I would personally advise against the use of margarine and all other hydrogenated fats/oils, as they are typically very high in trans fats, which are strongly linked to heart disease.EDIT: No longer true, please see my other comment below
A good replacement for butter is butter flavored coconut oil, or other butter alternatives that do not use hydrogenated oils/fats, such as Miyoko’s Plant butter, which uses a mix of safe oils (but is usually pretty expensive).
Update: further investigation into this topic has revealed that the information in my previous comment is out of date. Trans fats in margarine have been effectively outlawed in most countries (starting properly in the US in 2021). The solution from the companies making margarine was instead of partially hydrogenating oils, they fully hydrogenated them, turning them into a fully saturated fat similar to coconut oil or avocado oil.
However, to achieve the same result as the partially hydrogenated form, they are now using fat interesterification, which hasn’t really been researched enough to know the full health implications, but the studies that have been done so far seem to indicate it’s not healthy.
There are currently no laws or regulations forcing companies to reveal the use of interesterified fats in a product, but they are likely used wherever the older trans-fat containing margarine was previously used.
You can use margarine for buttering your toast and mix it into mashed potatoes with oat milk.
I would personally advise against the use of margarine and all other hydrogenated fats/oils,
as they are typically very high in trans fats, which are strongly linked to heart disease.EDIT: No longer true, please see my other comment belowA good replacement for butter is butter flavored coconut oil, or other butter alternatives that do not use hydrogenated oils/fats, such as Miyoko’s Plant butter, which uses a mix of safe oils (but is usually pretty expensive).
Also @[email protected]
Update: further investigation into this topic has revealed that the information in my previous comment is out of date. Trans fats in margarine have been effectively outlawed in most countries (starting properly in the US in 2021). The solution from the companies making margarine was instead of partially hydrogenating oils, they fully hydrogenated them, turning them into a fully saturated fat similar to coconut oil or avocado oil.
However, to achieve the same result as the partially hydrogenated form, they are now using fat interesterification, which hasn’t really been researched enough to know the full health implications, but the studies that have been done so far seem to indicate it’s not healthy.
There are currently no laws or regulations forcing companies to reveal the use of interesterified fats in a product, but they are likely used wherever the older trans-fat containing margarine was previously used.
Apologies for spreading outdated information!
Also @[email protected]