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I Can't Believe There's So Much Fake Butter

Serious Eats digs into all the the butter replacements that use the word "butter" in their name.

It's quite entertaining.

The most popular of the batch is I Can't Believe It's Not Butter.

But there's also Butter It's Not! and Could it be Butter?

From UK: What, not butter! and from Taiwan we have: Unbelieveable This is not butter (complete with spelling mistake).

ConAgra foods also sell another butter replacement called Move Over Butter.

Most butter replacement products or spreads are made from vegetable oils (typically soy bean oil). Many of them also contain partially hydrogenated oils (trans fats).

Butter is a controversy. Many healthy eaters believe it is better to consume small amounts of pure butter (ingredients: cream, salt) than it is to eat larger amounts of margarines and spreads.

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19 Comments

hkay

First the experts sad said butter is bad, use margarine. Turns out they were wrong.

They said eggs are bad for you. Turns out they were wrong again.

They said cholestrol is bad for your heart disease. Turns out they were wrong. (Now there's HDL, LDL (the fluffy big type and the small dense type (the real culprit, which BTW they don't measure in tests))

They said chocolate is bad for you. Guess what? They were wrong. One can go on and on.

Considering their track-record, the clever thing to do is to stop listening to those "experts".


I use butter and coconut oil consistently ever since switching to real food. Health-wise that was one of my best decisions. Money and time-wise, well, it's more of a challenge. The funniest (and saddest) part is watching close friends drop their jaw in disbelief as they watch the amounts of butter my boyfriend and I consume. One told me I was lucky to have good genes to be able to eat like that. It's not luck at all, it's common sense. They use a lot of the fake crap mentioned above and it really shows on them.

Interesting blog you have here. Did you read "Good Calories Bad Calories"? I'm just done reading it and all I can say is WOW. It's not a diet book more of the science behind the diet book. It does explain your post about the "The Foods That Made America Fat".

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RT the fitness guy

I think the first comment highlights how important balance is.

Yes, science is evolving all the time. However, we need to be patient with that if we are going to get the best information from them.

Butter or marg - it doesn't matter. Why? Because you shouldn't be eating that much of it anyway!

We should all be heading towards a more natural and less man-affected diet anyway. I talk a lot about this at my blog http://realmuscleonline.com

RT

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Alexandra

I {heart} butter.
And I also know that ConAgra does NOT {heart} me.

So, it's butter all the way for me.

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joanne

i want to use real butter but i hate the taste! its the holidays and everyones using butter and i pull out a tub of parkay.

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Katie

I'll just avoid both: the fake stuff because it's fake and whoever makes it is not trying to serve my best interests; the real stuff because it makes things so greasy. I'll just stick to my miso, tomato paste, and peanut butter when I want something on toast. Because vegetables must be served with just spices. No grease of any sort.

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RT the fitness guy

why did my comment get deleteD?

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Kailash

I've enjoyed butter, ever since that scene in "Last Tango in Paris"...

Will this get deleted? ;)

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mia
Kailash said:
I've enjoyed butter, ever since that scene in "Last Tango in Paris"...[...]

LOL.

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Spectra

Every time I hear "I Can't Believe it's Not Butter", I think of those commercials with Fabio, LOL. I use real butter, but by husband likes the fake stuff better, so I buy it for him.

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Liz

I used to use butter or spread with Vegemite on toast. Now, I've switched to just plain old Vegemite without the extra fat. It really satisfies my saltiness cravings and it's the best source of B-vitamins!

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Pam

Before you give your cells over to inflammatory fats such as butter - you may want to consider leaning the what it can do to your body.


Introduction To The Apo E Gene
We all have the Apo E gene (pronounced by saying each letter, A - P - O - E). This gene plays a key role in our body's internal environment and is a determining factor in the development of chronic disease, especially heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

The Apo E gene occurs as three variations, or alleles, in humans: Apo E 2, Apo E 3, and Apo E 4. Since genes come in matching pairs, we each have two alleles of every gene, one from each parent. If you received an Apo E 2 from one parent and an Apo E 3 from the other parent, your genotype would be E 2/3. The six possible combinations of Apo E gene pairs are E 2/2, E 2/3, E 3/3, E 4/2, E 4/3, and E 4/4.

How Your Apo E Genotype Affects Your Health
As you can see from the table below, the most common genotype, Apo E 3/3, is found in approximately 64 percent of the population. It is considered the “neutral” Apo E genotype. Combinations that include either the Apo E 2 or Apo E 4 are considered “alternative” expressions of the more common Apo E 3 pairing. People with Apo E 2 or 4 alleles will process foods differently from the way in which an Apo E 3’s body will.

The APOE Gene Diet can help prevent Alzheimer's disease and heart disease.

The specific pair of Apo E genes you inherited from your parents greatly influences your predisposition to certain illnesses, including heart disease, vascular dementia, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and cancer. For example, persons with the Apo E 4/4 genotype could have up to a 90 percent chance of developing a chronic illness such as Alzheimer's disease. Maintaining an optimal diet and lifestyle for your particular Apo E genotype is known as maintaining a "gene-supportive environment" (GSE), and doing so can dramatically reduce your risk of developing these chronic illnesses. That's why the Apo E Gene Diet was created.

The Apo E Gene Diet
The foundation of the Apo E Gene Diet is a nutritional plan that focuses on eating the optimal percentages of "The Big Three" - carbohydrates, fats and proteins - for your specific Apo E genotype. One diet does not fit all because each Apo E genotype processes foods differently. There is a unique optimal combination of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins which creates the ideal diet for each of the six Apo E genotypes. Creating this optimal balance in your diet provides the foundation for your good health.

