"Heart Healthy" Margarine in Bangkok?

[NewGuy]

I'm looking for a margarine that says it is margarine on the package and does not have any hydrogenated fat. Pattaya's many stores do not have any that meet these criteria. In Canada, one popular "healthy" brand is Becel. I know olive oil is the thing and a bunch of other go to truisms, still I'd like to have this stuff too. Cheers.

[robertthebruce]

To be honest I stopped using Margarine and butter years ago.... And I am now used to it.

Word of warning about Thai food especially of you are watching your health..

Thai food is heavily salted and sweetened with sugar, I always request no salt or sugar.

There is a good few healthy eating restaurants where I live but I had to hunt them down.

[The Dancer]

http://www.unilever.com/brands-in-action/detail/Becel--Flora/291982/

says

"Becel/Flora spreads and cooking oils are made from natural seed oils. ..."

If Becel = Flora, then I know you can find Flora at Foodlands (for sure at the Soi 5 and 16 branches

in Bkk, not sure about Pattaya). You might also want to check out Bertolli olive oil spreads again

at Foodland. Good stuff.

[ukrules]

You're better off sticking with good old Butter. A good few years ago now a doctor friend of mine said he never touches margarine, he said it's full of stuff that causes problems. I was highly sceptical of his claims.

There's been recent evidence published and reported in the journals which suggests the whole margarine fad started off as a way to make money by providing cheap alternatives to more expensive products which people couldn't afford back then. They were marketed as healthy and everyone lapped it up for decades. Magarine has changed a lot over the years.

All dairy fat has been demonised for decades and it's getting worse recently, especially with Butter and Cheese, new evidence suggests that Cheese is one of the best things you can eat. A couple of years ago in the UK they considered classifying cheese as 'junk food' - I think this is when the health do gooders stabbed themselves in the foot as this spurred new research which shown them to be idiots.

Some information here : http://www.foodrenegade.com/butter-vs-margarine-showdown/

The real information is in the scientific journals which are not free and require subscriptions.

Don't bother flaming me - I know a huge percentage of the population is uneducated on this - if you are interested in this do your own detailed research, don't look at healthy food websites - they just publish whatever rubbish they get their hands on : look for real recent scientific research, it's out there.

[DogNo1]

There was an issue of Time magazine a while back with "Eat Butter" on the cover. Lots of popular media sources are now onto the fact that saturated fat is actually good for you. There is a book on Amazon called "The Big Fat Surprise" which explains in detail how the medical community reached the bogus conclusion that fat is bad for you. It turns out that Atkins was right. Carbs are what is bad for you. Furthermore, taking statin drugs is dangerous at the high doses at which they are usually prescribed. See spacedoc.com for lots of information about the dangers of statins and general heart health.

[Greenhill]

A margarine with brand name 'MeadowLea', manufactured in Australia, which says it's made from Natural Plant seeds and has 65% less saturated fat than butter (I'm quoting from the pack), is widely available in Pattaya - Central Food Hall of Foodland to name just 2!!

[xylophone]

Hmmm.........lots of confusing info out there regarding good and bad fats which go into margarines and cooking oils, and this site is particularly interesting, although it does relate to vegetable oils, it also explains the process used to obtain the oils which are also used in margarine production.... http://www.healthy-eating-politics.com/vegetable-oil.html and it makes terribly unhealthy reading!

Also quite amazed at the amount of sites which are still clinging to the old beliefs as regards fats and cholesterol. Even research conducted over 15 years ago suggested that the cause of blocked arteries was not a simple process, and it usually started from inflammation, and from then a calcium deposit, which in turn narrowed the artery, allowing cholesterol which is naturally transported around in the blood, to get trapped and/or build up on this calcium deposit.

Do some research on which oils and fats, and more importantly the processes used, can contribute to inflammation throughout the body, then avoid them like the plague.

Try to use olive and coconut oil for cooking, or avocado oil if you can afford it (although olive oil at high temperatures is not a good look) and stay away from any margarines, because their manufacturing process, whichever oils they purport to be made from, is unhealthy.

[NewGuy]

Thanks all for the replies. The only spreads I've seen that have "Margarine" on the label are from Meadowlea and have trans-fat (maybe only a little). Yes, Becel and Flora are Unilever products, if not food. It is interesting how their formulations, packaging and internet info changes by sales region. In Canada, Margarine is common and the wrappings show full fats/sodium/etc/etc labeling. The spreads (and Meadowlea products) here have only a little or misleading information (69% LESS than BUTTER - whatever that should be taken as). The Becel sites also give info on which products are suitable for freezing, baking, frying etc. Try and find that for items available here.

I don't think I have eaten margarine more than a handful of times. I grew up in Quebec and the powerful daily lobby succeeded in forcing a provincial-wide ban "butter colour" in their competitors' products. Only lifted 10 or 20 years ago. Anyway, I just wanted a non-butter, non-olive oil coating on my boiled corn cobs. Oh well. Hey - any suggestions?

I've been reading up on healthy eating. The low carb, high fat diet seems the one to follow. Here's a tip, if you add lots of nuts to your diet you will put on weight if you don't cut back some of your regular fat intake. Science changes over the years (the world is no longer flat, Nickleback not longer tolerable) and our "healthy" eating rules will change too.

Cheers

[FruitPudding]

On 8/31/2014 at 5:49 PM, ukrules said:

You're better off sticking with good old Butter. A good few years ago now a doctor friend of mine said he never touches margarine, he said it's full of stuff that causes problems. I was highly sceptical of his claims.

There's been recent evidence published and reported in the journals which suggests the whole margarine fad started off as a way to make money by providing cheap alternatives to more expensive products which people couldn't afford back then. They were marketed as healthy and everyone lapped it up for decades. Magarine has changed a lot over the years.

All dairy fat has been demonised for decades and it's getting worse recently, especially with Butter and Cheese, new evidence suggests that Cheese is one of the best things you can eat. A couple of years ago in the UK they considered classifying cheese as 'junk food' - I think this is when the health do gooders stabbed themselves in the foot as this spurred new research which shown them to be idiots.

Some information here : http://www.foodrenegade.com/butter-vs-margarine-showdown/

The real information is in the scientific journals which are not free and require subscriptions.

Don't bother flaming me - I know a huge percentage of the population is uneducated on this - if you are interested in this do your own detailed research, don't look at healthy food websites - they just publish whatever rubbish they get their hands on : look for real recent scientific research, it's out there.

 

The old margarine that "caused all the problems" was basically banned in the West about 30 years ago.

 

I think margarine that exists nowadays is alright, at least in the West.

[FruitPudding]

On 9/10/2014 at 3:02 PM, NewGuy said:

Thanks all for the replies. The only spreads I've seen that have "Margarine" on the label are from Meadowlea and have trans-fat (maybe only a little).

 

Even butter has trans fats (more than margarine nowadays)

[Crossy]

@FruitPudding another old thread (9 years this time).

 

[0ffshore360]

Just now, Crossy said:

@FruitPudding another old thread (9 years this time).

 

For  sure recycling is often apparent. This one might set a record?

I'm interested to see if ghosts appear as well !

[FruitPudding]

1 minute ago, Crossy said:

@FruitPudding another old thread (9 years this time).

 

 

You're on a roll, mate! (Excuse the pun, haha)

[jas007]

To make a long story short, don’t eat any margarine.  Use butter.  

[impulse]

On 6/5/2024 at 6:32 PM, Crossy said:

@FruitPudding another old thread (9 years this time).

 

 

But isn't it nice to read a polite thread where nobody's getting called an idiot?

 

I miss that...