The heavily industrialized frankenfood known as Smart Balance should more aptly be named Stupid Balance when you examine the ingredients list!
I’ve had it. Everyone has her limits and I’ve reached mine. If one more person who claims to eat healthily tells me that he/she uses Smart Balance or any of those health robbing butter substitute “spreads”, I think I’m going to scream. This includes other pseudo-foods like Egg Beaters too.
A loud, obnoxious, ear piercing, wine glass shattering SCREAM!
You see, there is nothing remotely “smart” about Smart Balance unless of course, you happen to be a shareholder of the company. In that case, you would be very happy with the cheap, rancid, genetically modified vegetable oils used to manufacture substitutes for butter resulting in a very low cost of production and handsome profit margins.
Don’t think for one moment that Smart Balance could possibly be made in the comfort of your own kitchen the way lovely yellow butter can easily be churned from cream in a bowl with a hand mixer.
No way! A frankenfood as complex as Smart Balance or any of the many other “spreads” on the market requires synthesis in a factory in all its high tech, food denaturing glory. Smart Balance and margarine spreads like it is chemistry experiments, not food!
Get a load of the catchy marketing on the Smart Balance website:
It’s funny how these margarine manufacturers always talk about “using it” and “loving it” like butter.
Why would people do that anyway?
Mmmm. Maybe because these folks need some healthy fats like REAL butter perhaps??
I know a die-hard vegetarian who once told me that every now and again when she craves a big, thick juicy steak, she gives in and eats one.
Smart gal. Cravings can tell us a lot about ourselves – if we’ll only listen – from the state of our gut as in the case of craving sugar and having a gut imbalance problem to craving a steak due to the complete proteins only animal foods can provide (soy is NOT a complete protein, by the way. Don’t even get me started on that one).
So, when that craving for all things buttery comes over you, it is always best to get some Real Butter and slather it on anything that seems remotely feasible at the moment.
A vegan community in South Florida suffering from severe dental decay issues likes to eat raw butter straight out of the tub with a spoon, I’m told. Now, that’s a serious craving for the “buttery taste”!
What Exactly is in Smart Balance?
Let’s take a look at the ingredients in Stupid, er – I mean, Smart Balance:
When this post was originally published, here were the ingredients in Smart Balance (original):
Natural oil blend (soybean, palm fruit, canola, and olive oils), water, contains less than 2% of whey (from milk), salt, natural and artificial flavor, vegetable monoglycerides and sorbitan ester of fatty acids (emulsifiers), soy lecithin, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, Vitamin D, dl-a-tocopheryl acetate (vitamin E), lactic acid, beta carotene color, and potassium sorbate, and calcium disodium EDTA (to preserve freshness).
Ingredients Analysis
Shall we analyze this rather long list of ingestibles?
- The soybean and canola oils are almost certainly genetically modified. Frankenfood at its finest!
- The olive oil isn’t even extra virgin olive oil and is likely cut with cheap vegetable oils like most olive oil on the market. Can we say cheap, cheap, CHEAP?
- Natural and artificial flavor – this must be where that “buttery taste you crave” part comes in. Excellent stuff if you dig tricking your taste buds (newsflash, you won’t trick your tummy though. At least not for long. You’ll be craving that “buttery taste” soon after and more than likely sticking your head in a big bowl of ice cream by 9 pm).
- Soy lecithin – yet another genetically modified ingredient.
- Vitamin A palmitate – the synthetic form of vitamin A – the kind that is dangerous. Since there’s not much natural about Smart Balance in the first place, “fortification” with synthetic vitamins seems logical!
- Vitamin D – the label doesn’t even specify what type, but I can pretty much guarantee it’s synthetic D2, which won’t help at all in avoiding vitamin D deficiency symptoms. Is this the wondrous, natural vitamin D3 everyone – even Oprah – raves about? Brilliant marketing and wishful thinking don’t make it so.
- Beta carotene color – the normal color for factory-produced margarine like Smart Balance is a very unappetizing grey, so the color is definitely needed here to fool the masses. Don’t be fooled that this beta carotene adds natural Vitamin A either. Beta carotene is not true vitamin A!
- Potassium sorbate – a supposedly safe food preservative that inhibits microbial growth. Safe at least until they find it isn’t. Three cheers for being a guinea pig!
