Why choose margarine?

The longstanding question that does not seem to have a definite answer is still lurking in our everyday lives. Fortification of margarine was the key to promoting margarine as the healthier alternative to butter. The debate about advertising margarine fortified with beneficial omega-3 fatty acid may be a problem since these products contain plant-based omega-3s that the body cannot readily convert into EPA or DHA. This article from the Toronto Star provides an interesting debate from the past to the present about which of the two products are better. It was also to generate a large discussion about the two products as well.

More importantly, this article was able to demonstrate a larger issue than just the debate between which of the two products are better, butter and margarine. What I got from the article is how it was able to show the backlash of the whole dietetic community. Promoting foods to be healthy became so much harder especially if research contradicts each other. In one decade, the health benefits of certain nutrients may be clear but that can change as ongoing research discover findings that suggest otherwise. It may seem, as time passes, that the foods we eat may not even have the biggest effect on our health as other factors such as mentality comes into the picture. As research continues to be done and new findings emerge, the researches that have been done in the past can all be refuted. This shows that research have enormous amount of power and if it is done properly, research can ultimately make or break a nutrient/product/program.

Link:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/butter-v-margarine---which-is-better/article1511588/