Does Cheese Affect Your Cholesterol?

Although cheese is a delicious food both by itself and with other items, you do need to be careful to eat it in moderation. Most people associate cheese with fat and worry that it will affect their cholesterol in a negative way. This makes sense as cheese has both dietary cholesterol and saturated fat. Luckily, however, cheese will either not affect your cholesterol levels at all or even be helpful in most cases. It only rarely negatively affects cholesterol.

What It Does To Low-Density Lipoprotein

Most people know low-density lipoprotein as their “bad cholesterol.” This is the type of cholesterol linked to a higher risk of clogged arteries and heart disease. The good news for those who love eating cheese is that research has shown that cheese may not affect your low-density lipoprotein at all, even if you get as many as 13 percent of your daily calories from cheese over the course of six weeks.

How It Affects High-Density Lipoprotein

High-density lipoprotein is your “good cholesterol” since it removes cholesterol from the blood, decreasing your risk of heart disease. Studies done on cheese and high-density lipoprotein levels found that those who eat cheese frequently will have higher levels compared to those who don’t eat it as much. To make that discovery even better, the study also showed that eating a lot of cheese may lower triglyceride levels, which will lower the risk of heart disease even more.

Why Cheese Helps Or Is Neutral For Cholesterol

Scientists are still trying to figure out why cheese lowers your cholesterol or doesn’t affect it at all despite containing saturated fat. They have a few theories, but aren’t positive which is the actual reason. Some hypothesize that the calcium within the cheese reduces the amount of fat that is absorbed during digestion. Emerging research has also shown that eating full-fat dairy products (such as cheese, yogurt, or milk) may not be linked to any risk of heart disease. In fact, these items may be linked to a reduced risk. The results imply that despite being filled with saturated fat, dairy fat may not actually be an issue for heart disease. It is also possible that something in the way that nutrients and fat are combined in cheese, referred to as the cheese matrix, leads to these minimal or beneficial cholesterol affects.

Something To Remember

While cheese isn’t likely to negatively affect your cholesterol, that doesn’t mean you should regularly binge on it. Cheese is still fairly dense in terms of calories and fat. Eating too much of it can quickly put you over your daily recommended amount. Because of this, cheese is best enjoyed in smaller quantities that let you savor the flavors with the occasionally larger portion mixed in.