Is margarine healthier than butter? Neither is ideal, because butter is loaded with saturated fat, and almost all margarines have some saturated fat and trans fatty acids. However, if you must use one or the other, margarine may be better than butter.

Here are some guidelines:

• Use canola or olive oil instead of butter or margarine.
• Choose soft margarine (tub or liquid) over harder stick forms.
• Choose margarines with liquid vegetable oil as the first ingredient.
• Even better, choose "light" margarines that list water as the first ingredient, because these are even lower in saturated fat.
• If you have high cholesterol, talk to your doctor about using margarines made from plant sterols or stanols. These substances, made from soybean and pine tree oils, can help lower your LDL cholesterol by as much as 20%. The American Heart Association recommends further study for children, pregnant women, and those without high cholesterol.

Limit:

• Margarines, shortening, and cooking oils that have more than 2 grams of saturated fat per tablespoon.
• "Hydrogenated" and "partially-hydrogenated" fats, because these are high in saturated fats and trans-fatty acids. Read ingredients on food labels.
• Coconut, palm, and palm kernel oils, because they are very high in saturated fat.
• Shortening or other fats made from animal sources.

Lichtenstein AH, Deckelbaum RJ.AHA Science Advisory. Stanol/sterol ester-containing foods and blood cholesterol levels. A statement for healthcare professionals from the Nutrition Committee of the Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Metabolism of the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2001 Feb 27;103(8):1177-9.