Margarine: Is This Favorite Holiday Ingredient Bad For Your Heart?

If you're in the middle of planning a large holiday feast for your family, your heart may be the last thing on your mind. But some of the ingredients used in your holiday meals and desserts may potentially affect the health of your cardiovascular system, including margarine. Here's how margarine may harm your heart and what you can substitute for margarine instead.

How Can Margarine Affect Your Heart?

If you use margarine in your recipes during the holidays, you may want to replace it with something else. Although margarine contains lower amounts of saturated fats than butter, it can still cause problems for your heart. Margarine has a high trans-fat content, which is just as unhealthy as saturated fat.

Margarine and other substances that contain trans fat may potentially increase the levels of your bad cholesterol and diminish the levels of your good cholesterol. Good cholesterol protects your heart and its tissues from damage by removing bad cholesterol from your bloodstream. However, bad cholesterol can increase your risk factors for heart disease, high blood sugar, and stroke.

You can keep your family's hearts healthy with the right changes.

What Can You Use Instead of Margarine?

If your recipes call for margarine, try replacing it with a product that doesn't contain trans fat or saturated fat. The nutritional facts on the products' labeling can help you select the right substitute. If you have problems selecting a good substitute, use olive or canola oil in your recipes. The oils are high in unsaturated fat, which can help lower your body's bad cholesterol levels.

Also, see a family doctor and request a heart-healthy exam. The exam allows a physician to check your cholesterol levels, as well as your blood pressure and heart rate. High cholesterol can increase your blood pressure and heart rate over time. It can be difficult to detect these types of health problems without a thorough exam.

A family physician may also examine your children's hearts for problems. Children can experience high cholesterol levels if they live a sedentary lifestyle or eat unhealthy snacks. The exam may also help detect changes in your children's cardiovascular systems that could potentially cause problems later down the road.

You can enjoy your holiday meals and desserts if you take the right precautions. To learn more about the effects of margarine and other ingredients on your heart, contact a family doctor or a clinic, like Snow Creek Medical Center, for an appointment.

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