potential UC trigger

Dear all,

Some reports on the possible cause of UC in some

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8161616.stm

Best wishes.

teacher

I've always had reservations regarding so-called 'healthy' margarine.

Becel seemed ok but years ago the Canadian Dairy lobby forced margarine makers to put a hideous yellow dye in it to make it look NOTHING like butter.

The only problem with that was, it also rendered it NOTHING like any known food fit for consumption.

That idea worked for me as I would only use butter.

I think the dairy people must have stopped insisting, because margarine doesn't have that 'day-glo' yellow hue anymore.

My wife uses mostly becel as she has high cholesteral.

Interesting! Thanks for posting. Makes me wonder how much of the "bad" margarine gets into commercial baked goods, etc. / Old Hat (30 yrs with left-sided UC ... [etc.])

Christine1946 said...
I've been using Smart Balance with Omega 3 and flaxseed oil. It doesn't taste bad at all. Previous to this, I loved my butter.

I love butter too and have been unwilling to give it up - at least not completely. What I now do is modify it to make it a bit more healthy. My recipe:

Two sticks of butter softened (not melted) plus 1 cup oil (Canola, light Olive or high oleic Safflower). Blend together.

What you get is a soft form of butter (no flavor loss) with the consistency of margarine (needs to be kept refrigerated though). The added oil, which is high in monosaturated fats (good ones) makes it more healthy (although I don't know if it would be considered health food!). If you choose olive oil, make sure it is the light form and not extra virgin - unless you like the flavor of olive oil. The other oils have a neutral flavor and don't alter the butter taste.

In general, the book "The Omega Diet" by Simopoulos and Robinson, provides guidelines for avoiding a diet high in omega-6 fatty acids (also where I got the recipe above). It is essentially a Mediterranean diet. So if you like Mediterranean food, you'll like this diet. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.