Hi Angela:

Sometimes I really feel like a party-pooper. Ignorance can certainly be bliss, huh?

But it is an interesting thread b/c I know so many of my friends and family with cholesterol problems who eat the TF-free margarine and I shudder. I don't say anything unless I'm asked (LOL, probably hard to believe, right? ), but I am very concerned about this issue b/c I think manufacturers are really leading people astray. They don't care about your health, they just want your money.

Anyway, I'd love to be proven wrong b/c then I wouldn't have to worry about those I love.

Wanda

Ruth,

I have found Spectrum Naturals Organic, Unrefined coconut oil for $4.69/14 oz. jar at Whole Foods. According to the company's web site, there's a Whole Foods store in Seattle:

Roosevelt Square
1026 NE 64th Street
Seattle, WA 98115

If you buy an entire case, you get a 10% discount.

If you can't get to Whole Foods, try ordering online from www.azurestandard.com. Just search for the term "coconut oil," and you'll get several results. The company ships from Oregon, so shipping costs should be too bad.

Personally, I have found coconut oil to be a saving grace, not only in cooking, but in skin care, and even as a deodorant! I won't prattle here about the details, but I'd be happy to answer any private messages you care to send (assuming I can, with just 3 posts to my credit). You can also check out my posts on this topic at www.eatprotein.com, where my User # is 5665.

Thanks acohn! I'm definitely going to try this.

--Ruth

PS - can't PM you yet because you have too few posts, but I'll check out the posts you mentioned at the other site. Thanks again.

Hi ladies, I'm the new gal on the block. Am on here to find new things I don't know about. Also need to lose the 40 pounds I gained when I was sick last year. I have read a number of books, Schwarzbein Principle, Suzanne Somers has good sound advice in her books and Schwarzbein is who she learned from, Atkins Diet, and Dr. Don Colbert's books, also. I just need to discipline myself again, and also get some exercise by walking.

Something I learned about margarines is that their chemical structure is one molecule away from being plastic. Somewhere, years ago, my former chiropracter/nutritionist had shown it to me in documented form...in print.

That was before Smart Balance came out. He also told me that if it's man-made and in a package, which butter and olive oil are not, then it's not really a food...and will eventually affect your health adversely. He also warned me that hydrogenation is what plugs up your arteries and that the use of butter would have to be in huge amounts to have that affect. It's the hydrogenated oils in the breads and muffins and rolls and cakes that are plugging our arteries...not the butter we're smearing on them.

If you read the ingredients on your store bought breads, spreads and cookies, you will find ingredients containing hydrogention or partial hydrogenation. These are oils that have been altered to a point that the body cannot break down and it then becomes sludge in your veins and arteries that calcify with time. It's not the butter, unless you comsume huge amounts over a long term period. When you cook fatty meats you are altering the fat with the heat...so eat lean meats. Because it's in moderation your body will break it down...just abstain from hydrogenated ingredients. Butter has a high heating point so it's safe to cook with. He also warned me that fried foods are the most dangerous to consume, and that sautee'ing on medium heat or lower is much healthier.

I use smart balance, but I won't apply heat to it...I use it cold. The fact that it smokes so easily at a low temperature tells me that heating it is not good, even though they say it is. So, for cooking I use butter, olive oil, safflower oil and coconut oil. Just depends on how high the heat is going to be.

Hope this helps someone. My cholesterol has been low, so he must have known what he was talking about.

I always understood SmartBalance to have a blend of butter and canola oil...?? Guess I was wrong. I never thought of it as a margarine.

I use it too as its one of the blends that South Beach recommends. For cooking, I use real EVOO(Thanks Rachel Ray! )...and in my salad dressings.

I use the Smart Balance for my mashed cauliflower( with reduced fat sour cream) and as a spread for when and if I have toast.

My mom asked me about SmartBalance once, if it was OK for her to eat. I told her no, just to be safe.

If they break chemical bonds to make it a solid, then it's a margarine and should not be eaten. If they emulsify it some other way, without heat, much the same way you can whip cream and make it more solid, then I suppose it's OK. I just haven't found anything about how it's actually made. And I learned a long time ago not to trust what the maker of the product says.

I love it. It has no transfats, which make margarine a no-no... and none of the "per serving" fine print. It's made with a blend of fats that give it the texture.

www.smartbalance.com

I read the site, and I see it's a blend of palm fruit oil (saturated) and soy and canola oils (polyunsaturated). Mixing a saturated with polyunsaturated could produce a solid in the refridgerator, I guess. Both soy(bean) oil and canola oil are typically heat-extracted and therefore damaged before being used in the product. I didn't see anything on the site about the oils being cold-pressed.

I also saw that the products are all designed to be used together to produce the proper "balance" of fats over the course of a week. Whatever the heck that means.

I think I'll just stick with butter.

I saw acually just discussing this at my folks house today and still don't know the answer. I read the information on the site, however, they don't say whether it changes the oils once cooked. I have used this on WW, but now I am not sure to use or not. Its not in my induction list, so I think I'll stick with butter and evoo.

Oh once read something somewhere, that explained how and why fats change when heated. Anyone have a link to that information?