Margarine = "A Molotov Cocktail For Your Arteries"

From a terrific blog by the name Whole Health Source, authored by Stephen, a doctoral candidate in neurobiology. He cares about peoples health, and would rather not have the general public be duped by big corporations who continue to show over and over exactly how much they do not care about peoples health. Without further ado, Stephen (who I hope has no problem with me doing this) addresses the problem with margarine:

"Here are the ingredients:

Liquid Canola Oil, Water, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Plant Stanol Esters, Salt, Emulsifiers, (Vegetable Mono- and Diglycerides, Soy Lecithin), Hydrogentated Soybean Oil, Potassium Sorbate, Citric Acid and Calcium Disodium EDTA to Preserve Freshness, Artificial Flavor, DL-alpha-Tocopheryl Acetate, Vitamin A Palmitate, Colored with Beta Carotene.

Are you kidding me? Partially hydrogenated soybean oil for cardiac patients? A nice big dose of omega-6 linoleic acid? A mega-dose of "heart-healthy" plant stanols? This stuff is like a molotov cocktail for your coronary arteries!"

"Despite the snappy-looking tub, margarine is just another industrial food-like substance that will help you get underground in a hurry. In the U.S., manufacturers can put the statement "no trans fat" on a product's label, and "0 g trans fat" on the nutrition label, if it contains less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving. A serving of Benecol is 14 grams. That means it could be up to 3.5 percent trans fat and still labeled "no trans fat". That's a crime. This stuff is being recommended to cardiac patients."

I am personally a big fan of clarified butter, also called "ghee" (hard "G"). When you clarify butter, the proteins are removed (lactose), thereby making it more stable for high heat cooking. In Ayurvedic medicine, ghee is considered more pure and nourishing than plain butter.