The truth about fats – is butter a better bet than margarine

The margarine versus butter debate has sparked a lot of controversy over the last few decades. But how do you know what’s best?

Plant-based “soft” spreads are better for your health

When it comes to spreads, experts recommend using soft tub margarines and cutting back on saturated fat. Butter is not included in the HealthyFood benefit because it contains a lot of saturated fat. Only margarines that contain monounsaturated fats, like canola and olive oil spreads, are included on the HealthyFood benefit.

The HealthyFood benefit promotes the best choice in food groups

Although not all foods are included on the HealthyFood benefit, this doesn’t mean that they are necessarily unhealthy. They may still have an important role to play in a healthy, balanced diet, depending on your age, health status and exercise habits. Vitality promotes just the best choice within each food group to qualify for cash back. This is to try incentivise members to buy more of these best choice foods more regularly.

Finding a better bet than butter

So what’s the healthiest option? If you’re not sure, you could try avoiding spreads altogether and replacing them with something more nutritious, like mashed avocados, nut butter, hummus or cottage cheese. If you do use margarine or butter, be judicious about how much and try use just enough to add flavour!

So don’t delay – make September the month you start feeding your body with what’s best for it.

Healthy body – happy you!