Cheese Is Good For You ... Some Reasons Why !

Michael Joseph MSc writes:
"Despite almost universal popularity, cheese often has its nutritional value questioned. The reason for this is due to the high-fat content. However, recent research shows that dairy is an incredibly beneficial food group — especially the high-fat variety.

This article will present nine science-backed reasons why cheese is good for you.

Cheese is Good For Heart Health
While cheese — and saturated fat in particular — have been demonized for their high saturated fat content, recent research shows a different story. You may have heard that cheese is bad for your heart and arteries, but the truth is that cheese is a heart-healthy food. In fact, higher consumption of high-fat dairy such as cheese and sour cream appears to actually lower heart disease risk, as well as improve blood sugar control.
Key Point: Despite widespread belief that cheese is one of the worst foods for your heart, the opposite is true.

Cheese Helps Improve Blood Sugar Control in Diabetes
Cheese is convenient and easy to take to work or school, making it a good snack for diabetics. At the end of the day; cheese is good for you, improves blood sugar regulation, and is not a food diabetics should avoid.
Key Point: Despite traditional thoughts viewing high-fat as bad for diabetics, the research shows the complete opposite. Cheese reduces negative risk factors and helps improve blood sugar control.

Cheese Improves Your Dental Health
As you may know, cheese is one of the best dietary sources of calcium. Just one slice of cheddar cheese provides 201mg — 20% of the RDA for calcium. Calcium
is important because it helps strengthen our teeth.
Key Point: Overall, cheese is a ‘superfood’ for dental health. Including cheese as part of your diet may help prevent tooth decay.

Cheese May Help With Weight Loss

While it may sound like a crazy idea to some, cheese can be good for weight loss. The simple fact is: fat doesn’t make you fat. Nutrition is a lot more complicated than that, and the overall macronutrient profile of our diet is also important. Several recent studies also show beneficial impacts of cheese on weight loss. In dietary intervention research, those eating the most cheese also lost the most weight – likely due to improved satiety levels.
Key Point: While it might sound crazy to some, it actually isn’t. Cheese can help you lose weight.

Cheese May Be Suitable For People With Lactose Intolerance
Lactose intolerance is a condition that affects a large percentage of people. While this figure can be as low as 5-15% of the population in Britain, it reaches 85-95% in East Asia. Of course, the degree of lactose intolerance varies wildly in every individual; some people cannot tolerate dairy at all. However, some people may be less sensitive and can consume certain dairy without ill effect.

Key Point: While cheese does contain some lactose, the amounts are very small and lactose intolerant people may be okay with aged cheese.

Cheese is a Good Source of Calcium

Dairy products are one of the best sources of calcium. Calcium is important for protecting against osteoporosis — a disease of the skeletal system in which bones become fragile. Especially, deficiencies in vitamin D and calcium significantly increase the risk of osteoporosis. As discussed earlier, one of the benefits of cheese is that it’s among the best sources of calcium. In studies, cheese shows application for improving bone strength and encouraging optimal bone health. This research shows that cheese intake three times a week is strongly protective against fracture. Also important to realize is that calcium loss is just as important as consuming enough calcium-rich foods. Refined carbohydrate and grains inhibit the proper absorption of calcium, which may cause deficiency problems if you eat these foods in excess.

Key Point: Cheese is an excellent source of calcium. While dairy is good for bone health, we also need to ensure we are correctly absorbing calcium.

Grass-Fed Cheese Contains the Essential Vitamin K2
If you haven’t heard about vitamin K2, then here are just a few of the benefits;
Prevention of calcified plaque in the arteries
Lower risk of heart disease
Promotion of apoptosis (death of cancer cells)
This vitamin is one of the most important for our overall health, but it’s relatively unknown to the general public.
Key Point: Deficiency in vitamin K2 is a leading contributor to cardiovascular disease. Generally speaking, the best place to get vitamin K2 is from grass-fed animal products — just another reason why cheese is good for you.

Cheese is a Great Source of Protein and Overall Nutrition
Animal foods as a whole are high in protein. The nutritional value of cheese is impressive for many nutrients — and protein is no exception. The protein content in cheese is usually around 25g per 100g. Another great thing about cheese is how adaptable it is; cheese can be used for cooking, as part of a platter to serve with wine or just alone. It’s highly nutritious and tastes great.
Key Point: Cheese is a good source of protein and contains 25g per 100g.

Cheese Contains Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA)
Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a kind of naturally occurring trans fat — but don’t panic — it’s extremely healthy. The benefits of a diet high in CLA include cancer protection, weight loss, increased immunity and reduced inflammation.
Fortunately, grass-fed cheese is high in conjugated linoleic acid. For this purpose, try to choose cheese from cows raised on pasture whenever possible. Cheese from grass-fed cows is much higher in CLA than cheese from grain-fed cows. If you have access to a local farm that produces grass-fed cheese, then this would be the best option. For those of you who live in the United States, there’s an excellent resource here which lists all the grass-fed cheese brands by location.
Key Point: The high CLA content is just another reason why cheese is good for you. However, make sure you buy grass-fed cheese for the full benefits.

Final Word: Cheese is Good For You
To sum up, cheese is an incredible tasting food that offers a wealth of health benefits. It is high in essential nutrients and also helps reduce the risk of a variety of health conditions. As with most natural products, don’t fear the fat content — naturally occurring fat is no problem. In short, dairy fat is not bad for you — and cheese is good for you."

The above is only a snippet of Michael's article.
Please read it in full, with related research links etc. here 

We bring a variety of articles, studies etc. plus recent news/views and recipe ideas to this blog, we hope something for everyone to read and enjoy. But please note, not all may be suitable for you. If you may have any food allergies, or underlying health issues these must always be taken into account. If you are a diabetic and not sure how certain foods may affect your blood sugars, test is best, i.e. use your meter.

All the best Jan