingredients, like tins wey dey stabilise food and colour.

According to history, pipo wey dey produce margarine bin dey add hydrogen to margarine to convert di liquid oils into solid fats, so dat e go dey easy to spread. But dem kon realise say e dey create "hydrogenated" or "trans" fats – one type of unsaturated fat wey don become di baba of fats wey dey cause poor health consequences, like coronary heart disease.

Researchers don prove say any diet wey dey high in man-made trans fats dey increase bad LDL cholesterol and e dey reduce good HDL cholesterol.

Dis dey lead to increased risk of heart disease, na wetin Lisa Harnack, professor of nutrition for di University of Minnesota for US tok. In fact, trans fats get even worse effect on cholesterol dan saturated fat, she tok.

Make we break down di fats

Trans fats na a form of unsaturated fat – but research show say diets wey dey high in trans fats dey linked to di worst health outcomes.

Dem dey produce saturated fat from molecules of fatty acids witout any double bonds wey dem fit break to join wit oda molecules, while polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats get dose double bonds.

And plenti types of saturated fats dey, like small, medium, and long-chain saturated fats, and different types of polyunsaturated fats.

"Di general principle be say foods wey dey high in saturated fats dey more likely to raise blood cholesterol if di pesin already get heart disease. High cholesterol or oda risk factors for heart disease," Collins tok.

According to one estimate, trans fats fit dey responsible for 540,000 deaths evri year.

But for di general population, dem don question di idea say to change low-fat diet fit reduce heart disease.

In fact, large trials don show di opposite effects of any diet wey dey high in certain high-fat foods like nuts and extra virgin olive oil, wey dey high in polyunsaturated fat.

"Make we no worry about total fat so much, na di proportion of fats wey dey inside na im mata," Forouhi tok.

Specifically, of di three types of fats wey we dey eat – saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated – we need to know how much saturated fat we dey eat, she tok.

Di general guidance na say saturated fat dey make up not more dan 10% of our total energy. But e dey more complicated.

"Now pipo don dey know say saturated fat no just get di same composition. Dem dey make am wit individual fatty acid chains and chain lengths wey dey defined by di number of atoms for di chain, wey dey give each individual fatty acid different properties, and different impacts on health," Forouhi tok

Forouhi don find out thru her research say saturated fatty acids wey get odd number of carbon atoms (15 or 17) dey related to lower cardiometabolic risk – di risk of developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease).

Meanwhile, di ones wey get even number of atoms for di chain (16 and 18) dey associated wit increased cardiometabolic risk.

And Forouhi find out say fatty acids wit 15 and 17 carbon atoms dey typically representative of dairy foods.

"Dis finding make us tink: E fit be say nutrients alone no dey helpful to look in isolation?" Forouhi ask. "We fit tok say, if saturated fat dey come from dairy or fish, e dey different from saturated fat from meat [for example]?"

Forouhi continue to discover say saturated fat from meat and butter dey related to a higher risk of heart disease compared to fat from fish or fermented dairy products, like yoghurt.

"Foods dey wey get more nutrients dan di total of dia nutrient parts," she tok. "Dem get macronutrients, plenti different micronutrients, minerals vitamins, fibre, salt, additives, and some dey fermented."

Ultra-processed foods

While butter dey considered as "processed culinary ingredient", margarine na ultra-processed food, according to di most-used classification system of processed foods.

Plenti studies don link ultra-processed foods wit poor health outcomes including obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

However, dem neva see any long-term evidence specifically wey compare di health effects of butter and margarine.

Dis na partly becos some studies wey chook eye into di effects of different foods on our health, group butter and margarine into one food type, along wit oda foods.

One study, for example, find out say "spreads" dey associated wit increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, but research go need to dey more detailed dan dis, Melissa Lane, wey be postdoctoral research fellow for Deakin University for Australia tok.

One way to do dis na wit di method called "substitution analysis", wia dem go replace margarine wit a non-ultra-processed alternative, wit equal number of calories, Lane tok.

"We need more research to compare small-groups of ultra-processed foods directly wit non-ultra-processed alternatives and di results fit dey different depending on di health outcome under investigation," she tok.

"Margarine get di better nutrient profile in terms of low saturated fat dan butter, and dem suppose consider di two of dem in di context of di whole diet," she tok.

"But emerging evidence suggest say association between poor health and ultra-processed diets above and beyond nutrients dey."

Lane also tok say, you fit wan go for less processed alternatives like olive oil, wey contain beneficial mono - and polyunsaturated fats, and aim to reduce overall ultra-processed food intake witout focusing too much on specific foods.

While plenti research wey show di negative impacts of diets, high ultra-processed foods on our health, di counter-argument be say some of dis foods still contain some nutrients wey get benefits. For example, margarine get some nutrients, including vitamin A.

"Wholegrain bread wey dem dey buy from store dem still dey classify am as Ultra Processed Food," Harnack tok.

"Breakfast cereals dey mostly ultra-processed, even though dem get ogbonge source of fibre.

Di science no dey dia to back up di recommendation to avoid all ultra-processed foods," she tok.

Margarine versus butter: di final stand-off

Evidence wey show di effects of margarine on our health no plenti becos, while di nutrient profile of butter get small difference from kontri to kontri, margarine get wider definition, and e don change ova time, Forouhi tok.

And wen researchers carry out long-term studies, dem analyse di dietary patterns of pipo ova decades.

But even though research into margarine no plenti, Forouhi add say foods wey get less saturated fat, and dey higher in polyunsaturated fats and wey no get trans fats na di best option.

Na our long-term diet patterns wey really mata, experts tok, and our overall consumption of saturated fat ova weeks and months.

"Di bottom line be say, e depends on how much of am you get. If you dey use a rich-tasting butter for toast once a week, and di rest of your diet dey healthy, e no really mata," Collins tok.

"But dis no be wetin most pipo dey eat," she tok. "Pipo get diets wey dey dominated by energy-dense, nutrient-poor food.

You just need to waka go any supermarket to look di number of tins wey dey pre-packaged.

We no dey cook from scratch, and buy much fruit and vegetables, so we no dey realise say our fat intake dey veri high as e dey," Collins tok.

Di type of spread you choose suppose to dey based around your own personal health needs.

"You almost need to be detective to know di one wey dey best for you. Tink about your main health needs and line up all di labels of di spreads wey you dey normally select from and compare dem," she tok.

According to Collins, one advantage of margarines ova butter, be say, e dey easier to use small quantity.

"But e be like say you go need to get [a] jackhammer for high-fat butter from di fridge, and you go end up wit big quantity for your bread," she tok.

Ultimately, di spread wey you choose na just one piece of di overall nutritional puzzle.

In oda words – e fit be say wetin you dey put your spread on dey more important. "If you dey put butter on a corn-on-the-cob, instead of a croissant, na completely different meal be dat," Collins tok.