Interesting Nutrition Facts About Cheese You Should Know

Even if you eat cheese every single day, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you are aware of its nutrition. Cheese is very good for you, providing calcium and other nutrients, and if you eat it in moderation, it can also be low in fat and salt. Each of the hundreds of cheese varieties has its own specific nutritional information, but here are some interesting facts you may be interested to learn.

Cheese Contains Calcium And Protein

Starting off with some nutrition facts you probably already do know about cheese, this dairy product is an excellent source of both calcium and protein. A single serving of mozzarella, cheddar, or Swiss (one ounce) will deliver 200 milligrams of calcium, about a fifth of the recommended daily amount. Just one serving of hard cheese can also deliver 8 grams of protein, putting you well on your way to your daily goal and making it a smart choice for vegetarians.

Cheese Has Probiotics

If you take antibiotics, this can sometimes affect the balance between gut bacteria that “good” and “bad.” To get the good bacteria back in your gut, eating cheese is one of the simplest ways to go. This is all thanks to the probiotics in cheese, the “good” bacteria which regulate gut flora. This means that eating cheese gives you the nutrients needed to improve your gut’s environment and therefore your overall health. A healthy intestine can improve your digestive, heart, and brain health.

Not All Cheese Is High Fat

While it is true that some types of cheese are high in fat, you can still enjoy those in moderation. If you absolutely love cheese, you will be glad to know that not all have high fat content. Even if you do choose a cheese with higher levels of fat, it likely won’t be enough to make a negative impact on your diet, unless you eat excessive amounts. To give you some ideas of fat content, a serving of cream cheese has 34 percent fat content while cottage cheese is only made up of one percent fat.

Cheese Fat Can Be Healthy

Not only are the “unhealthy” fats in most cheeses there in such small quantities that you shouldn’t have issues, but many of the fats in cheese are actually healthy. Cheese is complex with hundreds of fatty acids, most of which are good for you. It also contains a great deal of monounsaturated fat, one of the best types. Cheese also has ruminant (or dairy) trans fats, which unlike processed trans fats, provide health benefits.