Butter vs Margarine and more

[reinhard1]

My wife was at my daughters baby shower last night and the gals had a discussion on the use of real butter vs margaring. real sugar vs stuff like sweet and low and the bad health aspects of corn syrup in a lot of things we eat today. it would be interesting to hear peoples opinions on this. after talking with my wife this morning it looks like we are going to use real butter and real sugar for example and realy try to avoid corn syrup. good luck.

[jmd1]

As a type 2 diabetic, there are many things that i should not do. My doc told me to use butter, not a ton but the fat is not all bad in moderation. I have stopped using raw sugar and switched to truvia. I don't use a lot of sugar or salt for that so the small amount is not a big deal. I don't drink soda but my wife consumes enough for you and me both. I only drink water which for the most part is good but have to add some power aid to it from time to time.

[3pronghook]

Real butter (unsalted) and real sugar here. The real butter just tastes better and nicer to cook with. My wife gets on this kick about sugary cereals for kids and how haywire they get after eating it. She feeds them cheerios and corn flakes with no sugar at all. But then puts 2 heaping tsp in her coffee or smoothie. I explain to her there is natural sugar in most foods we eat and a banana has as much sugar as a bowl of lucky charms. I agree with the phrase "anything in moderation"

[Chef]

I only use the real stuff and everything in moderation...it's way more healthy and tastes better.

[reinhard1]

very good points. the main theme of some of the gals was corn syrup. i cant remember every detail what was said but as you probably know it's in a lot of things. supposidly does not digest well and like a lot of things make you fat. dry coffee creamers, most marinades, breads, cakes, proccessed meats like hot dogs and lunch meat all have it. so i make my own hot dogs, brats, lunch meat [thuringer, salami, and summer] so i'm good in that department. also will start making my own bread more now and freezing it. all of the hot dog and burger buns have corn syrup in them also except some of the specialty hard rolls and breads. what do you think about corn syrup? good luck.

[jmd1]

I am mixed on the issue. My sister is a biologist for ADM and oversees the production of corn syrup for soda. So i get the business part of it. I think it is like anything else, today it is bad for you tomorrow it won't be. Not sure if the greenies are on the bad kick but if not they soon will be. They will blame the farm bill and farmers for pushing it.

I use to feed my dogs a lower quality food. I noticed that they would get hyper after they ate. This went on for a while until the vet asked about it. I switched to a product that does not have much corn in it. Corn for humans as well as animals does not really offer much nutritional value. It is quite obvious how well it digests. So with that in mind, i think it would be with the syrup. Just like bacon, i bet butter halls in the same category, just eat a little of it.

[reinhard1]

i do know i'm eating real bacon . something hard to give up for me. i very seldom eat proccessed meats as i said before. now making my own canadian bacon as well. however this corn syrup thing is something that i realy want to limit if i can. good luck.

[jmd1]

I can relate to you as my father was a meat cutter for 50 yrs. So we made our own everything, nothing better than grinding your own burger, or having that nice ribeye straight from the hoof. As a kid can remember dad bringing home a quarter or splitting a side up with someone and cutting, wrapping, and freezing all day and night long. Man those were good days. Hope fishing is going well, I was going to go out the am but it was too darn hot already at 6 am. Having to work outside all day, one gets to the point where I don't want to step outside until I have to go to work on Monday. Jeff

[SkunkedAgain]

I cook and bake with salted Land-o-Lakes butter, off-the-shelf sugar, etc. I do use the Brummel & Brown tubs of spreadable butter for putting on bread.

In general I've found that you don't need to cut down on any of those things unless you are already eating too much of it. Moderation works but always, and only, if you still get regular exercise. That could be walks, sports, bike rides, swimming, etc. We all know that things change as you get older but usually the changes are in our habits and lack of exercise, versus a true change in metabolism or anything else. We slow down, we get fatter, etc.

As my father always says, you don't see a lot of fat old people, just the skinny ones. When I talked to him yesterday, they had just biked 30+ miles to have lunch...and that's 30+ years after having to quit playing basketball because his knees were falling apart!

[Bobby Bass]

I'm a butter man, I don't eat anything that bugs don't even eat !

[toughguy]

Butter when cooking/baking. Fake stuff on top of bread, toast, veggies etc.

Real sugar always but rarely use any.

[eyeguy 54]

butter for me, type 2 here also. red yeast rice daily, some red wine now and then and real butter. a little exersize and cholesteral and AiC both dropped. :>)

[reinhard1]

do you take the red rice in pill form or the actual red rice and cook it? i have never had it but willing to try it. good luck.

[BobT]

For me....

Butter vs. margarine? It's like comparing butter with peanut butter. It's not a replacement, it's just different.

Sugar vs. artificial sweetners. Recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes sort of forces my hand to some degree. Sugar is okay but in very moderate levels.

Corn syrup? What's really bad with our diets isn't so much what we eat but how much. After changing my diet to manage my diabetes I've discovered that I only need about 1/3 of what I once ate...maybe even less. As I continue I find I crave less and less as well.

For example. How many of you think steak is expensive? Do you know why it is expensive? When we put a 5 pound roast on the table for dinner do we cut it into 4 or 5 pieces and serve one to each person? No we don’t but we won’t hesitate to drop a 16oz. or larger T-bone on our plates.

[reinhard1]

we are suffering withdrawl's of some sorts on this topic. we have tried half and half for coffee and it sucked. then i went to full cream for coffee and it's not the same. so i'm going back to the non dairy creamer we used before. like you said it's the amount you use, and in this case it's only in the morning and for a couple of cups. good luck.

[BAIT956]

Reinhard, I'm confused by your question on red yeast rice.

Red yeast rice is a product obtained from the yeast grown on rice. Sometimes recommended as a dietary supplement to lower cholesterol or aid digestion. My physician recommended to to me. I take the pill form.

I don't know what red rice is.

Run an web search and tell us what you think.

[reinhard1]

i think it's more of what your taking in pill form. when i heard the name red rice i thought it was available in the stores with some sort of value to one's health also. that's why i asked if anyone has ever eaten red rice.

well i saw many recipe's dealing with tomato's and so on refering to red rice recipe's. i also noted that according to what i seen that the country of Bhutan is supposidly the original source of red rice. so i didn't realy persue it further since i dont know where to get real "red rice" in the grain form so i could try it. i'm glad however that what you take in pill form is helping you. if you know where to get real red rice in a grain form i would appreciate it. always looking for something new. good luck.

[pushbutton]

There is real "red rice" available locally. Can't remember where I last picked some up, but food co-ops are your best bet....... well, suppose lunds or byrely's might have it at 37.99 per lb.

[reinhard1]

Wow!!! at that price i think i'll stick to white or brown. thanks for the info though. good luck.

[delcecchi]

do you take the red rice in pill form or the actual red rice and cook it? i have never had it but willing to try it. good luck.

It is red yeast rice, which is rice which has had a special yeast grown in it. It lowers cholesterol because the yeast produces a crude statin, like that in the pills from the drugstore. It is not regulated because it is a "supplement" not a "drug"

Lipitor (atorvastatin) is better.