# Healthiest Butter for Cooking?



## thomamon (Nov 26, 2012)

So I go back and fourth when I bake trying to see what is the healthiest butter or butter type product to use when baking.

I see they no longer make Promise, because it is not healthy.  So now I find myself wondering which product would be the best to use? Is Smart Balance not so smart after all?  How about "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter".  

Any tips or advice would be appreciated.  I am not looking to replace it with apple sauce or fruit puree.  Just wondering what the healthiest choice out of buttery spreads?


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## MrsLMB (Nov 26, 2012)

When I bake I consider it a treat.  I want my treat to be tasty.  I always use real butter when baking simply because things taste better.  And because I will not be eating mass quantities of the baked good I don't put much concern with it.  I've tried using other "healthy" fake butters and the results were never impressive.


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## Dawgluver (Nov 26, 2012)

MrsLMB said:
			
		

> When I bake I consider it a treat.  I want my treat to be tasty.  I always use real butter when baking simply because things taste better.  And because I will not be eating mass quantities of the baked good I don't put much concern with it.  I've tried using other "healthy" fake butters and the results were never impressive.



+1


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## no mayonnaise (Nov 26, 2012)

MrsLMB said:


> When I bake I consider it a treat.  I want my treat to be tasty.  I always use real butter when baking simply because things taste better.  And because I will not be eating mass quantities of the baked good I don't put much concern with it.  I've tried using other "healthy" fake butters and the results were never impressive.



+2
What's the point in baking if it's not going to be decadent?


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## Steve Kroll (Nov 26, 2012)

Promise. Smart Balance. I Can't Believe It's Not Butter.

None of those things are butter. Why not just eat butter? It's made by nature, not chemists. And if you want to be healthy, just use it in moderation.


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## Whiskadoodle (Nov 26, 2012)

Real butter.  Made from contented cows.


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## jennyema (Nov 26, 2012)

Steve Kroll said:


> Promise. Smart Balance. I Can't Believe It's Not Butter.
> 
> None of those things are butter. Why not just eat butter? It's made by nature, not chemists. And if you want to be healthy, just use it in moderation.



I agree entirely.

Use unsalted butter.


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## Zereh (Nov 26, 2012)

A "natural" fat like butter is always 100x better for you then something cooked up by the chemists.


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## Slitke (Nov 26, 2012)

I agree with the real butter.  It is far healthier than the chemically processed food like substances called margarine.

With that said, butter from grass fed cows is healthiest.

Or, you can substitute coconut oil for butter in a recipe.  That is another healthy option.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Nov 27, 2012)

Butter, real butter...it is always the best choice.


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## Oldvine (Nov 27, 2012)

Real butter.   In reference to margarine my English friend asks "Why would a person use cart grease in their food?"   I agreed with her.


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## GLC (Nov 27, 2012)

I think, too, that there is a detectable richness, a creaminess about butter that doesn't urge you to overdose it, which I think happens with fakes. They really don't taste like butter, not even the best tasting of them. They are a kind of parody of butter. It's just not very satisfying. 

And we have to remember that there is really very little known with any certainty about the effects of various fats on longevity and morbidity. People, including physicians, mistakenly react to studies as reliable and definitive, when they are not and are not meant to be. What we do know is that western Europeans and Americans have used butter, often extravagantly, for a very long time without a clearly detectable untoward effect on the heaviest consumers. So avoiding butter and lard in favor of fake butter and canola oil might well be relatively unhealthy. 

Moderation also pays off. Abstinence just wastes life.


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## browniepts (Nov 27, 2012)

I agree as well, butter or coconut oil.


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## grndzro (Dec 19, 2012)

Eating more oats and beans helps keep cholesterol in check.

However for baking the butter flavored Crisco is great and very low saturated fat. Decent butter flavor.


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## Zereh (Dec 19, 2012)

This: SOYBEAN OIL, *FULLY HYDROGENATED* PALM OIL, *PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED* PALM AND SOYBEAN OILS, MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, TBHQ AND CITRIC ACID (ANTIOXIDANTS), BETA CAROTENE (PRO VITAMIN A) ADDED FOR COLOR = Butter Flavored Crisco.

Now Google TBHQ and the Mono & Diglycerides ...  

I'm not sure one could ever eat enough oats & beans to fix all that.


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## grndzro (Dec 19, 2012)

When liquid vegetable oil is fully hydrogenated, however, almost no trans fats remain. The resulting fat is even more solid, taking on a hard, waxy consistency, even at room temperature. Full hydrogenation increases the amount of saturated fat, although much of it is in the form of stearic acid, which is converted by the body to oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat, which doesn't raise levels of bad cholesterol. This makes fully hydrogenated fats less harmful than partially hydrogenated fats.

Ok TBHQ is potentially carcinogenic
Mono & Diglycerides are bad also

You're right about the last 2.

Mabye there is a butter flavored produst without TBHQ and  Mono & Diglycerides


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## grndzro (Dec 19, 2012)

This might do the trick

Spectrum | Coconut Oil and Shortening
crisco alternative


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## inchrisin (Dec 19, 2012)

I've read a lot about saturated and unsaturated fats in butter.  It sounds like neither are much good for you on this level.  The bottom lines is that you add up all the grams of each and go with the lowest.  Use in moderation when you can and be willing to work it off.


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## ShellyCooks (Dec 22, 2012)

Everything is better with butter ----- real butter!


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## PhilinYuma (Dec 22, 2012)

ShellyCooks said:


> Everything is better with butter ----- real butter!


Oh, you are certainly right, and the holy books of the three major religion agree with you. In the Torah and Old Testament, Yahweh/God lead the Israelites to a land "flowing with milk and honey" and in Holy Quran, Chap 47. Paradise is described as having "rivers of milk of which the taste never changes" -- i.e. it  never goes sour. Think of all the butter that they made with that milk! On the other hand, none of them mentions organic shortening with or without (non dairy) butter flavor, and they would probably consider High Fructose Corn Syrup an "abomination"!
Cheers


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## Zereh (Dec 22, 2012)

inchrisin said:


> I've read a lot about saturated and unsaturated fats in butter.  It sounds like neither are much good for you on this level.  The bottom lines is that you add up all the grams of each and go with the lowest.  Use in moderation when you can and be willing to work it off.



Read up on hydrogenated fats and you'll see why butter wins. <3

It's also important to know that mono- and di-glycerides are designated as "emulsifiers" rather than fats ~ so the trans fats they contain are _not_ included on food labels. (Go go FDA ... )


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