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
I disagree with this article, and I think that the author completely misses the point of Smart Balance as an alternative to butter. Yes it is not butter and like all spreads is artificially made. However, the reasons to use this as an alternative to butter, like any butter substitute, are BECAUSE of the ingredients AND the potential for heart disease in the person consuming the product. I for one use Smart Balance due to a family history of heart disease, heart attacks, bypass surgeries, etc… I made the move to Smart Balance after my heart attack, and given my understanding of Biochemistry and nutrition (PhD), this alternative is vastly superior to butter (especially for a person like myself).
Before I begin with Smart Balance, let’s first look at your “Gold Standard”, unsalted or sweet butter. A single serving (1 Tbsp) contains 7 grams of saturated fat, or 36% of the daily caloric intake from saturated fats. Just one serving of sweet butter exceeds the recommendation (by the American Heart Association and the American Medical Association) to minimize saturated fats to <7% of daily intake. That is just from one serving of butter! In addition, the types of fats in sweet butter are essentially saturated fats. There are NO mono- or poly-unsaturated fats. A person with a heart condition or cardiovascular disease should not only minimize saturated fats, but also replace saturated fats with unsaturated fats in their diet (as much as possible). Unsaturated fats can have the added benefit of normalizing a more health cholesterol profile [increasing good (HDL) and decreasing bad (LDL) cholesterol], as well as a more positive effects on triglyceride levels. So the use of butter in certain people is really not a good idea, and I feel that the author fails to take these facts into considerations in their article.
Now let’s look at Smart Balance. The ingredients listed are all beneficial mono- (canola, olive oils) and poly-unsaturated (soybean) fats. Vegetable monoglycerides are likely both mono- and poly-unsaturated. The ingredients also minimize the more deleterious saturated fats (<2% of whey from milk). In addition canola oil also contains omega fatty acids that are also both beneficial and essential to a healthy lifestyle. Finally, what is so terrible about vitamins being in the ingredients (vitamin A palmitate, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, Vitamin D, vitamin E, beta carotene)? Our milk is vitamin D enriched. Breads are thiamin enriched. Orange juice is calcium and vitamin D enriched. Is the author suggesting that this is all bad? I agree it is always best to get your vitamins from foods, but vitamin supplementation in this respect is hardly a reason to go off on the product.
The statements made by the author have no nutritional basis, and from a medical standpoint is against what every medical student is taught (I teach them, so I know). Go to your cardiologist and ask if you should use a diet rich in saturated fats, or one balanced in mono- and poly-unsaturated fats. You will see how much this article is wrong. I am not saying that everyone in the world should use a product like Smart Balance. If you do not have a problem with heart disease, cholesterol levels, etc… good for you. Go ahead and use butter (although doctors will still probably suggest limiting saturated fats in favor of unsaturated fats). Butter does taste better to me too, but some people (like myself) should avoid it as much as possible. Products like Smart Balance are a healthy alternative to butter, especially if butter is not a good option. The author does not take any of this into account, but since they have a voice (and a following), they should.
I completely agree with you. I am shocked by this article, and the people agreeing to use butter in the comments section. I don’t think the majority people understand how saturated fats are processed by the body. Butter is not “good for you”, no matter how you spin it.
CLUELESS!!!!!!!
Can you be any more immature? Your article to begin with is written in such an attacking, demeaning, and elitist tone and then you respond to extremely well-worded comments that are actually based in fact (and not some emotionally heated opinion) with “CLUELESS!!!!!!”. You are the only one that is “clueless” its sounds.
I agree wholeheartedly with Melanie.
I’m thinking the doc is a hired hand from the Smart Balance company, eh? You’re not convincing anyone, my friend.
There is no way to justify the garbage that is Smart Balance no way, no how. Your attempt to do so is hilarious and obviously monetarily driven.
As a fellow PhD (with a background in Biochemistry and Food Science), I fully agree with Dr. Franklin’s statements and find the contents of the article unsubstantiated and solely merited on opinion, hence the lack of credible citations. With all due respect, Sarah, if you do not have the appropriate educational background to make the comments that you do, I think you need to exert more caution before attacking others. This country certainly has sufficient health woes, including widespread obesity problems, without another internet blogger advocating the consumption of full-fat dairy products.
Thank you. The childish, consipracy-theory responses from Sarah were beyond grating.
Sarah, you are the one who is so obviously cluless, It’s painful.
Agreed.
