# Butter or Margarine: Which is more dangerous to my health? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 3, 2005, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine-which-is-more-dangerous-to-my-health/282761 "2005-01-03T00:35:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine-which-is-more-dangerous-to-my-health/282761/21 "2005-01-04T09:10:57Z")
> [@fishbicycle](#): > > Pardon? That butter contains milk or cream and salt, and that margarine contains oils and chemicals and filler are not facts but what? . What’s salt? Sodium Chloride- a chemical. The chemical breakdown of milk would astound you. It also has “oils”- aka “butterfat”. And it has “filler” (Dihydrogen Oxide). So butter also has “oils and chemicals and filler”. Thus, what was said was propaganda, not “facts”. The SD exists to fight Ignorance, not spread it. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2005, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine-which-is-more-dangerous-to-my-health/282761/22 "2005-01-05T00:40:53Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Steak tartare…yummy! Though I confess to hand chopping my own beef after washing off the surface with seriously hot water. Sounds like tome to make it again=) I’m no expert, but I’ve eaten a _lot_ of different stuff. Most of it I’ve really liked, even most of that weird french food my friends used to prepare. Sushi, caviar (sorta), cerviche, I pretty much like anything. But steak tartare? I just didn’t get it. To me, it was greatly improved by frying, smothering with melting provolone, and sliding between two slices of sourdough with mayo. Mmmm. But I don’t like my steaks really rare either. Different drummers, eh? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2005, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine-which-is-more-dangerous-to-my-health/282761/23 "2005-01-05T17:20:34Z")
> [@fishbicycle](#): > > Pardon? That butter contains milk or cream and salt, and that margarine contains oils and chemicals and filler are not facts but what? Anecdotes? I agree that people should watch what they eat, and if they are in a high risk group they need to be extra careful. But I’m having difficulty understanding what you meant by the first part of your statement. It doesn’t contain any evidential support for the implication that butter is healthier. I know it’s axiomatic for Americans nowadays to assume that anything “natural” is automatically safe and healthy, but you’re ignoring the fact that the butter is made of hormone-treated milk on cows from factory farms, processed in giant factories, and shipped from far away. Neither one is terribly “natural” by any stretch of the imagination. And plenty of natural things are quite harmful, while there’s lots of artificial things like medicine and water treatment and houses and cars without which we’d live much shorter, crappier lives. There may have been facts cited in that paraphrase, but there was no reasoning whatsoever to support the idea that butter is healthier. It may be (but the harmful effects of trans-fatty acids have not been adequately quantitized) but it’s not because the ingredients list is shorter. (Not to mention that while there’s plenty of ingredients with long names, most of them are quite as natural as anything in the butter.) It’s appealing, I know, to use simplistic ideas like “natural is better” in place of actual research and reasoning, but it’s not a great way to lead your life, in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2005, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine-which-is-more-dangerous-to-my-health/282761/24 "2005-01-05T21:42:40Z")
**Excalibre** said what I meant, and said it much better. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine-which-is-more-dangerous-to-my-health/282761/25 "2005-01-06T00:00:30Z")
> [@NoCoolUserName](#): > > **Excalibre** said what I meant, and said it much better. Thanks! Actually, my friend, **Excalibre** didn’t say much. A couple of platitudes, backed up by a few clever words is all. Easy enough to do, imo. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine-which-is-more-dangerous-to-my-health/282761/26 "2005-01-06T02:05:05Z")
It isn’t butter or margarine that is the problem. It’s how much concumed of either! ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine-which-is-more-dangerous-to-my-health/282761/27 "2005-01-06T03:13:18Z")
So, you have evidence that, consumed in the same amounts, both are equally bad for me? ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine-which-is-more-dangerous-to-my-health/282761/28 "2005-01-06T13:26:52Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > Actually, my friend, **Excalibre** didn’t say much. A couple of platitudes, backed up by a few clever words is all. > Easy enough to do, imo. 😉 Man, that’s mean. I wasn’t saying which one was healthier - just hoping people stop basing their proclamations on unbiased assumptions. > [@spingears](#): > > It isn’t butter or margarine that is the problem. > > It’s how much concumed of either! I agree here. Neither one is great in excess, but personally, I don’t consume enough of either for it to be worth eating anything but whichever tastes better. Ain’t no substitute for butter in cookies or cakes, but I actually dislike the taste of it on toast. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine-which-is-more-dangerous-to-my-health/282761/29 "2005-01-06T13:28:36Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > So, you have evidence that, consumed in the same amounts, both are equally bad for me? [\*\* Ask Jeeves \*\*](http://web.ask.com/web?q=butter+vs+margarine&qsrc=0&o=0) ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine-which-is-more-dangerous-to-my-health/282761/30 "2005-01-06T13:36:16Z")
> [@spingears](#): > > [\*\* Ask Jeeves \*\*](http://web.ask.com/web?q=butter+vs+margarine&qsrc=0&o=0) Great. 19 pages of hay; call me when you find the needle. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine-which-is-more-dangerous-to-my-health/282761/31 "2005-01-07T01:54:45Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > I’m no expert, but I’ve eaten a _lot_ of different stuff. Most of it I’ve really liked, even most of that weird french food my friends used to prepare. Sushi, caviar (sorta), cerviche, I pretty much like anything. > But steak tartare? I just didn’t get it. To me, it was greatly improved by frying, smothering with melting provolone, and sliding between two slices of sourdough with mayo. Mmmm. > But I don’t like my steaks really rare either. > Different drummers, eh? 🙂 exactly=) I like my beef as rare as possible, mrAru likes it turned to little lumps of shoe leather coated with charcoal… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine-which-is-more-dangerous-to-my-health/282761.md?page=1)