Category: ALOHA FRIDAY

In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day they take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would participate and take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.

What is your favorite Italian Food/Sauce?

I received an email that read: Margarine was originally manufactured to fatten turkeys. When it killed the turkeys, the people who had put all the money into the research wanted a payback so they put their heads together to figure out what to do with this product to get their money back. It was a white substance with no food appeal so they added the yellow coloring and sold it to people to use in place of butter. How do you like it? They have come out with some clever new flavorings.

DO YOU KNOW The difference between margarine and butter?
Consider these facts about butter:

• Both have the same amount of calories.
• Butter is slightly higher in saturated fats at 8 grams compared to 5 grams.
• Eating margarine can increase heart disease in women by 53% over eating the same amount of butter, according to a recent Harvard Medical Study.
• Eating butter increases the absorption of many other nutrients in other foods.
• Butter has many nutritional benefits where margarine has a few only because they are added!
• Butter tastes much better than margarine and it can enhance the flavors of other foods.
• Butter has been around for centuries where margarine has been around for less than 100 years .

• Very high in Trans fatty acids .
• Triples the risk of coronary heart disease .
• Increases total cholesterol and LDL (bad cholesterol) and lowers HDL cholesterol, (good cholesterol)
• Increases the risk of cancers up to five fold.
• Lowers quality of breast milk.
• Decreases immune response.
• Decreases insulin response.

And here’s the most disturbing fact… Margarine is but ONE MOLECULE away from being PLASTIC. This fact alone was enough to have me avoiding margarine for life and anything else that is hydrogenated (this means hydrogen is added, changing the molecular structure of the substance).

You can try this yourself: Purchase a tub of margarine and leave it in your garage or a shaded area. Within a couple of days you will note a couple of things:
* no flies, not even those pesky fruit flies will go near it (that should tell you something)
* It does not rot or smell differently because it has no nutritional value; nothing will grow on it. Even those teeny weeny microorganisms will not find a home to grow. Why? Because it is nearly plastic. Would you melt your Tupperware and spread that on your toast?

While Snopes verifies only some of these facts they do conclude butter is probably healthiest in the long run. My Rheumatologist asks the question, “Why would you put something into your body that has been chemically altered for any reason when it is just as easy and healthier to use natural foods?”

Chinese Proverb:
‘When someone shares something of value with you and you benefit from it, you have a moral obligation to share it with others’.