- Calcium disodium EDTA – an organic pollutant which breaks down in the environment into ethylenediamine triacetic acid and then diketopiperazine. Diketopiperazine is a persistent organic pollutant, similar to PCBs and DDT. Not only does Smart Balance pollute the bodies of those who eat it, but it also pollutes the environment too!
Smart Balance 7 Years Later
Let’s analyze the ingredients again 7 years later. Smart Balance has, in the interim, gotten significant press on its “pledge” to remove GMOs from its ingredients. Has it happened yet? Apparently not. Don’t hold your breath on that one. Not much improvement here despite an outcry from consumers to do better.
- Vegetable oil blend (canola, olive, and palm oil)
- Water
- Contains less than 2% salt
- Pea protein
- Natural and artificial flavors
- Sunflower lecithin
- Vitamin A Palmitate
- Beta-carotene (color)
- Vitamin D
- Monoglycerides of vegetable fatty acids (emulsifier)
- Potassium Sorbate
- Lactic acid
- Calcium Disodium EDTA
Let’s analyze the (few) changes.
Little Improvement in Smart Balance Ingredients
First, the GMO soybean oil has been removed. While this is a positive, unfortunately, GMO canola oil is still in there as the primary vegetable oil.
Second, pea protein has replaced the whey protein from before. This is apparently an effort to make Smart Balance dairy-free. Is pea protein any healthier than whey protein? Unfortunately not. All protein powders are highly processed and not a healthy choice.
The GMO soy lecithin has been replaced with sunflower lecithin. This is a solid improvement and a step in the right direction.
Two new ingredients include lactic acid and monoglycerides of vegetable fatty acids. While lactic acid is not really a problem, it could be from a GMO source. The originating food for lactic acid is not specified. Similarly, the vegetable oil that is used to derive the emulsifying fatty acids is not specified. In those situations, I’ve learned to pretty much assume the worst … they are most likely of GMO origin. If they were nonGMO you can be sure Smart Balance would trumpet as much on the label like they have identified the source of the lecithin as nonGMO sunflower.
Everything else appears to be the same.
All in all, Smart Balance has improved from a grade of “F” to a “D-” in seven years. Is it healthy to use? Nope. It’s still frankenfood and not a good choice for those who understand the critical importance of natural, healthy fats in the diet.
Butter is Always Best!
Nothing manufactured in a factory can ever beat the simple, natural, whole nutrition of plain BUTTER and other whole traditional fats. No genetically modified, artificial flavors or organic pollutant preservatives needed. Loads of natural form of vitamins A, D, and E that really will boost your immune system unlike the synthetic versions in margarine spreads like Smart Balance.
Be sure not to buy butter from cows fed genetically modified feed, however, like Kerry Gold is rumored to do.
Grass-fed butter is what you are looking for (quality sources)!
Butterfat is far superior to the rancid, highly processed vegetable oils in Smart Balance. While not hydrogenated, the edible oil processing, called interesterification, is still very much denaturing and is arguably worse for cardiovascular health than transfats.
On the other hand, butter, particularly grass-fed butter, is one of the richest sources of vitamin K2. Vitamin K2 is the magical X-Factor written about by Dr. Weston A. Price which is known to prevent arterial calcification which is a very strong (if not the strongest) predictor of cardiovascular disease risk, NOT cholesterol levels. Natural cholesterol in the diet supplied in forms such as grass-fed butter and eggs are extremely beneficial to health!
Folks with low cholesterol suffer from heart disease at the same rate as those with high cholesterol. Don’t tell that to the folks in the marketing department at Smart Balance, though. They’re doing really well with that catchy marketing slogan that associates the use of Smart Balance with “healthy” cholesterol levels.
What if You Have a Dairy Allergy?
For those with dairy allergies, natural and truly healthy butter substitute spreads made with unrefined traditional oils are now becoming available. This one is my favorite which blends virgin coconut oil and that anti-oxidant powerhouse, red palm oil without any additives, fillers, GMOs or destructive processing.
Once you get past the marketing hype, it sure seems that the more appropriate name for Smart Balance would be “Stupid Balance”, don’t you think?
