Eat butter, not margarine!

On May 31^st of this year, Fred A. Kummerow, a professor at the University of Illinois, died at the age of 102. For 50 years, he had spoken out about the dangers of trans fats, publishing his research as early as 1957. Not only was his work criticized, it was dismissed. In those days, the prevailing view was that saturated fats, such as butter, were responsible for heart disease (which we now know is not true). People were encouraged to switch to margarine—advice that turned out to be a big fat mistake.

Trans fats are a man-made unnatural fat produced by hydrogenating vegetable oil. Think Crisco and margarine. Until recently, most baked goods were made with trans fat products. The problem with trans fats is in their molecular structure, which compromise many bodily functions, including hormone synthesis, immune function, insulin metabolism, and tissue repair. They also dramatically increase a subclass of LDL cholesterol which is composed of small dense particles and is associated with an increased risk of heart disease. Some studies show that they may also cause diminished mental performance. And that’s only part of their damaging effects!

Walter Willis, an influential scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health, was among those who dismissed Kummerow’s work. Later, he saw the error of his ways and conducted studies that supported Kummerow’s views. Now, he says, that by advising people to eat margarine instead of butter, as he did in the 1980s, “…we were often sending them to their graves prematurely.”  

In 1911 the average American ate about 19 pounds of butter a year and one pound of margarine. By 1976, they were eating 12 pounds of margarine a year, with a concurrent rise in heart disease. Now the Harvard School of Public Health is saying that eliminating trans fats from the American diet would prevent 250,000 heart attacks and related deaths every year. (Denmark restricted trans fats in 2004; by 2010 the incidence of heart disease and related deaths dropped 60 percent.) The US ban on trans fats goes into effect in 2018—a long time in coming.

Before he died, Dr. Kummerow reported that his own diet included red meat, whole milk and eggs scrambled in butter. We eat like that at our house. Maybe we'll live to 102!

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