So, easily oxidized unsaturated fats are good, saturated fats that cannot be are bad. Hmmmm
Canola oil, the vast majority of which is GMO in North America, and soy, the vast majority of which globally is GMO, is good for you. Hmmmmm
Using your ‘logic’ it would be impossible for Pacific Islanders populations to obtain up to 60% of their daily calories from saturated fat and be devoid of cardiovascular disease. Hmmmmm
According to your conventional ‘wisdom’ people with low or ‘normal’ cholesterol levels are significantly less likely to have cardiovascular diseases. Hmmmm
The medical cartels and trade associations have only our best health in mind above all else and are quick, completely thorough and totally unbiased to utilize all scientific facts which 100% of their recommendations are solely based on. Hmmmmmm
And, if you’re so learned about such matters then why is your explanation devoid of any discussion of long chain versus medium chain fatty acids???
I know I am over a year late, but I just read this comment and laughed. Most doctors do not even take a nutrition class or understand components of food. Learning about biochemistry does not mean in anyway that you understand it, which is made clear with the outdated information in this response about saturated fat. If butter is not a good option for somebody ( and in most cases it is), smart balance does not become the next best thing. Its should not even be considered. I don’t know why anybody would take advice form a western doctor when its DOCUMENTED that out of all developed nations America falls dead last in longevity and life expectancy. Anybody that follows a Standard American Diet tends to see an increase in morbidity and mortality. Sarah may not have the best delivery in this article, but at least she is honest and doesn’t try to convince people with meaningless credentials.
beneficial??? canola oil???? That doesn’t belong in the same sentence…..
Raw butter is good for you and doesn’t contribute to heart disease….
Excellent!!! I so agree with you. I am not as educated as you are, however I do have a certificate in Fitness and Nutrition and can not say how much I disagree with this article as well. My ex-brother-in-law a chiropractor and one of the healthiest and fittest people I know, who consumed butter and never having eaten anything else, NO heart attack risk and guess what? He had a heart attack.
Not to be a troll, but it does bother me when I read an article–someone who clearly is respected, and highly read–that doesn’t delve into the facts and reasons behind things and rather simply uses emotion and feeling to push a point of view. I read this article expecting to find reasons why Smart Balance isn’t good for you, and instead I came across a rant that leads me to believe all modern food technology is simply leading us to an early grave, and that our ancestors (who had far shorter life spans than we do) had it right. Sad part is, I agree with you! I’ve done research on Coconut oil and butter, and while both taste better than the alternatives, it would be nice to read an article that shares a little more science and a little less hatred. I blog about technological issues, and I’m a respected figure in the computer consulting world. It would be irresponsible for me to use my hatred of a particular antivirus software program in order to promote another, simply by the use of angry words. I have very logical reasons for preferring one over the other, and I’m sure there are far more logical reasons to avoid Smart Balance than, “It’s new and processed, could it possibly be good for you?” Antibiotics can be bad for you. But in many cases, people would simply die if we didn’t have them. It seems to me the technique in use for moving people to an educated decision should be reconsidered. Just because it’s “whole,” or “traditional,” doesn’t mean it’s better. There are real reasons this stuff should be avoided, and none of them involve personal feelings.
Simply thank you.
Well said.
Try this out:
Studies show that reducing saturated fat DOES NOT reduce the risk of obesity or aid weight loss. It does, however, increase the risk of serious fat-soluble vitamin deficiencies, which are especially detrimental to growing children. This post, from the Washington State Department of Health recommends including more traditional, saturated fats in the diet.
There is plenty of scientific evidence for what Sarah says here…if you look.
You voice my thoughts, thank you. People with the intention of influencing change/views should provide logical arguments in doing so. Otherwise they could come out childlike.
Sarah, I just bought my first pound of grassfed cow butter from a local farm here in tampa, and it has a very distinct flavor. Is that how they all are? It’s hard for me to get past the flavor of it.. And it’s kind of discouraging when I wanted to try something raw and wholesome. Am I going to have to learn to like it?
It’s all what you get used to. My kids turn up their noses to store butter and prefer the raw as that is what they learned to love when first trying butter. Raw grassfed butter definitely has a bit of mild cheese flavor to it. You will probably get used to it. Some just can’t get past it. If that is the case, try pasteurized grassfed butter which is milder in flavor.
I looked at Smart Balance as one of a number of alternatives when diagnosed with high cholesterol a few years ago. I don’t know a lot about some of the ingredients but I do understand the nutrition panels and I was baffled about why it was supposed to so “smart” when it contained virtually the same amount of the things I was trying to avoid as all the other products on the market. Another example, I suppose, of manufacturers banking on consumers falling blindly for a good line.
There is Nothing Smart About Smart Balance – The Healthy Home Economist http://t.co/KmCoETGt
I’m sorry but can you explain how you would genetically modify vegetable oils as was first claimed in your article? I couldn’t read past that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxqoG2twdko&feature=youtu.be
How could you not even mention ghee butter? Come on.
