Butter or Olive Oil or Margarine – Which is More Fattening?

Which is more fattening – butter or olive oil or margarine? 

Butter vs olive oil vs margarine – which is more fattening? There are a lot of misconceptions about these foods.

The truth?

They’re all fattening.

Butter vs Olive Oil vs Margarine

All of these foods are very calorie dense. Butter contains about 100 calories per tablespoon (100% of which are from fat).  And margarine about the same. Olive oil packs in 119 calories per tablespoon. And again,100% of those calories are from fat.

While I’m not overly concerned about calories and never count calories in any of the food I eat, I do avoid junk food. What are junk foods? One definition for junk foods is foods that are high in calories but have no fiber and very little nutrition. This description perfectly fits butter, margarine, and olive oil.

Unlike other foods that are high in fat, such as nuts, olives, and avocados (which are chock full of nutrients), butter, margarine, and olive oil contain almost no nutrition whatsoever. No vitamin C, no iron, no protein, no B vitamins, no zinc, no magnesium … junk food.

Fat and Disease

But while the calories in butter, olive oil, or margarine don’t come with any health benefits, they will feed a healthy serving of fat to your fat cells. And they have a tendency to raise cholesterol levels, increase risk of cancer, increase risk of heart disease, contribute to weight gain, and more.

Which Oils are Healthy Oils?

All oil is a refined fat – 100% refined fat. Oil is not a whole food. Even “unrefined” oil is highly refined. And it is not a good source of nutrition. You can read more about the dangerous health effects of oil – even “healthy” oils in my post “Is Oil Healthy“?

What About Healthy Butter Spreads?

What about vegan butter, butter alternatives, and other so-called “healthy” butter spreads? Butter-like spreads are no better. These butter alternatives are made from oils, isolates, monoglycerides, flavorings, etc. There’s nothing healthy about them at all.

Healthy Butter Substitutes

If butter, olive oil, and margarine are not healthy options, what is a healthy bread spread? What is a healthy topping for baked potato?  And what will I put on my corn on the cob?!

We love love love this Creamy Italian Dressing on our baked potatoes!

And this Millet Butter is fabulous on corn on the cob.

And for bread? Hooray for avocado spread!!! This creamy, whole-food Avocado Spread recipe takes only 5-minutes to make and gives you a a healthy, oil-free, whole food plant-based spread for your toast or bread!

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