Remember the old days when the bad boys responsible for CVD and CHD were finally discovered ? Well one of those bad boys was artery clogging butter. We got the message and consumption has been in sad decline since then. But that left a big hole in our diet, what now were we to spread on our bread? Well we rejoiced - for the health experts and the industry experts got together and gave us margarine in the form of hydrogenated vegetable oil. Anyone remember that? Anyone still actively searching it out (you can still find it!)? Probably not, because that little slip up between the health experts and the industry experts has cost hundreds of thousands of people people their lives.
Why? Because their hearts failed and they died!
Isn’t that a tiny bit ironic? Perhaps we should also consider the other implications such as Alzheimer’s, obesity, diabetes, cancer, liver disease etc.
However, with this little slip up fading from the collective consciousness, the experts have put their heads together again to sort the mess out. Now we have the answer - heart healthy reformulated margarines (sorry, ‘spreads’)! Not only that, we also have a vast choice:
'Flora Original', 'Flora Light', 'Flora Buttery Taste', 'Flora No Salt', 'Flora Lighter Than Light', 'Flora White', 'Flora Omega-3 Plus'. (One has to wonder why just one would not do, but I digress).
But that’s not all, there is another class of margarine, one I’m sure that’s familiar with the members of Heart UK; the cholesterol lowering spreads such as:
‘Flora pro Active’ and the ‘Benecol’ range - ‘Olive’, ‘Light’ and ‘Buttery’ (for God’s sake!) [Wonder why the buttery ones have helped a 7% growth of margarines this year? Perhaps because it tastes a bit like the real thing?]
Ever turned over the tubs and looked underneath? Well if you do you’ll see, in tiny, tiny writing the following warning (Flora):
‘Health experts agree that 2-2.5g of plant sterols a day is optimal for cholesterol lowering. More than 3g is not recommended.
Check with your doctor first if you are already taking cholesterol lowering medication, or if you have special dietary needs (i.e. you are pregnant or breast-feeding) and before giving to children under five.’
There is the same warning on Benecol tubs.
Now, I know why they put this legally required warning on the tub, but I have never seen it on packs of:
Peanuts, almonds, walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sprouts, peas, beans, lentils, broccoli, cauliflower, avocado etc etc and they contain significant amounts of naturally occurring sterols!
Here’s a bit more info:
theecologist.org/green_gree...
Ever wonder if you are an unwitting participant of some giant, money driven experiment?
Sprouts and butter - wonderful!
