Say Cheeeese...

Explore the health benefits of cheese, its nutritional value, and the importance of humane animal care in this insightful blog post.

Cheese...the fermented food that sparks debate.

The main "cons" of eating cheese tend to stem from concerns about the animal's diet being high in pesticides, antibiotics, grains, or GMO compounds, as well as concerns about the animal's welfare. Most dairy-based cheeses come from cows, goats, or sheep.

The content of saturated fat and sodium may also raise a red flag for some individuals, though a causal relationship between saturated fat alone and CVD is not clear. 

While there may be valid reasons to choose not to consume animal-based dairy products, research suggests that cheese consumption is associated with positive health outcomes. These include a decreased risk of hypertension, cardiovascular disease, ischemic stroke, and type 2 diabetes. The benefits associated with cheese consumption include (Hu 2022):

• Probiotic benefits from Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria 
• Mineral content, including calcium and phosphorus
• Protein content
• A source of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA)
• The saturated fat in dairy products may increase LDL particle size
• An inverse association between cheese consumption and fasting glucose, triglycerides, waist circumference, and BMI...as 
  cheese consumption increased, these markers decreased.
  
  

Bovine milk composition wheel. Sections are not proportionate to the actual content of each component in milk. 

Source: Alothman, Mohammad et al. “The "Grass-Fed" Milk Story: Understanding the Impact of Pasture Feeding on the Composition and Quality of Bovine Milk.” Foods (Basel, Switzerland) vol. 8,8 350. 17 Aug. 2019, doi:10.3390/foods8080350 This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

There is no doubt that animals should be cared for humanely and fed a diet that maximizes nutritional value and minimizes toxin content. Recognizing and appreciating animals as sentient beings is important to human welfare as well. 

Consuming cheese from well-cared-for, well-fed animals may contribute to health and reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Pasture feeding and increased grass intake can increase omega-3 fatty acid content and extend the nutritional benefits of cheese.

Although cheese from cow's milk is most commonly consumed, other options are increasingly available, including goat cheese, sheep-milk feta, and pecorino Romano from sheep's milk. Moderation is usually the key to a healthy diet and a healthy being... and the same applies to cheese!

It is important to note that fresher cheeses have more lactose and more aged cheeses have more histamine. Therefore, individuals with sensitivity or intolerance to lactose and histamine may need to limit intake or take lactase or diamine oxidase, respectively, when consuming these foods.

References

Hu, Meng-Jin et al. “Effect of Cheese Intake on Cardiovascular Diseases and Cardiovascular Biomarkers.” Nutrients vol. 14,14 2936. 18 Jul. 2022, doi:10.3390/nu14142936