{"id":2034,"date":"2025-05-06T16:26:26","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T16:26:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/5-ways-that-cheese-is-actually-good-for-your-health\/"},"modified":"2025-05-06T16:26:26","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T16:26:26","slug":"5-ways-that-cheese-is-actually-good-for-your-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/5-ways-that-cheese-is-actually-good-for-your-health\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Ways That Cheese is Actually Good for Your Health"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As far as word association goes, one would not necessarily imagine that \u201ccheese\u201d is commonly matched with \u201chealthy.\u201d In fact, in the European Union<\/a>, there is a move by the regulating body for health and nutrition to mandate a \u201ctraffic light\u201d rating system for all retail foods, where traditional and artisanal products like cheese often score poorly due to high fat or salt content. <\/p>\n

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But the \u201chigh-fat equals bad\u201d mindset when it comes to high-quality, artisanal products like cheese, is an outdated\u2014and even potentially dangerous\u2014way of thinking, according to some nutrition experts. A January 2017 report by Harvard University<\/a>, for instance, revealed that dairy fat \u201cwas not associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease when compared to the same amount of calories from carbohydrates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Babs Hogan<\/a>, health professional, writer, and educator, (and<\/em> former board member of her local chapter of the American Heart Association,) has a personal mission to change the common thinking around cheese and health, specifically as it relates to the United States\u2019 propensity for low-fat, high-carb diets. \u201cThe research is out there, the message is out there,\u201d says Hogan, \u201cbut 49% of the American adult population is still following a low-fat diet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hogan\u2019s own journey from American Heart Association advocate to self-proclaimed \u201cHealthy Cheese Lady\u201d begins, as many good stories do, with a slight marital squabble. While Hogan\u2019s husband started to dabble in cheesemaking, \u201cI spent decades avoiding cheese and saturated fats because that\u2019s what was taught in my field,\u201d says Hogan. \u201cSo, when my husband went to Montreal in 2011 for his first American Cheese Society meeting, and came back all fired up about cheese, I thought, \u2018this is ridiculous; You\u2019re asking me to embrace a food that is unhealthy, will make you fat, and give you heart disease.\u2019\u201d But she promised to do her research, interviewed 30 cheesemakers across Texas, and came to one conclusion: \u201cI was wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Healthy Cheese Lady photo courtesy Babs Hogan<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now, as the Healthy Cheese Lady she wants to reshape the thinking about the health benefits of high-quality, full-fat cheese. \u201cSome saturated fats can be bad, but some can be really good for you,\u201d says Hogan. Echoing the language of the Harvard study above, \u201cthe structure of saturated fats in dairy is different than in other types of protein and fats. I\u2019ve spent 30 years of my career giving the wrong message about fat.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for sourcing cheese that is \u201chigh-quality,\u201d that begins locally, instructs Hogan. \u201cArtisan cheese versus commodity cheeses, they are miles apart nutritionally. (You) need to be looking for local cheese makers, producers, and shops. People trained to know about the animals, and what they eat, and how the cheese is made.\u201d Grass-fed cheeses with minimal processing\u2014and especially raw milk cheeses\u2014offer the most health benefits.<\/p>\n

As with any calorie-dense food, like cheese, appropriate portioning is key, but here are 5 ways that full-fat, high-quality cheese is actually good for your health.<\/p>\n

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Health Benefits of Cheese<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cheese as a Whole\/Functional Food<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Artisan cheese is made by harnessing natural processes and is considered a \u201cwhole\u201d\u2014i.e. \u201cunprocessed\u201d\u2014food. \u201cProcessing reduces, eliminates, and destroys a lot of nutrients the food might have in its whole form,\u201d says Hogan, and the best cheeses hold on to their maximum nutritional benefits because of their unprocessed nature. In a medically reviewed Healthline report<\/a>, it notes that \u201cWhole foods (including cheese) are generally good for you, as long as you don\u2019t eat too much of one thing.\u201d Beyond that, cheese is also what\u2019s considered a \u201cfunctional food,\u201d meaning that it has nutritional benefits beyond the pure energy derived from its calories. Those additional benefits are what Hogan believes starts to move cheese into superfood potential.<\/p>\n

