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Margarine is a synthetic product, with the oil created in complex refineries then hydrogenated. You can't compare this to something like lentil stew or a salad.

Margarine is a synthetic product, with the oil created in complex refineries then hydrogenated. You can't compare this to something like lentil stew or a salad. If the recommendation is that eating anything you want as long as the origin can be traced back to plants, then I agree, plant based diets aren't necessarily healthier. A WFPB (whole foods plant based) diet is undeniably healthy though. The problem with margarine is orthogonal - it's due to processing. Processing has been shown to be very unhealthy whether with plant based products like margarine, or animal based products like hot dogs. In any case the IPCC's recommendation is about the environment, and there is no doubt that animal foods are far worse for the environment.

mejutoco 4y ago
Those are very good points. I agree on animal foods being worse for the environment too. Cheers.
vintermann 4y ago
The idea that "processed food" is bad annoys me, because it's so impossibly broad. Milling, roasting, fermenting, freezing, drying, smoking, chopping, soaking, skimming, distilling, salting, curing, pickling, sieving, threshing, squeezing, and yes, hydrogenation - Anything we do to food is processing, and a lot of food is not safe to eat without processing. Veganism is one thing, but the "raw food" diet is damn near impossible to make work, so much that the alternative people who embrace every other fad like that warn against it. It is specific forms of processing which are bad, in specific circumstances. Smoking is, sadly, bad because the substances which preserve the food are carcinogenic. Partial hydrogenation of oils is bad because half of the partially hydrogenated products will be trans fats which the body really isn't good at handling.
- colordrops 4y ago
  Many concerns are a matter of degree and involve complex fuzzy boundaries. It's difficult to find hard and fast rules when it comes to processed foods. When talking about processing, you need to do research to determine which sorts of processing are harmful and why. There is a lot of information available. This means understanding what you are putting into your body and what happens inside your body when you take in various food products. How deep you take this is also a choice. It doesn't matter what diet you choose.

mejutoco 4y ago

Those are very good points. I agree on animal foods being worse for the environment too. Cheers.

vintermann 4y ago

The idea that "processed food" is bad annoys me, because it's so impossibly broad. Milling, roasting, fermenting, freezing, drying, smoking, chopping, soaking, skimming, distilling, salting, curing, pickling, sieving, threshing, squeezing, and yes, hydrogenation - Anything we do to food is processing, and a lot of food is not safe to eat without processing. Veganism is one thing, but the "raw food" diet is damn near impossible to make work, so much that the alternative people who embrace every other fad like that warn against it. It is specific forms of processing which are bad, in specific circumstances. Smoking is, sadly, bad because the substances which preserve the food are carcinogenic. Partial hydrogenation of oils is bad because half of the partially hydrogenated products will be trans fats which the body really isn't good at handling.

colordrops 4y ago
Many concerns are a matter of degree and involve complex fuzzy boundaries. It's difficult to find hard and fast rules when it comes to processed foods. When talking about processing, you need to do research to determine which sorts of processing are harmful and why. There is a lot of information available. This means understanding what you are putting into your body and what happens inside your body when you take in various food products. How deep you take this is also a choice. It doesn't matter what diet you choose.