Is Cheese Good For You?
A lot of us love cheese. And it’s something that’s often forbidden on ‘diets.’ Which for a lot of people is a real shame because that feels like a huge sacrifice. Is it healthier to cut out cheese altogether? Are some cheesed better than others? Is cheese good for you?
What is Healthy About Cheese?
Cheese is classed as a ‘whole food.’ And whole foods are all basically good for you, assuming they are eaten in the right quantities. Cheese is a great source of calcium and protein. Its also contains high levels of Vitamins A and B12. And plenty of zinc, riboflavin and phosphorus. So overall pretty nutrient dense and minimally processed, i.e. a pretty natural product. (Obviously there are some processed cheese options available, e.g. squirty cheese, which I would suggest you avoid).
Are Different Cheeses Better/Worse?
Yes cheeses vary slightly in terms of fat, calories and sodium. I will give the nutritional facts of some of the most popular ones below. But as a general guide 100 grams of cheese will be approx. 400 calories. So next time you have a ‘chunk’ of cheese weight it and find out exactly how many calories that equates to. I bet it will be far more than you think.
All below quantities are for 100 grams;
Cottage Cheese – 98 calories and 4 grams of fat.
Feta – 265 calories and 21 grams of fat.
Brie – 320 calories and 27 grams of fat
Blue Cheese – 353 calories and 25 grams of fat
Parmesan – 397 calories and 26 grams of fat.
Cheddar – 408 calories and 34 grams of fat.
As you can see cottage cheese is by far the best choice fat and calorie wise. So if you like it then great! But I totally take the point you can’t really compare it to other cheeses taste and flavour wise. But as you can see there is also a fair different between feta and cheddar. So that’s a substitution you could consider making.
It’s important to note also that the vast majority of fat in cheese is saturated fat. Whilst there is some disagreement between experts how low you want you saturated fat intake to be, you definitely don’t want it too high. So the saturated fat you eat from the cheese needs to be taken into account relative your overall saturated fat intake.
What To Watch Out For
The problem is it’s just so easy to eat a load of calories with cheese without eating a big quantity of eat. You could easily eat 800/1000 calories for just a relatively small plate of cheese and biscuits. A small portion doesn’t always equate to small calories so you need to watch out for that.
What Should You Do?
That really depends on your goals and circumstances. Personally I eat a small portion of cheese most days. But I make sure I control the quantity so that I control the amount of calories relative to my overall calorie intake. Also the rest of my diet is pretty low in saturated fat and sodium so that’s not a huge concern for me. But if you are someone that’s trying to lose weight and therefore sticking to say 1500 calories a day for example this may be tricky. If you find it easy to stay within your calorie allowance and feel full doing so my all means throw some cheese in. If it’s a struggle for you to keep the calories to the level you have set then I would suggest having cheese as an occasional treat rather than every day. It will just make your life harder to keep the calories down as a small quantity is pretty calorific.
Conclusion – Is Cheese Good For You?
Yes it is. It’s a ‘whole,’ unprocessed and nutrient dense food. Not the awful food most diets tell you to avoid at all costs. The problem is it’s pretty calorific and pretty addictive so most people end up eating far too much/many calories of it. So watch out for that, but don’t deprive yourself of cheese entirely that’s not necessary or healthy.