Cheese - Pros & Cons - The Good And Bad

(Peter - Don't Fear the Fat ) #1

Another Newbie question from me. I like cheese but want to do it right.

#2

I must say what I often do: it’s individual.

In my own case, pro: it’s tasty, it adds variety, good travel food (not alone but it usually a part of my food box). Con: it’s not satiating for me and as I already struggle with overeating both fat and protein, I better keep it low. These problems are completely absent for many others but people may have problems with dairy in general or the carbs in cheese if they are present (almost all my cheese is zero carb)…

I don’t consider cheese my normal staple food. I often eat it but it’s more like a joyful accent. I have read about many that eating a lot of cheese didn’t work for them. But a little if your body has no problem with it and you like it, why not?

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #3

There are a couple of possible issues, but if they don’t apply, then cheese is good on keto.

First, there’s lactose intolerance. Some cheeses still contain lactose; they tend to be the softer, newer ones. The harder, aged cheeses have less or none, because the bacteria that create the cheese have eaten all the sugars. (If the cheese does contain milk sugars, then of course they need to be counted against our carb limit.) Most human beings lose the ability to digest lactose, at some point after weaning and before adulthood, but if you have northern European or Maasai ancestry, then you likely have one of the mutations that allow you to digest lactose as an adult.

Second, some people have a sensitivity to one or more of are dairy proteins. Sometimes this sensitivity is to cow proteins only, and goat cheese is fine for them. Sometimes they need to avoid all dairy. It’s very variable.

Myself, I have no problems with lactose or dairy proteins, and I enjoy a lot of cheeses. One of my favourite ways to eat cheese is to take a slice and put butter on it. (Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it, lol!)

(Peter - Don't Fear the Fat ) #4

Hang on that’s a traditional English sandwich without the bread lol … being northern European has benefits then.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #5

Years ago, I worked with a Yorkshireman who ate buttered lard sandwiches. Back then I was horrified by all that fat. Nowadays, I’m horrified by all that bread, lol!

#6

I enjoyed this article: Keto Cheese 101: The 8 Best Types of Cheese for a Ketogenic Diet - Dr. Robert Kiltz (doctorkiltz.com)

(Joey) #7

My (limited) understanding is that hard cheeses are usually superior to soft cheeses when it comes to carb-restriction.

I recall reading about the fat vs carb content - not unlike the differences between skim milk and heavy cream.

I think I compared food labels once to confirm, but it’s been a while so I could be mistaken. Check it out and see.

(Todd Allen) #8

PROS: cheddar, swiss, gouda, parmesan, …
CONS: limburger, muenster

#9

If you like cheese, eat cheese. If you have no issues with it there’s no reason to get rid of it. That said, if you’re like my wife and will eat it like a mouse all day long, that’s a different story.

(KM) #10

Was just watching something about (cow) dairy yesterday. Takeaways:

the higher the fat content the better. (The lower the fat content, the more lactose (sugar) and protein the item contains. Lactose is a problem for keto, and both lactose and protein can be problematic for some people’s digestion.)

So low fat anything - milk, cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, is not recommended.
Next in line is whole milk, still not an ideal choice.
After that half and half .
Then sour cream and yogurt and heavy cream, which edges up to about 40% milkfat. Better, usually ok on keto.
Next, full fat cheeses (hard and soft. Just be sure it’s actually made of milk and not made with vegetable oil). Very good unless you’re got digestion issues with the protein.
Then butter, about 85% milkfat. Very good for most people.
Finally ghee, which is clarified butter and basically it’s 100% milkfat. Excellent and almost no one has a sensitivity to ghee. (but it’s not that interesting to eat by itself!)

(M) #11

I asked a similar question in another thread.

I am wondering if anybody has noticed whether raw (unpasteurized cheese and butter) makes any kind of noticeable difference when it comes to ease of digesting it.

(KM) #12

It shouldn’t. The digestion issues for milk and cheese are from the lactose and/or casein protein. If anything, pasturization will denature some of the protein and could make it easier to digest.

Butter is nearly all milkfat. If you’re having a problem with butter you could try ghee, which is 100% milkfat. If you’re just having a problem digesting fat, period, it could be a number of things. Not to fuel your anxiety, but

"What are the symptoms of a low functioning gallbladder?

