Butter & Margarine

Butter

• Butter is created from cream which rises to the top of milk if it sits for a period of time. 
• Butter is an excellent source of vitamins A, D, E, and K. None of these fat-soluble vitamins are found in margarine.
• Toxic metals or trans-fat is not found in butter.
• It is a dairy product, but is actually easy to digest to even the most dairy sensitive people. 
• Contains dietary cholesterol as well as saturated fat. These are two cholesterol raising components. Dietary cholesterol is found in animal-based products not plant-based.
• A healthy person should intake up to 200mg of cholesterol each day. Butter has 33mg of cholesterol in one tablespoon.
• When it comes to saturated fat, butter has plenty and that could be a problem.Saturated fats are solid at room temperature and found in high-fat dairy products as well as red meat.
• A saturated fat increase in diet can contribute to heart disease.
• A healthy intake of saturated fat is 10-15 grams a day. One tablespoon of butter has over 7 grams of saturated fat.

Margarine

• Margarine is made from vegetable oil that has been extracted chemically and refined.
• In order to actually make margarine, the oil must be solidified to some degree.
• The solidifying process begins when hydrogen is bubbled through the vegetable oil at a high temperature. This saturates some of the chemical bonds, resulting in a solid product at room temperature.
• It has less saturated fat than butter.
• Margarine contains trans fats that lower good cholesterol and raise bad cholesterol.
• One tablespoon of margarine has 3 grams of trans fat and 3 grams of saturated fat.
• Vitamin E is destroyed in the oil.
• Margarine contains nickel as well as other toxic chemicals if consumed in great proportion. If Nickel is consumed in excess, it could lead to kidney disease, lung cancer along with other conditions.
• The more solid margarine is at room temperature, the more trans fat it contains. Margarine in a stick form has 3 grams of trans fat while margarine in liquid form or in a tub has 1-2 grams

Most spreadable "butters" are in fact margarines. 

Choose one that contains no trans fats and it will be a healthier option than butter as it contains less total and saturated fats. 

Healthiest meat options

Meat and poultry can be valuable sources of protein and other important nutrients, but they can also be sources of unhealthy fat and cholesterol. 

Fattier cuts tend to taste better but with a few simple tricks and tips, you can have it both ways — taste and health. With the following tips, you can reduce the fat even in higher fat marbled cuts.

Selecting meat and poultry

Look for lean cuts. Certain cuts of meat and poultry are lower in fat. Lean cuts of beef include round, sirloin and tenderloin. Lean pork or lamb includes tenderloin, loin chops and leg. The leanest poultry is white meat from the breast with no skin.

Check percentages. When buying minced beef, look for packages with the highest percentage of lean meat — 90 percent or higher.

Watch the mince. Minced poultry can have as much fat as minced beef has, or more, because it often includes dark meat and skin. To make the leanest choice, choose minced breast meat, or look for low-fat minced chicken or turkey.

BEEF AND VEAL

Average per 100g: 136 calories, 5.1g fat (beef); 106 calories, 1.7g fat (veal).

Health rating: ****(beef); ***(veal)

Beef steaks and joints are low in fat, provided only the lean is eaten. But

minced beef can be 5-25 pc fat, with half being saturated fat - the type

strongly linked with heart disease.

LAMB

Average per 100g: 156 calories, 8.3g fat. Health rating: **

Lamb is one of the fattiest meats, with the leanest cuts twice as fatty as

their beef equivalent. However, there is a lot of variation, with lean leg

steaks providing just 5.2 pc fat and lean breast 11 pc.

Lamb is one of the best absorbed sources of iron and a rich supply of

zinc. An average serving has more than the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of vitamin B12, needed for healthy red blood cells.

PORK

Average per 100g: 123 calories, 4g fat. Health rating: ****

Technically a red meat, lean pork is almost as low in fat as chicken.

Escalopes contain 1.7 pc fat compared with 1.1 pc in chicken breasts.

However, streaky spare ribs are much fattier at 13.5 pc.

Pork has a lower proportion of artery-clogging saturates than lamb or beef

but is not as high in the unsaturated type as chicken. Its zinc and iron

content is intermediate between poultry and red meat.

CHICKEN

Average per 100g: 106 calories, 1.1g fat Health rating: ***

Cooked light meat is the lowest in fat, but grilled breast with the skin has triple the fat content.

On the upside, the fat in chicken meat and skin is far less saturated than

in red meats, and supplies a better proportion of healthier monounsaturates

and polyunsaturates.

The dark meat is a much better source of zinc and iron than white but

supplies only about half the quantity of red meat.

Lean and Fat cuts

 

Leanest Cuts

Sirloin tip side

Taken from the top of the round. Very lean, but still holds flavour.

Fat content per 100g: 5.4g

Saturated fat per 100g: 2.06g

Round Steak

Cut from the hip and considered flavourful and more tender than other cuts from the round. 

Fat content per 100g: 7.6g

Saturated fat per 100g: 3g

Fattiest Cuts

Rib-Eye 

Very marbled cut, which means its flavourful and stays tender while cooking.

