You drool at the sight of delicacies garnished with chunks of melted yellow butter, but just when you leap to enjoy your buttery Paratha, you are instead offered hardcore health food, and anything that is minus the "butter".
Enter Nutralite, and you no longer have to give up on the sight of something that just about resembles your favourite butter!
This latest advertisement on TV has left each one of us wondering if indeed, Nutralite, is healthier than butter and can be replaced with our daily dose of Maska. We help you understand the difference between the two, and decide for yourself, which one to prefer over the other…..
Nutralite is….
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table margarine that can be eaten in place of your regular butter and can be included in delicacies as well as used as a bread spread
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cholesterol free
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essentially made from fats of plant origin – which have polyunsaturated vegetable oils like corn oil - thereby making it good for the health of your heart.
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Known to contain PUFA (Poly unsaturated fatty acid) and MUFA (Mono unsaturated fatty acids) which are known as cholesterol fighters.
But does this mean Nutralite is healthy? No.
Processing: Most of us tend to assume that preparation of margarine from fats of plant origin, makes it a healthy option. But this may not be correct. Experts suggest that not all margarines may be healthy and some may even be worse than butter.
This is because margarines are processed using a method called hydrogenation. Margarine begins as chemically-extracted, refined vegetable oil. This in itself is a poor quality product to begin with.The high temperature needed to produce margarine destroys any vitamin E, and perhaps other nutrients left in the oil and the final product, contains trans-fats. In fact, the more solid, the margarine, the more trans fats it contains, which are carcinogenic and mutagenic. In comparison, butter is a natural product that does not contain Trans fats and is an excellent source of fat-soluble vitamins that are not easily found in margarine.
Trans fats: Although the manufacturer claims that the product contains no Trans Fat, this may not be entirely true. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allows food manufacturers to claim “no trans fats” as long as each serving of the product has less than half a gram of Trans fat. But in a serving of 14g, this equates to up to 3.5% trans fat by weight.
A study by the Center for Science in April 2006 showed that several margarines claiming "no trans fat" do in fact contain trans fats in what may be considered significant quantities. And these are known to cause diseases of the heart, obesity, diabetes, cancer and other degenerative diseases. In addition, trans fats have been linked with lower birth weight of babies as well as declined fertility.
Not just the cholesterol: Nutralite, which is Margarine, is undoubtedly cholesterol free, but it does not come without the chemicals, preservatives, artificial colors, all of which can be as harmful for your health.
The same number of calories as butter: You enjoy the sight of that pool of melted yellow butter that gently floats over your favorite foods, but shudder at the fat content and the amount of calories you would gain as a result of it. You will be surprised to know that both, butter and margarine have the same calories per serving and the same grams of fat per serving.
Kya yeh butter se better hai? No, says Dr. Shweta Iyengar, a well known Nutritionist:
Dr Iyengar clearly explains why butter must not be replaced with Nutralite, when she says, “Basically Nutralite is not better than butter. The only aspect where it scores a brownie point in comparison to regular butter, is that it is cholesterol free. This makes it suitable mainly to those who have high cholesterol levels. But for others, cholesterol is not the only aspect that matters, there are various other things that have to be considered, for instance, the HDL-LDL ratio (lipoproteins), the Omega 3 – Omega 6 ratio, all of which contribute immensely to one’s health and on all these counts, Nutralite fails”.
Moreover, for all those who want an option to regular butter, Dr. Iyengar suggests, Olive oil, which she says, is far more superior to Nutralite in every way. Agrees Krishma Shah, a renowned Dietician, “I would not recommend Nutralite to a person who wishes to lose weight. A better option is to limit the intake of butter, but shifting to Nutralite means losing out on a range of essential fatty acids and other nutrients present in butter.
"If the saturated fat content present in butter, is what makes you go against it and in favour of Nutralite, then the decision may be premature. This is because, though many of us opt for Nutralite, thinking that it is polyunsaturated, we tend to ignore the amount of trans fats present in it, which can actually be much more harmful".
Can't ignore the Buttery Benefits-
Not all fats in butter, are harmful for the body. Research suggests that about 15% of the fatty acids in butter are of the short and medium chain variety which are NOT stored as fats in the body, but are used by the vital organs for energy. All the more, along with essential fatty acids, butter has appreciable amounts of butyric acid – a fatty acid which is a known anti-carcinogen. Butter also contains conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) which gives excellent protection against cancer.
A safe bet-
You will pay more for butter, but nutritionally it is well worth it. So, stick to your normal, market butter, but apply it minimally onto the bread and onto your favorite foods, so that you enjoy the taste and keep off the flab too. And then, who wants to lose out on that salty, butter taste that has been with us since the time we have known bread!
With all this in mind, ab butter se kise bachna hai, bahane Chodo aur Khao Dabakar!