Biliary dyskinesia occurs when the gallbladder has a lower-than-normal function. This condition may be related to ongoing gallbladder inflammation. Symptoms can include upper abdominal pain after eating, nausea, bloating, and indigestion. Eating a fatty meal may trigger symptoms." Could that be you?

(M) #13

Could be, but I think my main problem is slow transit from adhesions. I know that I did see a difference in raw nuts vs pasteurized. I started buying nuts from livingnutz and felt a lot better. There are a lot of studies showing heating can destroy enzymes in food that help us digest them. Think of how people are often advised to go for cold pressed oils instead of heated. Not only do they have more vitamins, but the raw state is probably easier to digest. I thought perhaps this might also apply to cheese and butter and milk. When it comes to cheese I think heating actually makes the protein harder to break apart. I’m thinking grilled cheese vs eating cold sliced cheddar cheese.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #14

No, it doesn’t, so far as I’ve noticed, but it does affect the taste. The only studies I’ve seen that claimed a benefit to unpasteurised dairy were underpowered, not statistically significant, and clinically irrelevant.

(Pete A) #15

Yes, hard cheese.

Every day! ENJOY.

#16

More like beware the amounts due to carbs but enjoy if it’s a good deal :slight_smile: Cottage cheese is a godsend to me! I don’t overdo it, it’s just a lovely little dessert. (And I have bigger problems with fat anyway when it comes to dairy. Only if the amount is big though so I really enjoy my not satiating higher-fat dairy items in moderation.)

(KM) #17

The point was low fat cottage cheese, low-fat yogurt, low fat cheese, low fat milk. Not good choices. Full fat dairy is really necessary on keto, to avoid the extra lactose that replaces the fat in these reduced fat products.

Edited: Shinita, in the US a lot of dairy foods are specifically manipulated to take the fat out. I was referring to those being poor choices.

#18

But low-fat dairy still may be a perfect choice, it depends.
Of course no dairy is necessary on keto, well it depends on the person, I do love a tiny bit for variety :wink:
I just don’t have a prejudice against things like low-fat stuff (merely dislike almost all not-fat items but that’s my somewhat unfortunate taste, with too rare exceptions but I will make it work somehow), high-carb items :smiley: Whatever works best for me at the moment! Keeping carbs low doesn’t mean we must or should avoid all carby items, they may be useful.

I don’t have cottage cheese now but lower-fat still can be pretty low-carb. Much depends on the amounts, our carb allowance and our other food… If we get 2g carbs from our normal food all day, we can splurge a bit on some treat! And lactose is better to me than many other sugars…

I don’t know what the US does to low-fat stuff but I don’t know what the EU does to them either, I don’t even eat low-fat items when there is a higher-fat option. But some naturally low-fat dairy is pretty good. Cottage cheese is the lowest-fat solid dairy item I am able and willing to eat and I am amazed how creamy and fatty enough for me it is. It’s almost magic!
Quark doesn’t have a high-fat option (it has a low-fat one, ew, never). Milk is inevitably lowish-fat but most animals don’t have very fatty milk (and it’s common to skim it a bit, we have 2.8% and 1.5% as normal even though 3.5-3.6% exists. I am fine 2.8%, it’s a drink, no need to be fatty). And milk is quite sugary too so yep, caution may be needed there if one cares about carbs in general (as I don’t, just net non-animal carbs).

I don’t say the lowered-fat items are bad (but they are :D), each to their own! I just can’t stand them myself. Carby? Eat little if that is the best choice. It may be. Carb limits can be met even with them and I for one would feel super restricted if I couldn’t eat something just because it’s carby (as it happened on my original keto but I just ate some chocolate covered banana every day and all was as good as it could be at that time. it was a superb choice and quite needed. while it gave me almost no carbs). Keto allows carby just not in big amounts, we merely should consider what is best.

I just can’t forget special cases, always liked those. In general, if one doesn’t mind, they should choose normal dairy items not the super low-fat version, indeed (those are stupid anyway but surely I have my own “stupid” things too so I try to be open-minded, no matter hard it is with super low-fat dairy…).

Okay I have think I thoroughly overexplained my point now…

#19

Muenster has a higher level of K2M4 I believe.

(Bob M) #20

That does seem to be true:

Although they use MĂĽnster. Had to look up how to add those double dots:

Zero percent chance I’ll remember how to do this again.