Fat content per 100g: 37.6g

Saturated fat per 100g: 15g 

T-Bone

A cut from below the porterhouse. Its high fat content means that it stays tender while cooking 

Fat content per 100g: 25.6g

Saturated fat content per 100g: 10.6g

Wholegrain or White Bread?

Bread is made out of flour that comes from grain kernels — usually wheat. A grain kernel has three parts: the bran, the endosperm, and the germ 

Whole grains contain all parts of the grain kernel. But refined grains, like the flour used to make white bread, have had the fiber-dense bran and the nutrient-rich germ processed out, leaving only the starchy endosperm. Removing the bran and germ also removes key nutrients, including vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, protein, and fiber.

Wholegrain is much higher in fiber, vitamins B6 and E, magnesium, zinc, folic acid and chromium.

Some flour and bread manufacturers "enrich" their bread by adding extra vitamins back in. But it's still better to eat whole grains.

Simply switching from white to whole wheat bread can lower heart disease risk by 20 percent. 

White bread has a high glycemic index because it's made from refined grains that are rapidly absorbed during digestion, causing sharp spikes in blood sugar and insulin levels. A diet that includes a lot of white bread and other high-glycemic foods -- like sweets, desserts and white potatoes -- increases your risk for weight gain, type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

                                                                                                                         

Understanding Nutrition Labels

                                       

Your doctor tells you to cut down on saturated fats, but what does that actually mean?

The above picture of a food label is a typical example of the nutritional information you will find on most food products. I will explain what it means.

The energy reading gives the amount of calories in the product per 100g. In this example if you take 100g of the product it contains 235 calories which is about 10% of your recommended total daily calorie intake (2,000 calories)

How do I know if a food is high in fat, saturated fat, sugar or salt?

There are guidelines to tell you if a food is high in fat, saturated fat, salt or sugar, or not.
These are:
Total fat
High: more than 17.5g of fat per 100g
Low: 3g of fat or less per 100g

Our example is low in fat at 1.5g per 100g
Total recommended daily intake = 70g

Saturated fat
High: more than 5g of saturated fat per 100g 
Low: 1.5g of saturated fat or less per 100g

Our example is low in saturated fats at 0.3g per 100g
Total recommended daily intake = 16g

Sugars
High: more than 22.5g of total sugars per 100g 
Low: 5g of total sugars or less per 100g

Our example is low in sugar at 3.8g per 100g.
Total recommended daily intake = 50g  (approx. 12 spoonfuls)

Salt
High: more than 1.5g of salt per 100g (or 0.6g sodium) 
Low: 0.3g of salt or less per 100g (or 0.1g sodium)

our example has a moderate amount of salt at 1g per 100g.

Taking more than 6g of salt a day can cause high blood pressure.

If you would like any more information on food nutrition labels are nutrition in general call into the pharmacy and we can go through it in more detail.

Example Meal Analysis

Breakfast

Bowl of cornflakes (60g)

Calories              226

Saturated fats      0.2g

Added sugar        4.8g

Salt                      0.76g

 

Milk

Calories              90 

Saturated fats     3.22

Added sugar       6.72

Salt                     0.15g

 

Lunch

White Bread (4 slices)

 

Calories              344      

Saturated fats     0.48g

Added sugar       3.36

Salt                     1.76g

 

Ham (4 slices)

Calories               140 

Saturated fats       1.2g

Added sugar         1g

Salt                       2.7g

 

Lettuce   (1 cup/40g)

Calories               6 

Saturated fats      trace

sugar                   not counted

Salt                      trace

 

Tomato (2 small)

Calories             28

Saturated fats    trace

Added sugar      not counted

Salt                    0.2g

 

Full fat yogurt

Calories              121

Saturated fats      2.2g

Added sugar        17g

Salt                      0.19g

 

 

Snack

Bar of chocolate (snickers)

Calories             255

Saturated fats     4.8g

Added sugar       23g

Salt                     0.23g

 

Apple

Calories              71

Saturated fats      0.1g

Added sugar       not counted

Salt                      trace

 

Dinner

Rib eye steak (fried then trimmed of fat)

Calories             378

Saturated fats     7.6g

Added sugar       0g

Salt                      0.6g

 

Potatoes (150g serving)

Calories                114         

Saturated fats        0.2g

Added sugar          2g

Salt                        0.1g

 

Carrots

Calories                  42

Saturated fats          0.1g

Added sugar            not counted

Salt                          0.1g

 

Broccoli

Calories                    30

Saturated fats           0.2g

Added sugar             not counted

Salt                           trace

 

Total Calories            1845       recommended 2,000

Total saturated fats    20.3g      recommended  16g

Total sugar                 57.88g    recommended  50g

Salt                             6.69g      recommended 6g

 

When you add one apple and cream turnover

Total calories               2100     recommended 2,000

Total saturated fats      28g       recommended 16g

Total sugar                  70.78g   recommended 50g

Total salt                     7.09g     recommended 6g