Thinking outside the tub [news]

There’s no rule that says the spread on your bread must be yellow. In fact it’s easier to just dig into an avocado and spread on some green instead – that way you can avoid an argument about what’s better, butter or margarine. Both these yellow spreads have their pros and cons. Butter, a food we’ve eaten for thousands of years, tastes better and comes with no colourings or preservatives - but its saturated fat content can raise levels of ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol. Margarine made from canola, olive oil or sunflower oil on, the other hand, contains fats that help lower LDL cholesterol – but doesn’t taste as good. And although margarines made with olive oil, another fat with a long track record, sound reassuringly Mediterranean, the amount of olive oil in them can be as little as 16 or 23 per cent.