Food & Recipes
Cheese: An Unhealthy Or Healthy Eating Option?
“What!? Are you dieting and having cheese? You will put on weight.”
With the ever-increasing number of health issues, dieting has taken a whole new level. In our weight loss fight, we have now started neglecting food that is beneficial for our health. We have begun ignoring the foods that provide the right amount of nutrients to the body. This ignorance has led to more nutritional deficiencies than ever.
The first thing that we need to understand is that weight loss is not just about cutting down on the fats. Weight loss also means that you eat healthy and nutritious and provide the body with the ideal nutritional requirements. We now have to apply the same rule to cheese.
Nutritional Information for Cheese
It is an extremely nutritious and healthy fat, which we have now in our run for weight loss have to begin to avoid. Before we understand more about cheese, let’s look at the nutritional information below –
Please note that the information provided below is by the USDA for one slice (22g) of Swiss cheese.
- Calories: 86
- Fat: 6.8g
- Sodium: 40.5mg
- Carbohydrates: 0.3g
- Fiber: 0g
- Sugars: 0g
- Protein: 5.9g
Cheese is ideal for people who are not lactose tolerant. It happens to be an excellent source of calcium, fat, and protein. It is also known to contain high amounts of vitamins A and B-12, along with zinc, phosphorus, and riboflavin. Along with that, milk of 100% grass-fed animals is used in the production of cheese, which makes it not only highest as far the nutritional value is concerned; however, it also contains omega-3 fatty acids and even vitamin K-2. In addition to these nutritional benefits, various dairy products, including cheese, are known to help protect the teeth.
Types of Cheese
While understanding the nutritional value of cheese, all the fans would know that there is more than one variety of available cheese. Yes, you have got it right. With the variation in the type of cheese, the nutritional information for cheese also varies. For example,
- A single serving of cheddar cheese provides
- 114 calories
- 7 grams of protein
- 9 grams of fat.
- A single serving of blue cheese provides
- 100 calories
- 6 grams of protein
- 8 grams of fat
- A single serving of American cheese, i.e., pasteurized and processed, provides
- 94 calories,
- 5 grams of protein
- 7 grams of fat.
Also, when it comes to “singles,” especially the American Cheese singles, the quantity is lesser, and hence the nutritional content and the calorie content will tend to decrease.
Benefits of Cheese
Now let’s talk about another crucial part, which is the beneficial effects of cheese.
- Prevention of Osteoporosis
From childhood, we have taught to drink our milk for our bone health. Our bone mass is a part of the body that continues to grow up to 30. For the proper growth and development of bone mass, adequate calcium and vitamin D consumption are essential. After 30, bone health starts to decline, and people aged 30+ start experiencing weaker bones. This leads to bone-related issues like osteoporosis.
To avoid osteoporosis, a balanced nutritious diet daily is recommended. Consumption of dairy products and, in particular, cheese, which are fortified with vitamin D, is the best way to ensure that the right balance of minerals and vitamins are available to the body.
- Effect on Dental Health
The human body knows how to heal itself through the right consumption of nutrients through our daily food intake. The same applies to the mouth, too, as we call it our dental health. A pH of 5.5 is necessary for the reduction of dental health issues. Considering this and based on a study conducted, including cheese as part of your daily food intake is known to increase the pH levels in the mouth. This further ensures that the protective coating on the teeth is maintained, and you make lesser visits to the dentist’s chair.
- Healthy weight gain
Like excessive weight is wrong for an individual, even being underweight is also not very healthy. When people are undernourished, they tend to consume a lot of unhealthy food to increase body weight. However, harmful food consumption can be a clean trigger for health-related issues later in life.
On the other hand, it is advisable to have energy-dense foods containing many calories per gram. Most of the commonly available cheeses have more than 100 calories per serving and the right nutrition as per the recommended daily nutrient consumption.
In addition to this, cheese is known to a rich source of both calcium and protein, resulting in many other health benefits of cheese like muscle building and cancer prevention.
Conclusion
When it comes to a healthy lifestyle, we are now looking at synthetic foods with lesser nutrition. We need to understand that items that have been used and recommended since olden times are still the best way to a healthy lifestyle.