Butter, margarine, and cooking oils: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia

P Some types of fat are healthier for your heart than others. Butter and other animal fats and solid margarine are not the best choices. Choose liquid vegetable oils or margarines made from these oils when possible.

T What to Use When Cooking
P When you cook, solid margarine or butter is not the best choice. Butter is high in saturated fat, which can raise your cholesterol. It can also increase your chance of heart disease. Most margarines have some saturated fat plus trans-fatty acids, which can also be bad for you. Both of these fats have health risks.
P Some guidelines for healthier cooking:
- Use olive or canola oil instead of butter or margarine.
- Choose soft margarine (tub or liquid) over harder stick forms.
- Choose margarines with liquid vegetable oil, such as olive oil, as the first ingredient.
- Even better, choose "light" margarines that list water as the first ingredient. These are even lower in saturated fat.
- If you have high cholesterol, talk with your health care provider about using margarines made from plant sterols or stanols. These are made from soybean and pine tree oils, and they can help lower your LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol). But these margarines are not yet recommended for children, pregnant women, and people who do not have high cholesterol.

T What Not to Use When Cooking
P You should NOT use:
- Margarine, shortening, and cooking oils that have more than 2 grams of saturated fat per tablespoon (read the nutrition information labels).
- Hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated fats (read the ingredients labels). These are high in saturated fats and trans-fatty acids.
- Shortening or other fats made from animal sources, such as lard.

T Alternative Names
P Cholesterol - butter; Hyperlipidemia - butter; CAD - butter; Coronary artery disease - butter; Heart disease - butter; Prevention - butter; Cardiovascular disease - butter; Peripheral artery disease - butter; Stroke - butter; Atherosclerosis - butter

T Images
- Saturated fat

T References
P Eckel RH, Jakicic JM, Ard JD, et al. 2013 AHA/ACC Guideline on lifestyle management to reduce cardiovascular risk: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2014;63(25 Pt B):2960-2984. PMID: 24239922 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24239922.
P Heimburger DC. Nutrition's interface with health and disease. In: Goldman L, Schafer AI, eds. Goldman's Cecil Medicine. 25th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; 2016:chap 213.
P Jensen MD, Ryan DH, Apovian CM, et al. 2013 AHA/ACC/TOS guideline for the management of overweight and obesity in adults: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines and The Obesity Society. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2014;63(25 Pt B):2985-3023. PMID: 24239920 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24239920.
P Moyer VA; U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Vitamin, mineral, and multivitamin supplements for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease and cancer: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendation statement. Ann Intern Med. 2014;160(8):558-564. PMID: 24566474 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24566474.
P Mozaffarian D. Nutrition and cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. In: Mann DL, Zipes DP, LibbyP, Bonow RO, Braunwald E, eds. Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. 10th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; 2015:chap 46.

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T Patient Instructions
- Angina - discharge
- Angioplasty and stent - heart - discharge
- Aspirin and heart disease
- Being active when you have heart disease
- Cardiac catheterization - discharge
- Cholesterol and lifestyle
- Cholesterol - drug treatment
- Cholesterol - what to ask your doctor
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- Fast food tips
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- Heart bypass surgery - discharge
- Heart bypass surgery - minimally invasive - discharge
- Heart disease - risk factors
- Heart failure - discharge
- How to read food labels
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T Review Date 8/22/2016
P Updated by: Laura J. Martin, MD, MPH, ABIM Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Hospice and Palliative Medicine, Atlanta, GA. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Isla Ogilvie, PhD, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.

T Related MedlinePlus Health Topics
- Dietary Fats
- Low Cholesterol Diet