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2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Microbial Benefits<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cGut health\u201d has been on parade lately as one of the most important factors for both physical and mental well-being. \u201cEvery illness, every sickness, every disease, starts in the gut,\u201d echoes Hogan. (If you have a mind for biochemistry, she recommends the science-heavy read \u201cCheese and Microbes\u201d by Catherine Donnelly.) If you take a daily probiotic, then you\u2019re at least theoretically already hip to this knowledge. Your gut is a microbiome that consists of zillions of bacteria, some types of which are rock stars when it comes to a healthy gut, and from there a healthy mind and body. Cheese, derived from several strains of bacteria, is in fact a delivery method for beneficial microbes.<\/p>\n

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Dairy products photo credit California Milk and Jill Hough Group<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Vitamin K2 <\/strong><\/h3>\n

Most people with even a limited understanding of nutrition know that dairy products, like cheese, have a significant dose of calcium, which has benefits not only for bone health, but also for your cardiovascular, muscular, and nervous systems. The lesser known nutritional star of high-quality cheeses, however, is Vitamin K2, often found in cultured or fermented foods, including cheese and yogurt, which is calcium\u2019s most vital companion and plays a role in blood coagulation. \u201cVitamin K2 is a really big deal,\u201d says Hogan, \u201cwhat it does is, it shuffles the bad calcium out of your arteries and into your bones or teeth and away from your heart.\u201d Compared to other cultures, especially Asian cultures, whose cuisines more commonly include fermented foods\u2014such as kimchi or natto\u2014a staggering percentage of Americans are lacking in Vitamin K2 consumption. (One study put that number as high as 97%.<\/a>) <\/p>\n

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4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Blood Sugar Regulation<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Most cheeses have a low-glycemic index<\/a>, which is a measure of how quickly various foods cause an increase in blood glucose levels. Whether a full-on Keto diet is appropriate for all adults, its high fat\/low carbohydrate structure is especially beneficial when it comes to managing blood sugar in diabetics. Hogan cites the research of Dr. Sarah Greenberg at Virta Health<\/a> and how a higher-fat diet that includes high-quality cheese can not only play a part in regulating blood sugar, but actually can have the effect of reversing diabetes.<\/p>\n

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5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Obesity Prevention<\/strong><\/h3>\n

File under \u201cFrench paradox.\u201d Conjugated linoleic acid, or CLA, is a compound found in certain high-fat cheeses that can help prevent obesity and heart disease. (The temptation is strong here to just have the headline be \u201cBlue Cheese Prevents Obesity: Dreams Come True\u201d and leave it at that.) According to Hogan, she believes that one of the biggest benefits that people don\u2019t realize about full-fat cheeses is how CLA affects leptin, a hormone that triggers fullness. \u201cThat satiety is a really big deal with full-fat cheese, when compared to high carb diets. (In the latter,)\u201d Hogan explains, \u201cthat leptin doesn\u2019t get signaled, and you always feel hungry.\u201d In short, a life without cheese is unsatisfying in more than one way.<\/p>\n

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For more information about cheese and health:<\/p>\n

Babs Hogan\u2019s website Healthy Cheese Lady <\/a><\/p>\n

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Milk and dairy consumption and risk of cardiovascular diseases and all-cause mortality: dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies<\/a><\/p>\n

Spoiler alert\u2014the studies found no link between the consumption of dairy products and deaths from either cardiovascular disease or all causes.<\/p>\n

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Association of dairy intake with cardiovascular disease and mortality in 21 countries from five continent <\/a><\/p>\n

Spoiler alert\u2014dairy consumption was associated with lower risk of mortality and major cardiovascular disease events in a diverse multinational cohort.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As far as word association goes, one would not necessarily imagine that \u201ccheese\u201d is commonly matched with \u201chealthy.\u201d In fact, in the European Union, there is a move by the regulating body for health and nutrition to mandate a \u201ctraffic light\u201d rating system for all retail foods, where traditional and artisanal products like cheese often … Okumaya devam et “5 Ways That Cheese is Actually Good for Your Health”<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1271,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[395],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-milk-and-diary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1271"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2034\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}