January 20 is National Cheese Lovers Day. There are over 2,000 different types of cheeses that can be enjoyed alone or added to other dishes. Many people will say they love cheese, but they often express concerns about the saturated fat in cheese is bad for their heart or that cheese causes weight gain. Can we enjoy the cheese we love without guilt?

The first thing we can love without guilt is that natural cheese can be considered a whole food. Whole foods are generally exactly how nature made them or processed minimally without added fats, salt, or sugar.

Cheese has been produced for thousands of years using fermentation to preserve the perishable milk. While there are many different ways to make cheese, the most common method involves acidification and coagulation of the milk (usually from cows, goats, or sheep), separation of curds and whey, and then salting, shaping, and ripening the cheese.

Basic Classifications Of Cheese

• Fresh unriped cheeses are soft, spreadable cheeses with creamy textures and very mild flavors. The texture of fresh cheese also depends on how much whey and moisture is drained from the final product. Some popular cheeses in this category include: Cottage Cheese, Cream Cheese, Feta, Fresh Chèvre/Goat, Mascarpone, Queso Fresco, and Ricotta.
• Soft-ripened cheeses have soft, sometimes fuzzy, or wrinkly rinds. The cheeses in this category have a bloomy white rind created by a natural mold that is entirely edible. Look for Brie, Camembert, and Soft-Ripened Goat Cheese.
• Semi-soft cheeses have a smooth interior, high moisture content, and a short aging period. Examples are Fontina, Havarti, Jarlsberg, Mozzarella, and Muenster.
• Semi-hard cheeses tend to be older, firmer, and well-balanced. Semi-hard cheeses include Cheddar, Gouda, Monterey Jack, Provolone, and Swiss.
• Hard cheeses make them the best cheese for grating, because they are salty, sharp, and tend to be sandy in texture. Asiago, Manchego, Parmesan, and Romano are examples of hard cheeses.
• Blue types of cheese have distinctive blue veins created by adding mold during the cheese-making process. The flavor ranges from mild to assertive to quite pungent. Examples include Danish Blue, Gorgonzola, Roquefort, and Stilton.

Different Cheeses for Different Uses

Use this cheese guide to tell you how to pick cheese depending on how you plan to use it:

Cheese for Grating: Cheese names that come top of mind when it’s time to add a finely grated finishing touch to soups, salads, and pasta dishes include aged Asiago, Pecorino Romano, Manchego, and Parmagiano-Reggiano.

Cheese for Slicing: Popular sliceable and melting cheeses for sandwiches include American, Brick, Cheddar, Colby, Edam, Gouda, Gruyère, Havarti, Monterey Jack, Mozzarella, American Muenster, Provolone, and Swiss.

Cheese for Shredding and Melting: Types of cheese that shred and melt well are American, Cheddar, Colby, Comté, Gouda, Gruyère, Jarlsberg, Monterey Jack, mozzarella, American Muenster, Provolone, and Swiss.

Cheese lovers should celebrate the many health benefits of eating cheese. Cheese contains high-quality protein and also calcium. Most Americans do not consume enough calcium, an important building block for teeth and bones. Cheese also contains other vital nutrients such as phosphorus, vitamin A, vitamin B12, and zinc.

Cheeses with higher fat content, such as blue cheese, Brie, and cheddar, contain small amounts of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). CLA may help prevent heart disease, obesity, and reduce inflammation. If high-fat dairy products are made from animals that are exclusively grass-fed, they will contain more CLA.

American dietary guidelines recommend individuals ages 9 and older consume at least three servings of milk, cheese, or yogurt each day, and children ages 4–8 years need 2½ cups per day. One serving of cheese is 1½ ounces of hard cheese, 1/3 cup of grated cheese, or 2 ounces of processed cheese.

Some people are lactose intolerant which makes their bodies sensitive to cheese. This is because cheese contains lactose, which is a sugar. People who are lactose intolerant lack the enzyme needed to digest the lactose. Too much lactose leads to bloating and gas for people with an intolerance. Cheeses such as Parmesan and Swiss have very low amounts of lactose and may be tolerated better than other cheeses.

Cheese should be enjoyed in moderation because it is also calorie-dense and high in saturated fat. Cheese can be easy to overeat, which can cause issues for people with high blood pressure due to high sodium content. Overeating cheese can also cause constipation because it does not contain fiber.

As with all foods, it is important to read the nutritional labels and mindfully choose what you will eat. Not all cheeses have the same nutritional content. For example, cheddar cheese contains 113 calories per ounce and 9 grams of fat, but mozzarella has 85 calories per ounce and 6.3 grams of fat. If calories are a factor for you, try choosing feta, part-skim mozzarella, or Swiss.

As a rule of thumb, hard cheeses usually have more sodium because salt is added during the additional aging processes. On the other hand, Swiss is generally a cheese with lower sodium.

Discover and taste a new cheese today. Enjoy the cheese you love this National Cheese Lovers Day.

Written by Vicki Hayman, MS, University of Wyoming Extension Nutrition and Food Safety Educator

Sources:

• www.dietaryguidelines.gov
• www.healthline.com
• www.healthyeating.org
• www.usdairy.com