Cheese: Healthy Lifestyle or Fattening Indulgence?

by Shereen Jegtvig

Cheese is one of those foods (like chocolate) that’s good for you in the right amount, but too much probably isn’t so good.  Cheese is a dairy product so it’s a good source of protein and calcium, but it’s usually high in saturated fat and sodium.  Too much saturated fat may lead to cardiovascular disease and inflammation, plus all that fat adds a lot of calories (cheese is a very energy dense food).  Then there’s the sodium.

People who have high blood pressure have probably been told to cut back on their sodium intake to around 1500 milligrams every day.  Those of us without high blood pressure should probably eat no more than 2400 milligrams sodium daily.  The obvious source of sodium is the table salt you add to recipes or to foods at the table, but that only accounts for about 11% of your daily sodium content.

In order to get the health benefits of cheese, you need to do three things. 

First, look for cheese that is lower in fat.  Parmesan cheese is an example of a cheese that’s naturally low in fat.   You can also buy cheese that’s made from low fat milk – use the FoodEssentials tool to look for low and non-fat cheese.

The second thing to look for is sodium, especially if you need to cut back.  Use the FoodEssentials tool to hunt for low-sodium cheese.

Third, and probably most important, is to watch your serving size for cheese.  One serving is about 1 1/2 ounces (about the size of a pair of dice), and not the two cups of cheese on your pizza.  A small amount of cheese will give you calcium and protein without loads of additional fat, sodium and extra calories.

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