Cheese Nutrition Facts: the health benefits of cheese

Now we eat cheese, cow, sheep, goat, buffalo, and cheese from any country in the world, cheese with mold or cheese mixed with garlic, whiskey, wine, and fruit. With such an abundant and obvious bias toward culinary extravaganza, it seems impossible to refuse ourselves the pleasure of tasting cheese. But is it healthy for the body? Find out by reading these cheese nutritional facts.

The Good Health Benefits of Cheese

Proteins

Cheese is an excellent source of "first class" proteins. They contain many amino acids and are useful in producing healthy tissues. It seems that only 70 grams of Emmental cheese contains as much proteins as 100 grams of meat or 2 eggs. Cheese proteins are essential for those vegetarians who accept dairy products, but also for stricter vegans – who now have a wide range of real cheese plants.

Vitamins

Cheese is a store of vitamins and minerals, containing plenty of essential vitamins A, B2, B12 and D. In addition to the multitude of vitamins cheese is a complex source of calcium. Most calcium is retained in the cheese, but it also contains zinc and phosphorus. Calcium is essential for children and postmenopausal women, the lack of calcium may cause osteoporosis (thinning of the bones).

Lactose

Many adults suffer from lactose intolerance and can not drink milk. But cheese (especially the old one) contains very little lactose and is thus an important source of nutrients for these people

The Bad Cheese Nutritional Facts

Listeria

This is a bacterium that is found in certain types of cheese and that is dangerous for pregnant women because it can cause miscarriages or serious disease in newborn children. Therefore it is recommended that during pregnancy, women do not eat soft mold cheese like Brie or Camembert. Hard cheese is accepted, as well as cheeses produced from pasteurized milk or mozzarella. However, you should ask the doctor for a pregnant woman’s diet is a sensitive issue.

Migraines

Cheeses generally contain high levels of tryptophan – an amino acid that can trigger headaches in susceptible individuals. It can cause nightmares or sleeping problems.

Calories

Many cheeses are very high in calories, especially whole milk products! The caloric load is smaller if the cheese is partially or totally skimmed but the taste is not the same.

Controversial Cheese Nutritional Facts

Fat content

Critics say that cheese has a high content of saturated fat and that is why alternatives like fish protein or chicken meat are much healthier. However, the range of cheese made from semi-skimmed milk (or even fully skimmed), increases and so does the control over the amount of saturated fat we consume. Moreover, manufacturers say that the labeling can fool consumers. It is mandatory that this fat content be stated as a percentage of dry mass obtained after the complete drying of rennet during manufacture.

Here are the calorie contents of the most commonly consumed cheese (calories are calculated for 50 g product):
Brie 152 calories
Camembert 155 calories
Emmental 185 calories
Feta 152 calories
Mozzarella 139 calories