Is butter better than margarine?

Probably not. Butter is saturated fat while margarine has unsaturated fat. The problem with margarine is that it contains trans-unsaturated fatty acid. Yes it will raise your cholesterol, possibly increase increase your risk of some cancers, but it has been shown that margarine is more heart healthy than butter.

Trans unsaturated fatty acid will increase bad cholesterol, LDL, and lower good cholesterol, HDL, but not as much as saturated fat. The best recommendation is avoid both forms of fat as much as possible. The more liquid the margarine (tub or liquid form) the less hydrogenated it is and the less trans fatty acids it contains.

Fortunately, in the U.S. only about 2-4% of our total calories are from trans-unsaturated acid. Saturated fat is about 12-14% of the typical diet.

• Use non hydrogenated oil like canola or olive oil,
• Read labels and avoid processed foods made with hydrogenated oil,
• Use soft margarine over harder, stick forms. Prefer margarine with liquid vegetable oil as the first ingredient,
• Avoid foods high in trans fatty acids such as french fries, donuts, cookies and crackers.

Finally, it should be remembered that there is a worldwide epidemic of obesity and obesity is related to heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, back pain, joint pains, and a whole host of other health issues.

Total fat - not trans or saturated fat - is related to obesity and some forms of cancer. The general consensus is that the risk from TFA is small, however the content should not be increased. My personal recommendation is that you should lower your total fat. Watch saturated and TFA and in the process of lowering them and saturated fat, you will be healthier.