The Rise of Margarine

In France the year 1869, butter became in short supply and they created a prize to see who could come up with a cheaper attractive substitute. A man named M. Hippolyte Mege took first place. He took the most inexpensive fats that were available, the drippings of meat packing, and added a mixture of milk and yogurt to add flavor. This was a similar resemblance, but no one was fooled, but it was used as an alternative for the cost. Later, during World War II they had to come up with a yet a cheaper way to substitute for butter fat due to rations. The small lard looking packs were handed out with yellow food coloring. So with meal times you would see people mixing their "butter" which was just lard and coloring. This actually became a normal routing even in the American households. We just kept coming up with cheaper ways to extract fats. Now it's the vegetable fats that were extracted, for these were much less costly than the price of fats from meat Industries. More science went into the process and no longer did you have to mix it yourself. The way the chemical chains bonded with the vegetable fats resulting in holding the structure and even melted like butter. YEAH! It is this processed form of margarine that holds oxygen atoms that cause it to go rancid faster than real Butter. So today's Margarine is mostly vegetable fat. It is important to note that once a vegetable has been "hydrogenated" a new fat has been created. It's a completely new, man made, synthetic fat. This has been linked with a higher rate of heart attacks.
I found that interesting, this is the example of how most of our food is made today. Every business wants to know where can we can cut cost, how can we make this cheaper. We as consumers say, "Wow, the price is down" and we run for it's the same. We're just amazed they can come up with new ways of developing it. The once tasty and mildly nutritious Butter of old is now a chunk of fat, synthetically made, that could increase risks of heart problems, but you will not read that on the label.
You might want to be leery of anything that contains hydrogenated oils. You can find this in your margarine's, Peanut Butter, and other places as well. There are companies that do make them with out that oil both Butter and Peanut Butter.
Just think of the items you use margarine and peanut butter in breakfast lunch and dinner. It's everywhere. My children love peanut butter with apples, bananas, and sandwiches. The amount of times I subjected them to this is amazing. There are more natural choices just read the labels. No Hydrogenated oils and little salt. Especially since "nearly three million children between the ages of 6 and 17 suffer from high blood pressure"- summarized from the Vitamin Supplement Journal.
It can be a little confusing so I hope to break it down for you. There is a lot of description as to how long the molecule chains can go and break down process, let's just skip to the important facts. Saturated fats are from animals, they will be solid at room temperature. An example would be cooking lard. Unsaturated are the vegetable fats and they will be in liquid form.
Tomorrow we can talk about your cooking oils between Olive, Canola, and Vegetable. Which ones you want to cook with and are better for the body, you will be surprised.

If you do not want to make your own fresh peanut butter, these are great brands. Adams, Arrowhead Mills, Spanky's, Toner, and Maranatha.

Make your own Peanut Butter in ten minutes.
1 1/2 cups unsalted roasted peanuts
1 tbsp peanut oil
In processor, blender, blend both ingredients until smooth or chunky as you want it. Store in a glass gar and refrigerate. It will stay good for 2 weeks.

Another Favorite of mine is Yogurt Peanut Butter Dip
1/2 cup plain yogurt
4 tbsp natural peanut butter
Mix together until smooth and keep cool. We eat these with fruit and veggies. Real hit at parties!!!

Have a Blessed and Healthy day!