What Are Butter and Margarine?

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Butter is a traditional dietary staple made by churning cream. It’s mainly used as a frying fat, spread or component of sauces, cakes and pastries menu.

As a concentrated source of milk fat, it’s mostly composed of saturated fat.

Because of studies associating a high intake of saturated fat with an increased risk of heart disease, public health authorities started recommending that people limit their consumption of butter in the 1970s. UFABET

Margarine is a processed food that is designed to taste and look similar to butter. It is often recommended as a heart-healthy replacement.

Modern types of margarine are made from vegetable oils, which contain polyunsaturated fats that can lower the “bad” LDL cholesterol when used instead of saturated fat.

Since vegetable oils are liquid at room temperature, food scientists change their chemical structure to make them solid like butter.

For the past few decades, a process known as hydrogenation has been used to harden the vegetable oils in margarine.

Hydrogenation increases the oil’s saturated fat content, but unhealthy trans fats are formed as a side product.

A more recent process called interesterification achieves similar results without forming any trans fats.

In addition to hydrogenated or interesterified vegetable oils, modern margarine may contain several food additives, including emulsifiers and colorants.

Put simply, modern margarine is a highly processed food product made from vegetable oils, while butter is basically concentrated dairy fat.