Causes of Diabetes

Margarine

What is Margarine made of?

Is margarine a healthier option than butter?

How does margarine affect diabetics?

Margarine is made from liquid vegetable oils such as safflower, corn and soya bean, but in order for us to determine whether this spread is a healthier option than butter, we should see how both are made.

Margarine has to reach certain Standards to distinguish it from butter. It must contain at least 80% fat and 15,000 units of vitamin A for every pound of margarine made.

As mentioned above, margarine is made from some type of liquid oil. This oil is treated with a caustic soda solution to remove any free fatty acids. It is then washed in hot water to remove the solution and fatty acids and once removed, the oil is dried under a vacuum.

When the oil is dried, it is then transferred to another vacuum chamber where it is bleached with bleaching earth and charcoal to absorb any unwanted colorants. These are then filtered from the oil.

Hydrogen gas is then added to the oil under pressure to give margarine its semi-soft consistency. The hydrogen atoms help to increase the temperature point at which margarine can melt. It also helps to make the oil less prone to contamination due to oxidation.

A milk base is added to a separate chamber from the oil, to which salt and an emulsifying agent is also added. The oil and milk base are then continuously fed on a timer into a third chamber called the emulsification chamber. During this blending process, the temperature is kept constant.

After the blending process, the margarine mixture is then sent to the Votator, where it is fed through three tubes to decrease the temperature quickly. When the desired temperature has been reached, the mixture is then pumped into another chamber where it is blended occasionally, but mainly left to sit still and form its semi-soft consistency.

Votator

To make butter, on the other hand, is a lot less complex. When cows milk arrives at the factory, it is first tested for bacteria and then graded for quality. The milk is then put into a machine called 'the separator', which spins and divides the fat from the rest of the liquid. The fat is called 'butter cream' and the liquid is called 'skim milk'.

The butter cream is then transferred to the 'bulk tank' where it is mixed, then pasteurized before leaving to stand for 24 hours. The butter cream is then transferred to 'the churner' which spins the butter cream to cause the fat molecules to bunch together, releasing water and air in the process. Every five minutes, the churner is stopped so that air can be released and after 30 minutes, the water content is released from a tap at the bottom of the tank. This water content is butter milk which manufacturers use to make ice cream.

With the water and air removed from the churner, salt is added, and the spinning process starts again for another 30 minutes. The end result is butter, which is yellow because it is enriched with vitamin A.

Margarine was initially produced because butter contained saturated fats with large amounts of LDL Cholesterol - the type that clogs arteries and contributes toward heart attacks and strokes. It has since been proven that margarine is more harmful than butter because during the hydrogenation process, a more harmful byproduct is produced - transfat, which increases the amount of LDL cholesterol levels in the blood. Transfat is also found naturally in meat and dairy products, but is also found in most processed, packaged food and takeaway food.

This is not good news for us diabetics as it appears that the food we enjoy, is slowly killing us. But all is not lost!! Have a look at this page if you would like to decrease unhealthy fats from your diet - Stamp Out Diabetes in your Life - 30-day menu.

Let's Stamp Out Diabetes in your Life, together 😉

Cheers

Amelia Robinson

The information gathered in this website comes from a number of resources -

medicalnewstoday.com, ncbi.nlm.nih.com, wikipedia, americandiabetesassociation.com, diabetesuk, healthline.com.