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Dairy Council Digest Archives
Health Benefits of Cheese
Cheese's Nutritional Contribution
Effect of cheese-making on cheese's nutrient content. About 10 pounds of milk are used to make one pound of cheese (1). Cheese is therefore a concentrated source of many of milk's nutrients (7,8). However, the type of milk/milk product used (e.g., whole, reduced fat, nonfat, buttermilk, cream, whey, nonfat dry milk solids, or a combination thereof) and the manufacturing process (e.g., manner of coagulation, length of ripening) influence the nutrient content of specific cheeses.
Natural cheeses are made by curdling milk (i.e., coagulating casein, milk's protein, to form curd), stirring and heating the curd, draining off the whey, and collecting or pressing the curd (6,7). Cheese can be unripened (e.g., cottage and cream cheeses) or ripened, cured, or aged (e.g., Cheddar, Colby, Brie). Separation of milk curds from the whey in cheese-making results in significant partitioning of nutrients and largely explains the differences in the nutrient content of cheese compared to milk (7). Water-insoluble nutrients of milk (e.g., protein, colloidal minerals such as calcium, fat, fat-soluble vitamins), which are primarily retained in the curd, are concentrated in cheese. In contrast, cheese contains fewer water-soluble constituents of milk (e.g., lactose, soluble minerals, water-soluble vitamins) because of their removal with the whey. Ripening may influence cheese's nutrient content, although to a lesser extent than separation of the curds from the whey. The composition of numerous cheeses and related cheese products is governed by definitions and standards of identity established by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (9).
Nutrient Density. Cheese is a nutrient dense food providing a high concentration of nutrients relative to its energy content (8). In 1999, cheese contributed only 3% of the energy (calories) available in the U.S. food supply (10). Yet, this food provided 8% of the protein, 25% of the calcium, 10% of the phosphorus, 7% of the zinc, and 5% of vitamin A activity, in addition to other essential nutrients (10). For information on the nutrient content of specific cheeses, refer to USDA's Nutrient Database (8) or the Nutrition Facts panel on product labels.
Protein. Among dairy foods, cheese is the largest contributor to the amount of protein available in the U.S. food supply (i.e., 8.4% in 1999) (10). Moreover, the proportion of protein from cheese has increased more than five-fold since the turn of the century (10). Protein in cheese is of high quality, containing all of the essential amino acids in the amounts proportional to the body's need. Casein is the main protein in cheese, although water-soluble milk proteins (e.g., lactalbumin and lactalglobulin) also may be present depending on the amount of whey entrapped in the cheese (7). Protein in many cheeses is readily digestible because some of the proteins are broken down during ripening to peptides and amino acids (7).
Today, more than one-third of all cow's milk produced in the U.S. is used to make cheese.
Carbohydrate. Cheese, particularly aged cheeses (e.g., Cheddar cheese), contains a negligible amount of lactose, the major carbohydrate in milk (7). Most aged cheeses contain minimal (1-3g/100g) or no lactose because of its removal in whey and the conversion of any remaining lactose (approximately 2%) entrapped in the curd to lactic acid and other acids during ripening. Within 21 to 28 days, no lactose is present in ripened cheeses (7). In fresh unripened cheeses (e.g., cottage cheese), 15 to 20% of the lactose is converted to lactic acid and other acids within a few hours. Because of their low lactose content, most cheeses, particularly aged cheeses, are well tolerated by individuals who have difficulty digesting lactose (i.e., lactose maldigesters), as discussed below (11). The wide range of lactose in process and cottage cheeses may be explained by the legal addition of optional ingredients such as nonfat milk and cheese whey to the creaming mixture (7,9).
Fat. The fat content of cheese is mainly responsible for its flavor and texture, which contribute to consumers' preference for full fat cheeses (12). Cheeses vary widely in fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol, in large part because of the type of milk (e.g., whole, reduced fat, nonfat) and milk product (e.g., cream) used to make cheese (7). A serving (1 oz) of Cheddar cheese contains 9g fat, 6g saturated fat, and 30g cholesterol (8). In contrast, a serving (4 oz) of nonfat dry curd cottage cheese contains 0.5g fat, 0.3g saturated fat, and 8g cholesterol (8).