The Apo E gene has been shown to be the number one factor affecting how your body uses The Big Three macronutrients or food groups, and this influences the possibility and severity of developing certain diseases. It is extremely important to eat the right balance of carbohydrates, fats and proteins for your specific Apo E genotype.

The Apo E Gene Diet is not a diet in the typical sense of the word. With the Apo E Gene Diet, we use the word "diet" to mean a series of specific recommendations for individual nutrition and other environmental factors, such as exercise and stress levels, to name a few. The goal of the Apo E Gene Diet is desease prevention and a healthy life; it is a personalized plan for your Apo E genotype which will guide you in choosing the optimal:

• fat content with the correct types of fats
• carbohydrate content with the correct types of carbohydrates
• protein content with the correct types of proteins
• caloric content for your needs
• amount and kind of exercise appropriate for you
• balance of stress and relaxation in your life
• quality of mental and emotional environment
• type of energy and intentions you allow into your life (the spiritual component)

Most of the existing dietary recommendations are based on the assumption that one diet plan is appropriate for everyone. Because of that assumption, those diets fail to accomplish long-term weight loss or optimal disease prevention. We are not all the same. In reality, diet and exercise recommendations must be individualized, beginning with a person's genetic foundational recipe.

The Apo E Gene Diet focuses on an individual’s genetic recipe, creating dietary and exercise recommendations for each of the six possible Apo E genotypes a person can have. No other program does this. In addition, the Apo E Gene Diet takes into account the whole person (physical, emotional, and spiritual) in creating a gene-supportive environment which promotes a healthy life, free of chronic illnesses.

The Optimal Diet and Lifestyle For Your Apo E Genotype
So how do you create the optimal diet and lifestyle for your particular Apo E genotype? There are three steps.

1. First, read The APO E Gene Diet by Pamela McDonald.

2. After reading the book, you can make an informed decision as to whether you want to know your Apo E genotype. Finding out which Apo E genotype you have is done through a simple, non-fasting blood test (more information on testing options).

3. Once you know your Apo E genotype, follow the diet and lifestyle plan outlined in the book for your particular Apo E genotype.

Following these three steps will support you on the path to a healthy life, free of chronic disease.


Be Happy and Healthy

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user-pic
Mary

Why do you call butter an inflammatory fat? Vegetable oils are high in inflammatory omega-6, and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils are trans fats, a configuration rarely seen in nature and one that stiffens the walls of the red blood cells which roughs up the arteries. Vegetable oils are the inflammatory problem. We never ate much of them until WWII, and as American consumption of vegetable oils increased, so too did heart attacks and chronic disease.

Butter on the other hand, contains nutrients which protect against plaque and heart disease: Vitamin A – needed for the health of the thyroid and adrenal glands, both of which play a role in maintaining the proper functioning of the heart and cardiovascular system. Anti-oxidants – protect against the kind of free radical damage that weakens arteries. Vitamins A and E found in butter both play a strong anti-oxidant role. Butter is also a very rich source of selenium, a vital anti-oxidant.

A 1994 study appearing in the Lancet showed that almost three quarters of the fat in artery clogs is unsaturated. The "artery clogging" fats are not animal fats but vegetable oils.

When in doubt, go with that with Mother Natue designed, not what man erroneously thought he could do better.

Reply
Dr. J
Pam said:
Pam[...]

Oh, my head hurts! I'm sure though when the pain goes away, I'll be a lot smarter :-)

Reply
Jim
RT the fitness guy said:
why did my comment get deleteD?[...]
Not deleted. All comments containing a link are automatically held in a moderation queue. Reply
Libertate

Dear Pam of the Gene Diet,

Vayi agosoni rutiy ba. Tilibo daqamim na vemu nesore he otanahi nupeye awabe, uqi celuva co cebutuj yo pay gehi cene ereso, mereyud iluher tat ri ra irameveg durutas sawe.

Ka la eku olan ereneso. Leronet erel lul pav cip. Seraset neses da mesab inim bet! Cobariem rumuta depierot loseco. Le ieles ruvucel voti rur esi ure? Hes idinet sohosen ete kutad sehesid comi siehit nupes ti.

To read further my dissertation on the topic, please follow the link made just for you. Refreshing the page will provide additional details.

Why am I not surprised that there is already a "gene diet"? Apolipoprotein E is an important discovery, but definitely not a diet.

From the author's web site:
A Nurse Practitioner with advanced specialty training in surgery, women’s health care, adult primary care, pediatrics, pediatric obesity, family practice, cardiovascular and heart disease prevention, nutrition, exercise, mind/body medicine, and botanical medicine, Pamela is also educated in allopathic, alternative, and integrative medicine.

I missed the part where it says "geneticist", or the details on the peer-reviewed studies for the suggested "non-diet".

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RT the fitness guy

Sorry Jim.

Thanks for the heads up.

:)

RT

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PYC

Thank you for your review - as an honest, upstanding, trained medical doctor that you are - I think the author of the Apo E diet should be informed about your opinion. I am sure she will be very grateful for your honest review after you spent time reading and reviewing the book. Having an M.D. review a book on nutrition gives the public a clear perspective. Thanks for your information.

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Fitness_Fanatic

After doing a lot of reading and soul-searching, I'm throwing away my fake butter and buying REAL butter to use in MODERATION!

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Tammy Trice

What butter or margarine has plastic in the ingredients? I heard this just recently and would like to know.

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