The Great Margarine Hoax
© Robert Anderson PhD
One of the greatest scientists in the field of food and cancer research was Dr Johanna Budwig.[i] This brilliant German biochemist, whose treatment cured countless cancer patients, spent years studying the essential oils and fats that our bodies need to remain healthy. She was nominated seven times for the Nobel prize, but it was well-known that her greatest enemies where among the food industry. What did she tell us about the fats and oils that industry advertise so passionately? Is butter better than margarine or not?
Firstly a little simple chemistry. What oils or fats should we eat and what should we avoid? While all fats have similar amounts of calories, their molecular structure is different.
Fats are made up of chains of carbon and hydrogen atoms. There are three broad categories: monounsaturated fats, saturated fats, and polyunsaturated fats. The term ‘saturation’ refers to the degree that the available spaces on the carbon atoms are bonded to hydrogen atoms, or if there are any hydrogen atoms missing. Let us take a closer look at these three forms of fat found in nature:
Saturated Fats: As the name suggests, these fats have all of their carbon atoms filled with hydrogen. Saturated fats are found in whole dairy products, fatty meat, poultry which includes the skin, coconut, palm and palm kernel oils. Eating high levels of saturated fat are claimed to cause an inevitable rise in bad cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL). Recent studies has brought this into question.[ii]
Monounsaturated Fats
These fats have one space missing - a hydrogen atom (mono = 1) - and contain a double bond between carbon atoms. Monounsaturated fat is found in olive oil and in most nuts. This type of fat does not cause cholesterol to increase. Substituting saturated fats with monounsaturated fats helps lower the bad cholesterol (LDL) and protect from a reduction of good cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL).
These fats have one space missing - a hydrogen atom (mono = 1) - and contain a double bond between carbon atoms. Monounsaturated fat is found in olive oil and in most nuts. This type of fat does not cause cholesterol to increase. Substituting saturated fats with monounsaturated fats helps lower the bad cholesterol (LDL) and protect from a reduction of good cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL).
Polyunsaturated Fats
These fats have more than one space missing (Poly = many) in the carbon chain, and contain several double bonds as a result. Two major groups of polyunsaturated fats are Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids.
These fats have more than one space missing (Poly = many) in the carbon chain, and contain several double bonds as a result. Two major groups of polyunsaturated fats are Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids.
· Omega-3 means there is a double bond in the third space from the end of the carbon chain. These fats are protectective to the cardiovascular system, can aid in lowering triglycerides and are also utilised by the body to produce hormone-like substances having anti-inflammatory effects. The best sources of Omega-3s are fatty fish (e.g. salmon, sardines and herrings) and walnuts. Flaxseed oil is also rich in these fats and it was these that Dr Budwig employed in her famous cancer cures.
· Omega-6 fats have a double bond in the sixth space from the end of the carbon chain and are found in corn, soybean, sunflower and safflower oils. Omega-6 fatty acids are integral to hormone-like substances that promote inflammation. Replacing saturated fats with mainly Omega-6 fats may lead to the total bad and good cholesterol levels going down. It is important that the ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 be 4:1 to maintain optimal health. (N.B. Most of us consume 14 - 20:1 - a lot more than desirable.)
Omega-3 and Omega-6 fats are generally not listed separately on our food labels.
The food industry has introduced into the food chain hydrogenated fats, also labelled trans-fats. These are manufactured fats increasingly used in foodstuffs. They are not a natural product, being generated when hydrogen is chemically bonded onto polyunsaturated fat to make it a solid grease at room temperature.
Hydrogenated fats are found in most brands of margarine and shortenings. Rather than having the qualities of a polyunsaturated fat, hydrogenated fats take on the traits of a saturated fat. One method in determining a less healthy fat is to check how hard it is at room temperature. Some companies are now producing a trans-fat-free margarine product. Because hydrogenated fats give a longer shelf life, they are likely to be found in crisps, cookies and similar snack-type foods. Hydrogenated fats are often not listed separately on food labels. You need to read the ingredients section to find them.
Hydrogenated or trans-fats are bad news when used in human foods. According to an eminent medical researcher, Dr Russell Jaffe,[iii] pig farmers will not feed trans-fats to their animals because the pigs will die if they eat them. When this good doctor contacted the US Department of Agriculture, he found they were already familiar with the fact, but were not interested in the possible effects on humans. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also avoided publicizing action.
The fact that the food industry has succeeded in keeping the public ignorant of the above facts about fats is proof of the power it has in governmental and scientific circles. The food industry funds a great deal of research. People in the research community know that you can often predict the outcome of a study if you know who is funding it. It is thus unwise to accept blindly press releases on “the latest research” without considering who paid for that research. A good example is the recent furore over Monsanto’s genetically engineered corn (MON863) variety, approved for human food in New Zealand, but refused by French regulatory scientists because a study showed rats fed with it developed abnormalities. This is typical of the weakness of the food approval process of Food Safety Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) and the regulatory authorities in many other countries. It is said that Monsanto did not provide FSANZ with this rat-feeding data with its application, but, following pressure from the New Zealand Green Party, it has now reportedly agreed to do so and this will be assessed by FSANZ. Common sense dictates that caution should prevail.
