Nutritionist reminds: Spread margarine on toast and coffee with creamer for breakfast. The key to health lies in the degree of processing rather than plant-based.

[Health Channel/Comprehensive Report] Many people eat toast with margarine and coffee with creamer for breakfast. Are plant-based margarine and creamer healthier? Nutritionist Zeng Jianming pointed out that the key to choosing oil and milk products is not "plant or animal", but the degree of processing and ingredients. For toast, you can choose a small amount of natural butter, virgin olive oil or guacamole; for coffee, you can use fresh milk, sugar-free soy milk, or oat milk with an eye on sugar content instead of creamer. The key is to avoid eating highly processed foods every day.

Zeng Jianming shared in a Facebook post "Eat Right Nutrition Institute | Jianming Nutritionist" that many people eat toast with margarine for breakfast, and often add creamer to their coffee. What they may be thinking is to comfort themselves: "These are plant-based, should they be better than animal-based butter and milk?" In fact, the focus is not on plants or animals, but on the "level of processing."

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Margarine must be highly processed

What is margarine? Zeng Jianming explained that margarine is mostly made from vegetable oil, but vegetable oil is originally liquid. In order to turn it into a solid state that can be spread and whipped, it must be hydrogenated or highly processed, such as cross-esterification. The biggest concern is the trans fat produced in the process.

He went on to say that although regulations have become stricter and many products on the market advertise "zero trans fat," "zero trans fat = natural and healthy." In order to maintain the taste and solid state, it still needs to add emulsifiers, flavors, and often contains a lot of saturated fat. Eating it for a long time can easily cause a burden on the body and increase cardiovascular risks.

Creamer is not milk

Zeng Jianming said that the main ingredients of creamer are usually vegetable oil + emulsifier + spices + sugar. Its advantages are very practical, including being cheap, long-lasting, and having a stable taste when placed in coffee. But from a nutritional point of view, it has almost no protein and calcium in milk. In other words, what people consume is mainly refined fat + refined sugar.

3 principles for dietary choices

Zeng Jianming bluntly said that what is healthier is a small amount of "real cream and fresh milk", which is often simpler than the daily margarine + creamer. Of course, this doesn’t mean you should eat butter every day. He made the following three practical suggestions:

1. To choose the toast spread, you can choose a small amount of natural butter, virgin olive oil or guacamole.

2. Choose coffee additives. Fresh milk, sugar-free soy milk, and even oat milk (pay attention to the sugar content) are all more nutritious than creamer.

3. There is no need to pursue a complete ban. The point is not to "absolutely not eat", but not to eat it every day and regard highly processed foods as a fixed eating habit.

Zeng Jianming concluded that when choosing fats and oils and food ingredients, don’t just look at names such as “plant-based” to judge whether they are healthy or not. You should also pay attention to the ingredients and processing level of the product, and try to choose ingredients that are closer to the original food.