References
Interesterification of Vegetable Oils, by Dr. Mary Enig
Whole Health Source, Butter, Margarine, and Heart Disease
Jess; You do realize there is an RDA for saturated fats!? FYI one ounce of butter has less than the RDA. Limiting saturated fats to less than 10% of consumed calories and trans fats to 1% of calories is the key.
BTW I have GREAT HDL healthy Triglycerides and Cholesterol ratio; I eat butter, coconut oil and eggs daily; the key is moderation and balance; I avoid processed foods, eat a lot of fresh veggies, nuts, fruits, have fish regularly and eat very little red meat, plus, I get regular exercise.
Yeah, barely. 1oz is 73% of your recommended intake for saturated fat and 20% of your recommended intake of cholesterol. 100 calories per tablespoon gives you 12 grams fat, 7 grams saturated fat, 3 grams monounsaturated fat. 31mg cholesterol, 82 mg sodium. Generally men should consume no more than 30g of saturated fat a day, and women no more than 24g to protect our heart health. On top of it there is a certain amount of trans fat found in butter. Don’t fool yourself butter people. It isn’t all that and a bag of chips.
As far as whatever nonsense is also being spread about “margarine being one molecule away from plastic”, you are just stupidly falling victim to internet hysteria. Snopes debunked this forever ago. http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/butter.asp
Holy crap you people are incredibly stupid. “Real butter is best!” Yeah right. Do you people know ANYTHING about saturated fats, monounsaturated fats, and polyunsaturated fats? Coconut oil and palm oil/shortening are two of the most UNHEALTHIEST oils around because it is extremely high in saturated fat. You butter people must have cholesterol levels that are off the charts. You want to “fix” your bodies? Eat more monounsaturated fats like nut oils (almond, avocado, canola, hazelnut, macadamia, olive oil, peanut, rice bran, or walnut) which would ultimately lower your levels. Not to mention the author of this entire post is an OUTRIGHT LIAR. Check the back of a tub of Earth Balance. It contains “Natural oil blend (palm fruit oil, canola, safflower, and olive), filtered water, contains less than 2% of pure salt, pea protein, sunflower lecithin, lactic acid (which is in butter, durka durr!), and annatto. Nothing unnatural or highly processed there. I mean seriously Sarah, do you work for the bloody cow industry or something because the blatant lies and ignorance is just astounding!
Kudos Jess!! I can not beleive this stuff.
Pretty sure you just listed the bad thing in your list, canola. There is no canola plant. It is the rapeseed plant, which is not healthy to eat.
Unfortunately people are silly. If you write in a book, “picking your nose extends you life!” – somebody, somewhere, will read that and believe that. If it is on the news, they will believe it. People are gullible. Lots of people make lots of mistakes, all the time. Do not be one of them yourself. It is all you can do. Trying to convince others usually backfires, leaving you looking like the bad guy. Then again, if most of the people you surround yourself are stupid, maybe it is time to trade them in for some better company anyway. =)
I am a little confused as to whether this is the same product I tried;
I often try new products to help my clients achieve a healthier lifestyle and recently tried “smart balance”; the package says it is 50% butter and the other ingredients seem much better than margerine (which is one molecule different from being plastic); while I personally would not choose it (or anything else) over fresh butter, it seems a healthier alternative to margarine for those that are following Dr.’s advice to eat a “butter substitute”…. in my experience, it is much easier to influence change if you can find compromises that the patient is receptive to rather than challenge the physicians “orders”… many of my clients have gradually come to realize that I know more about nutrition and wellness than their physicians and as a result have initiated more healthy changes. Let’s face it, we all have room for improvement and for some this product may be an improvement (even though not optimum); my colleague once asked why one would do something that was last than optimum; my response because it is the best he/she can do …. we must meet our clients where they are and help them start with little changes … after all, Rome was not built in a day but if no one had laid the first stone….
Lin Where did you hear margarine is one molecule different from being plastic? It is no true not even close. If anything it is closer to butter than plastic. The research I have done I found that it was someone that said margarine is one like plastic or one molecule away from plastic. It kind of stuck and people just repeat it over and over, but repeating something over and over does not make it true.