So……let me get this right… Alternatives are:
coconut oil
Evoo
Ghee
Palm oil
I cannot have milk because it coats my throat and lungs and gives me brain fog. My son has a cerebral allergy to milk products because of the casein. I have been using Earth Balance but now I feel guilty for even doing that. Which ones are used for what? Which do you bake with? Does Ghee have casein in it too since it is a milk product? Do you have to make alterations when you bake? Mostly I do bread & cake, pie sort of baking. What do I use instead of butter (for that buttery taste) for toast? Oh and I was told that there is a yeast that tastes buttery could that be used?
I prefer the taste of coconut oil on my toast and both coconut and palm are solid at a room temp (below 78*) so they work well and taste great for stuff like pie crusts.
now the ghee is just the fat from the milk and should not contain the casein. my mother is sensitive to casein and has no trouble with ghee.
As for the yeast, I believe you’re thinking of nutritional yeast, which has a nutty and somewhat cheesy taste and is excellent in mac and (no) cheese as well as in sauces and dips.
Personally, I just do not eat butter or Earth Balance or any imitations whatsoever. I have not missed it at all since going vegan. I can always find my way around using butter or butter substitutes, even in baking. Olinda, if you looked up vegan recipes you would have more luck finding alternative ways of making your and your son’s favorite foods. It takes a good bit of research and dedication at first, but after a while you will find it is very easy to cook without dairy (and eggs). I use rice milk or blended tofu, applesauce, or mashed bananas for recipes that normally call for butter and eggs. Best of luck!
On toast or in sandwiches, some yummy natural foods to try as spreads are avocado (so good for you and decadent! monounsaturated, glutathione rich, vitamin rich), nut butters, organic apple butter (called that, but dairy-free 100% apple), hummus.
I make use of a wide variety of gourmet oils. In addition to your list, you might check out avocado oil, hazelnut oil, walnut oil, macadamia nut oil, dark roasted sesame. If you don’t need to keep your Omega 6 down, there’s grapeseed oil. When buying coconut, make sure to differentiate between organic virgin and ordinary commercial coconut oil (highly processed), choosing the organic virgin ($6 at Trader Joe’s).
And I see no reason to feel guilty for using Earth Balance on occasion. It does offer that buttery taste you are seeking, if you or your son cannot tolerate dairy. But you might introduce your taste buds to all the other yummy, rich tasting things to try on toast I mentioned above. Lemon curd and organic strawberry jam from Costco are also nice now & then. Raw honey also is a treat on toast.
You can also bake & cook with various nut milks, coconut milk, etc. But this involves some experimenting to see which ones you like and are the healthfully made, most natural ones. I hate some and like others — very individual!
I do get your point about the total unnaturalness of smart balance and margarine in general. But I don’t buy into the status quo of accepting that drinking bovine body secretions or eating the conglomerated fat globules of said secretions as any more natural than any other food processing performed by humans. I suspect that the majority of humans prefer to drink highly processed bovine body secretions over sucking them directly from a cow’s teat, and to eat a butchered and aged slab of bovine muscle, nicely scorched over high heat, over the excitement of rending it from a living cow with their incisors while the blood and gore drips “naturally” from their human faces.
Don’t hold it against vegetarians who have to navigate their way through the genteel brutality of modern human society without a compass. Of course most of us may not have the insight to feed all our dietary requirements without falling back on early habits. But, I’m a conscious vegan, and I find myself craving a nice slab of tofu scored with a knife and scorched gently over a saute pan surrounded with steaming broccoli and peanuts with a bit of vegan Pad Thai sauce. Coconut oil serves as butter and milk of the soybean serves as, well, milk! Instead of thinking in terms of deprivation, think in terms of possibilities. You won’t die without a pat of butter–but you’ll enjoy life so much more with the taste of vegan Pad Thai on your lips.
How nice for you, Sandy, but there are many of us who cannot tolerate any soy, gluten or dairy. I could tolerate goat and sheep products for awhile, but even that tolerance keeps diminishing. Much of America’s soy supply is GMO, which is one of the reasons so few people can tolerate it. Maybe I’ll finally be able to abandon my GF breads, etc. if there is nothing to make them more palatable.
As stated before, Alex, since you avoid soy, gluten, and dairy, Earth Balance IS available soy-free, dairy-free, and gluten-free, all while being 100% non-GMO and natural. (The versions with soy are also 100% non-GMO.)
Actually Sophie, Earth Balance is neither 100% non-GMO or natural. Check this out: http://preventdisease.com/news/13/042213_Earth-Balance-Betrays-Consumers-With-False-Non-GMO-and-Organic-Claims.shtml