So what of the “margarine is better than butter” argument? Although both are fats, they are different substances. Both raise unhealthy cholesterol (LDL).
· Butter is a natural product prepared from cream. It contains saturated fat and, because it is animal-sourced, also contains cholesterol.
· Margarine was invented in 1860 after the French Government, worried over the shortage of butter, offered a prize for a substitute. It was won by the scientist Mega Mouries. Margarine today is made by turning “pure liquid polysaturated oil” into a solid bar of grease. This is the process of hydrogenation. When polysaturated fats are hydrogenated, they are converted to a totally saturated fat. This type of fat causes an extremely high rise in cholesterol, death from heart disease and cancer being highest among consumers of this type of fat.[iv]
The manufacture of margarine-type fats is often referred to in the trade as RHT or red-hot-tube chemistry. Oil flows down a heated tube while the hydrogen is passed up from the other end. The process is now more sophisticated of course, but the result is anything but appetizing. A dose of colouring, such as carotene (160a), and/or emulsifiers, etc. ensures a butter-like appearance. In addition to making fat more saturated, this hydrogenation process forms trans-fats, which are also dangerous to our bodies.
Unlike butter, margarine may contain a whole host of unnatural products. It may contain emulsifiers, chemicals similar to soaps, added to help mix the water in the margarine with the oils. It can contain antioxidants to prevent the oils going rancid. The industry also tries to make margarine produce the brown sediments which butter produces when used in frying. This they do by using synthetic chemicals.
This knowledge was undoubtedly behind a medical friend’s comments: “I wouldn’t grease the axles of my car with it.” It is interesting that Indians from the Northern regions of the Indian sub-continent suffered an increase in heart-attacks after they replaced the ghee in their diets with margarine and refined vegetable oils.[v]
Saturated fats raise blood cholesterol levels and may be implicated in some forms of cancer. But trans-fat-rich diets increase LDL and reduce good cholesterol (HDL) levels. Whether trans-fats are more or less damaging than saturated fats, whichever you select, it is a good idea to limit both trans-fats and saturated fats in your diets.
Finally a word about canola. In my opinion, this is not a food. Canola is ‘deodorized’ to get rid of its terrible natural stink using a high-temperature (150o C) refining process. You cannot raise a vegetable oil to that temperature and leave behind anything which is safe to eat. Research at the University of Florida found as much as 4.6 percent of the fatty acids in canola are ‘trans’ isomers - known as plastic in the trade - due to the refining process. In 1996, Japanese scientists announced a study in which a canola oil diet had actually killed laboratory animals. Reacting to this unpublished, but verified and startling information, a second study was carried out by Canadian scientists using piglets and a canola oil-based milk replacement diet. In this second study,[vi] the researchers verified that canola oil depleted the piglets' vitamin E to a dangerously low level.
Canola (or more correctly rapeseed) has a cumulative effect, taking almost ten years before health symptoms begin to manifest. It has a tendency to inhibit proper metabolism of foods and excludes normal enzyme function. Several years ago in England and Europe,[vii] rapeseed was fed to cows, pigs and sheep who later went blind and attacked people. These symptoms ceased after the rapeseed was eliminated from the diet. In short, avoid using canola as a cooking oil and salad dressing. It is not a healthy oil. Safflower, sunflower and grapeseed oils are much more preferable.
Oils used by the food industry that may be derived from genetically engineered crops include soybean, corn, canola and cotton-seed. A certified organic product ensures it is not derived from a genetically engineered crop.
Go natural
Choose good quality, cold-pressed oils such as olive, grape seed, sunflower or safflower. Or have the best of both. Whisk warmed butter with a third of its volume of flaxseed oil to provide a mix as easy-to-spread as margarine and gain the Omega-3 advantages. This works just as well with any good quality, cold-pressed oil such as safflower oil.
Robert Anderson BSc (Hons), PhD (4 February 1942 to 5 December 2008)
Robert Anderson was a Trustee of Physicians and Scientists for Responsible Genetics (now Physicians and Scientists for Global Responsibility) www.psgr.org.nz. He authored The Final Pollution: Genetic Apocalypse, Exploding the Myth of Genetic Engineering and several other publications on environmental, health and social justice issues.
View Robert Anderson’s lectures on this site.
References
[i] Budwig J. The Oil Protein Diet. ISBN 0-9695272-2-5
[ii] Cholesterol, Animal fats and Heart disease. Schmid R., The Untold Story of Milk.ISBN 0-9670897-4-3. pp175
[iii] Dr. Jaffe received his MD degree from the Boston University School of Medicine in 1972. He completed his training in Clinical Pathology at the National Institutes of Health, where he was on the permanent staff as a practicing molecular pathologist. In addition, he is a specialist in the area of nutrition.
[v] The Lancet, 14 November 1987.
[vi] Nutrition Research, 1997, v17
[vii] John Thomas’ book, Young Again: “How to Reverse The Aging Process,” Promotion Publishing, San Diego
Resources:
The Great Canola Debate, Perceptions, Nov/Dec 95 issue,
The Devil's Bargain Book,
Fats That Heal and Fats That Kill, by Udo Erasmus