I kind of doubt that Mary Enig favors butter since she says in her book that she makes her own spread of 1/3 virgin coconut oil, 1/3 sesame oil and 1/3 extra virgin olive oil. Personally, I can’t eat butter or dairy products at all, get very sick from them. I don’t know if it is the Vit D3 they add to it (made from lanolin which I am allergic to) or whether I just can’t tolerate dairy products.
People that suffer from milk allergies generally have no problem with ghee; many find no issues with grass fed raw milk (no additives) as well; others find that kefir is well tolerated (it breaks down the proteins); it depends on your specific sensitivity.
You can bash margarine all you need to just to make yourself feel better! Try living a life stye as a 6 year old that has a very rare food allergy call Eosinpohic esophagitis. You couldn’t last one day with this condition! Kids and adults with this condition have no choice but to use dairy free margarine so you might want to get off your high horse of taking a stand for butter! Using these products are the only way they can have a baked good and not be left out when others are enjoying their treats! Just to let you know, you made yourself sound like such an insensitive bitch! I am so agravated over your website it makes me feel sick to my stomach! My son has been through so much at such a young age, I feel VERY offended by your site! You might want to have some feelings for others that can’t use butter! Free speech, you sound like butter is your life! Get a life!
There are other natural products that are a healthy alternative to oleo (one molecule from being plastic if I recall); my favorite is coconut oil; i use it for everything from baking to skin cream; use olive oil for non-heated applications and also use butter. Anyone can have an intolerance to a specific food and that does not make that food bad, just bad for that individual. Some foods are unhealthy in general and should be avoided; oleo falls in this category along with numerous processed foods. Just because there is not an immediate adverse reaction does not mean it is healthy or even “acceptable”.
Have you determined his allergy to be milk? or casein? or lactose? There are so many allergens that those with EE can have. It is great you have found the allergen… Many can’t find it…
So many who are lactose or casein sensitive CAN have raw butter (not pasteurized or homogenized) milk/butter from grass fed A2 cows (and normally from goats if not cows)…
I was actually looking for low cholesterol options to butter when I found this half ridiculous post. All whole dairy products are bad for one’s cholesterol count, or if you are dairy sensitive. If you don’t have high cholesterol, anything non processed is best. But for some who are not idiots and would like to keep their cholesterol down, or can’t digest dairy, spreads are the way to go. 1 TBS butter has 8 g of sat. fat. 1 TBS spread has 1-2 g depending on the spread. When you should only ingest 20 g of sat fat daily, if you have high cholesterol, you can’t be using it all on butter. Don’t get me wrong, I believe is natural is best, but sometimes things that are manufactured can be good.
You are completely wrong when you say that our bodies need animal protein because it’s more “complete”. Our bodies are not designed to digest animal protein. That’s why the more meat you eat, the higher your risk of colon cancer especially (and heart disease, diabetes, and other cancers), because we do not have the small intestines that carnivores have. Our intestines are not made to digest meat, so when we eat it, it sits there and rots for days as our body works to digest something it wasn’t meant to. I have never been a big meat eater, but right now I am transitioning to a completely vegan diet. It’s been about two months, and I feel AMAZING. I have crazy energy all the time, my mind is so focused, my mood is better, I’ve lost weight, and I feel so much happier and more confident. Aside from the personal health benefits (which are huge), eating a vegan diet is cheaper and has a much, much lower carbon footprint than eating a meat-based diet. That’s a fact. And, the biggest reason for eating vegan for me, it reduces the horrible suffering of animals that occurs every day in our society in factory farms.
I think you are right about Smart Balance not being healthy, but your statements about us needing animals products to be healthy ruined any credibility you might have had on the subject of healthy food. I am the one that wants to scream when I hear people that say that care about eating healthy, and then claim that animal products are healthy for humans. Do your research, try eating vegan for 30 days, or even 3 days, see how amazing you feel and then tell me that eating meat is a healthier diet.
When we eat good food, we don’t support factory farms… We buy raw milk and meat from grass fed A2 cows and never from CAFOs…
I am breastfeeding and I’m allergic to dairy. I noticed that if I accidentally have dairy my son reacts. So that means no real butter even though I do appreciate grass fed butter
I have like 5 things of earth balance soy free bc I bake so much. :(:(
What should I use instead?