In addition to cheeses naturally lower in fat (e.g., cottage, ricotta, part skim mozzarella), manufacturers have developed a variety of cheeses reduced in fat (e.g., 0 to 6g fat /oz) (7,13). Researchers are using new technologies, processes, and ingredients to improve the quality of cheeses reduced in fat (5,14). The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has established definitions for foods, including cheese, labeled as low fat, reduced fat, light, less fat, nonfat and fat free (1,15). Under these definitions, for a cheese to qualify as low fat, it must contain no more than 3g fat per serving.
Dietary guidelines recommend a diet moderate in total fat (i.e., no more than 30% of calories), and low in saturated fat (i.e., less than10% of calories) and cholesterol (i.e., less than 300mg/day) (16,17). Given the availability of cheeses of varied fat content and the ability to make trade-offs in the amount and sources of fat in the total diet, consumers can readily include cheese in a diet meeting fat recommendations. Children participating in the Bogalusa Heart Study have experienced a decline in recent decades in their percentage of energy from total and saturated fat, despite an increase in their cheese consumption (18).
According to the American Dietetic Association, all foods can fit into a healthful diet "if consumed in moderation with appropriate portion size and combined with regular physical activity" (19). Cheese provides high quality protein, calcium, and other essential nutrients. Also, cheese is a rich source of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and sphingolipids, which are milk fat components that may potentially help reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as certain cancers and heart disease (20-27).
Cheese, a source of high quality protein, calcium, and many other essential nutrients, makes a valuable contribution to the nutrient content of the diet.
Vitamins and Minerals. The vitamin content of cheeses varies due to the milk used and the manufacturing process (7). Because most of the fat in milk is retained in the curd, cheese contains the fat-soluble vitamins of the milk used in cheese-making (7). Cheddar cheese made with whole milk contains1,059 IU of vitamin A per100g, whereas dry curd cottage cheese made with nonfat dry milk, contains comparatively less vitamin A (30IU per100g) (8). Because water-soluble vitamins (e.g., thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B6, and folate) remain in the whey, their content in cheese is influenced by the amount of whey retained in the cheese.
Cheeses are a good source of several minerals, although the amounts of specific minerals in different cheeses vary according to manufacturing procedures. Cheese is the major delivery food for calcium (2). The share of calcium provided by cheese was more than six times higher in 1999 at 25% than in 1909 at 4% (2). The increase in per capita levels of calcium in the U.S. food supply in recent decades is attributed in large part to the increase in cheese consumption (2). The calcium content of cheese is influenced by the acidity at coagulation and the amount of expulsion of whey from the curd. In ripened whole milk cheese made with a coagulating enzyme (e.g., Cheddar, Swiss, brick), the calcium and phosphorus largely remain in the curd. However, in cheeses coagulated by acid alone (e.g., cottage cheese), less calcium is retained because the calcium salts are removed from the casein. Cheddar cheese contains 721mg calcium per100g (204mg per1 oz serving), whereas dry curd cottage cheese contains 32mg calcium per100g (36mg per 4 oz serving) (8). Because of the addition of creaming mixtures, regular cottage cheese contains more calcium (60mg per100g) than dry curd cottage cheese (8). In general, cheeses that are high in calcium contain other minerals such as phosphorus and magnesium in appreciable amounts (8).
The sodium content of cheeses varies due to the different amounts of salt added during cheese-making (7). In general, natural cheeses such as Swiss (74mg sodium/oz) and Cheddar (176mg sodium/oz) contain less sodium than many process cheeses, which may contain about 400mg sodium/oz (8). For individuals wishing to lower their sodium intake, manufacturers have introduced cheeses reduced in sodium (7). The recommendation for sodium intake is 2,400mg per day (16). However, individuals vary in their blood pressure response to changes in dietary sodium intake. Despite extensive research the relationship between sodium intake and hypertension (high blood pressure) continues to be debated (28-30).
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