# Butter or margarine? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 28, 2012, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637 "2012-07-28T02:06:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/21 "2012-07-28T13:48:59Z")
BUTTAH I don’t think margarine is actually a food. in fact, isn’t it a petroleum product? ---
**Author:** ![nogravity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9d8465/32.png) [@nogravity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nogravity)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/22 "2012-07-28T13:54:44Z")
I use Land O Lakes unsalted butter exclusively for toast or in recipes that call for butter. I use olive oil as my oil and if I ever have a non savory recipe that calls for oil I use peanut oil. But I haven’t for years. Once, a long, long time ago I tried margarine for sauteing onions and when I melted it in the pan it looked like melting plastic. I never used it again. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/23 "2012-07-28T14:27:39Z")
At first, there was butter. Then, oh butter is high in saturated fats. Eat margarine! Oops margarine has trans fats. Back to butter! So which one is healthier now? I see some margarine (Meadow Lea) being trans fat free and lower in saturated fats. Some even have some ingredients claiming to lower cholesterol. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/24 "2012-07-28T14:28:00Z")
I cite Alton Brown’s three-point defense of butter: It tastes good. It’s [real food](http://michaelpollan.com/books/in-defense-of-food/). Even though it has fat, it’s probably better for you than the trans-fat you’re probably getting in the artificial stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/25 "2012-07-28T16:37:25Z")
Butter only. If I’m going to spread fat on something, it’s going to be the real deal. I also cook my eggs in butter, so sue me. Back when I was losing weight and trying to help my cholesterol numbers, I used to make a mixture of half butter, half olive oil and keep it in the fridge. Sometimes I’d add some dried herbs to it for an interesting spread for toast. We go through a lot of butter. ---
**Author:** ![Michael63129](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@Michael63129](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael63129)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/26 "2012-07-28T18:01:19Z")
> [@JackieLikesVariety](#): > > BUTTAH > > I don’t think margarine is actually a food. in fact, isn’t it a petroleum product? That’s false; margarine is made from vegetable oil - at least, the stuff I use is. That said, some types use partially hydrogenated oils (even now, after the outcry and partial bans on trans fat, I still see brands that have it, never mind all of the junk food out there), which are really bad for you (ironic that people avoid saturated fats when trans fats are far worse, since they lower HDL and cause inflammation; not all saturated fats appear to be bad either, at least [dairy fats](http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2012/07/new-review-paper-by-yours-truly-high.html#more)). Cholesterol free also isn’t really meaningful either, considering the amount of cholesterol in butter vs an [egg](http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/7301/title/Reevaluating_Eggs_Cholesterol_Risks). Although I use margarine myself; of course, one of those brands that doesn’t have hydrogenated oil. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/27 "2012-07-28T20:21:31Z")
Butter for me. Husband has to have Country Crock. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/28 "2012-07-28T20:58:12Z")
Margarine never enters my house. We don’t use a lot of butter, but we use it. Lunch today was buttered corn. Um, um. I usually use half and half butter and salad oil for eggs (unless there is bacon grease). ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/29 "2012-07-28T21:19:26Z")
Moving from IMHO to Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/30 "2012-07-28T21:30:50Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > You haven’t lived until you’ve had a giant thick ribeye cooked in a half stick of butter. Ah yes. Wasn’t that one of Einstein’s greatest mathematical equations? F+F=G? Fat+Fat=Gloriousness! ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/31 "2012-07-28T21:47:17Z")
Brummel & Brown’s yogurt butter. on toast, corn etc. I buy real butter for cooking. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/32 "2012-07-28T22:14:50Z")
> [@Michael63129](#): > > That’s false; margarine is made from vegetable oil - at least, the stuff I use is. That’s a myth promoted by the global Margarine & Petroleum byproduct institute. It’s not a petroleum byproduct though. It’s actually made from ground up kittens, and all the workers at the margarine plant refuse to tip at restaurants. All of the owners of maragine companies oppose gay marriage, and are staunch supporters of Sarah Palin and George Bush. Those are the established facts. They’re also suspected of using poor grammar and punctuation, and resurrecting zombie threads. ---
**Author:** ![T-Rex\_Arms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ab992/32.png) [@T-Rex\_Arms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T-Rex_Arms)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/33 "2012-07-28T22:24:01Z")
Real butter for baking, fake “low fat” butter for spreading on bread or similar food (very rare that I use it for this purpose.) Also, first post! Hi everyone! ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/34 "2012-07-28T22:38:52Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > There’s a reason why you never see butter advertising that it tastes like margarine. This. Margarine is nasty. I will choose nothing over something with margarine. I’d rather go hungry (I’ve enough reserves to burn for quite some time…). ---
**Author:** ![Clark\_Cello](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@Clark\_Cello](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clark_Cello)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/35 "2012-07-28T23:02:18Z")
I grew up on margarine, during that time when it was thought much more healthy, and used it for a few years as an adult until I asked myself why I was using a noticeably inferior product. I can’t remember the last time I bought margarine; it’s been at least 5 years, maybe 10. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/36 "2012-07-29T00:16:39Z")
I grew up with butter. On holidays we went to Grandma’s who used margarine. I was always jealous that they got to use that bright, bright yellow rectangle as their spread of choice. Man, was I a dope. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Chipacabra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@Chipacabra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chipacabra)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/37 "2012-07-29T00:41:50Z")
Never margarine. Never. Butter is delicious, and you don’t need that much of it to do the trick. If you’re just after lubrication, vegetable oil. For baking, a mix of butter and lard instead of shortening. Animal fats get an unwarranted bad rap. ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/38 "2012-07-29T00:46:49Z")
I use both ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/39 "2012-07-29T01:06:50Z")
I grew up with margarine. When I was a kid, I tasted “real butter” and I wondered why people had anything to do with margarine! When the kids grew up, I invested in ONLY butter for Hubster and me. We ARE fat, but OMG, we eat BUTTER. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/40 "2012-07-29T01:45:51Z")
Margarine. It’s what I was raised with and am used to. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637.md?page=3)