816 - LET ME BUTTER YOU UP!

No. 816

Jim Davidson -- NEWSPAPER COLUMN

LET ME BUTTER YOU UP!

You no doubt have heard the saying, “He was just trying to butter him up.” I did a little research to try to learn the origin of this saying but with no success. However, I did discover a great example of how and where this saying is often used. It’s in school or college when students want a high grade and they try to “butter up” their teacher or professor in an attempt to gain the edge.
A while back I got one of those often-circulated e-mails that had some tremendous information that takes the saying “butter up” to a whole new level. This piece had to do with actual “butter” and a comparison with margarine, and the effects the latter can have on the human body. I am assuming that some research has been done on these two items and why it’s important for all of us to know the difference. There was also a practical test that I will share a bit later.
Question: Do you know the difference between margarine and butter? To begin with, they both have the same amount of calories. Butter is slightly higher in saturated fats at 8 grams; compared to 5 grams for margarine. Eating margarine can increase heart disease in women by 53 percent 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, and 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.
And now, for a closer look at margarine. It is very high in trans fatty acids. Eating excessive amounts triples the risk of coronary heart disease. It increases total cholesterol and LDL (this is the bad cholesterol) and lowers HDL (the good cholesterol.) Further, it increases the risk of cancer up to five times, lowers quality of breast milk, decreases immune response and decreases insulin response.
Now, here is that practical test I mentioned earlier. Purchase a tub of margarine and leave it open in your garage or shaded area. Within a couple of days you will observe the following: no flies, not even those pesky fruit flies, will go near it. That should tell us 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.
Now, I will be the first to admit this sounds like a commercial for the dairy industry, and it could just be a myth, but if it’s true, it’s certainly worth checking out. Would you please pass the butter?
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(EDITOR'S NOTE: Jim Davidson is a public speaker and syndicated columnist. You may contact him at 2 Bentley Drive, Conway, AR 72034. To begin a bookcase literacy project visit www.bookcaseforeverychild.com. You won’t go wrong helping a needy child.)