This "calorie explosion" food, why do nutrition experts recommend you eat it?

Cheese, cheese, cheese... These foods that you have eaten or heard of actually have a common name - cheese.

As an indispensable ingredient on the Western table, cheese dates back even six or seven thousand years.

Today, there are thousands of cheese varieties around the world. Cheeses from different origins, varieties and processes present a different texture and flavor.

What is the nutritional value of cheese? Life Times (search for "LT0385" in WeChat to follow) interviews nutrition experts and teaches you to eat cheese healthily.

Experts interviewed

Wei Wei, a dietitian in the Department of Nutrition, Oriental Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine

Registered nutritionist Gu Chuanling in China

Chinese Registered Dietitian Li Yuanyuan

Zhu Yi, Associate Professor, College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University

Cheese, a "concentrated" treasure trove of nutrition

Cheese is called "milk gold", and 1 kg of cheese requires almost 10 kg of milk to make.

Add an appropriate amount of lactic acid bacteria starter and rennet to the milk so that the casein is coagulated. After the whey is removed, after a period of fermentation and maturity, it becomes cheese.

Higher in protein and calcium

As a product of milk "concentration", the protein and calcium in cheese will be much higher than the same amount of milk concentration.

According to the Chinese Food Composition Table, the content of protein, vitamin B2 and calcium in cheese is 7.8 times, 7.6 times and 7.5 times that of milk, respectively.

More suitable for lactose intolerant people

Under the fermentation of lactic acid bacteria, most of the lactose in milk is decomposed into glucose and galactose, so cheese is very suitable for lactose intolerant people to eat, and the protein in it is more conducive to human digestion and absorption.

Helps control blood sugar levels

Catherine Chen, a nutrition expert at the University of Alberta in Canada, and her team found that whether it is low-fat cheese or ordinary cheese, it can improve insulin sensitivity and improve the effect of insulin.

In addition, cheese normalizes the body's phospholipids, which are extracted from dietary fats and are essential for many of the body's functions. This gives cheese a role in fighting cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

How to choose different cheeses?

There are many types of cheese on the market, which can be divided into soft, semi-hard, hard and extra hard cheese according to the water content (that is, the softness and hardness of the cheese).

Hard cheese can be eaten in bread, while fluffy cheese can be used for desserts, etc. According to the processing technology, it can be divided into natural cheese and remastered cheese.

Natural cheese is preferred

Natural cheese is made from milk according to the steps of fermented curd, whey and so on, and its ingredient list is generally only pasteurized milk, lactic acid bacteria, rennet and edible salt.

In addition to cheese, the remastered cheese also has ingredients such as butter and white sugar. Therefore, consumers should prefer natural cheese because of its high calcium content and low additives.

How to identify natural cheese?

Look at the product type

The easiest way to do this is to look directly at the "product type" on the packaging, some of which will directly indicate whether it is "remastered cheese" or "natural cheese/original cheese" on the packaging.

Look at food labels

If the product type is not clearly marked, it can be identified by looking at the ingredient list. The top of the ingredient list is milk, goat milk, pasteurized milk, and the ingredient list is relatively short, mostly natural cheese.

The first place is cheese/cheese, water, and the ingredient list is more complex, generally reproduced cheese.

The cheese is remade by looking at the ingredient list

By changing the process and the ratio of raw materials, it is possible to produce reconstituted cheese with different flavors or functional characteristics, which is rich in taste, low cost and long shelf life, so it is becoming more and more popular and accounts for a high proportion of the market.

When buying refined cheese, carefully look at the food label, and the higher the ingredient "cheese" in the ingredient list, the better. Cheeses with higher protein and calcium content and less fat content in the nutrition facts table are healthier.

In addition, it is best to choose cheese with a low sodium content and sugar content.

Nutrition experts teach you to eat the right cheese

Direct intake, seasoning garnish, cooking baking... Cheese can be eaten in a variety of ways. Nutrition experts remind that healthy cheese consumption needs to pay attention to the following points.

Serve with milk

Cheese can be used as part of the daily diet, replacing some dairy products to increase the diversity of the diet.

It is recommended to consume about 10 grams of cheese per day, accompanied by 200 ml of milk or yogurt. This not only satisfies the supply of protein and calcium, but also helps to control salt and calorie intake.

Control intake

In addition to the nutrients concentrated in the cheese, there are fats and calories, which are 6.5 times and 4 times that of milk, respectively, and the salt content is very high, close to 10 times that of milk.

Therefore, eat cheese to grasp the amount. If you do not drink milk on the day, you can eat 25 to 50 grams of cheese. If you have already consumed enough milk or dairy products, it is best not to eat cheese anymore so as not to increase your energy intake.

Many children's cheese bars on the market add sugar to optimize the taste, or add extra salt to shape the cheese and retain moisture. Some products will add coloring to enhance the appearance.

When purchasing, parents should try to choose cheese sticks with the first ingredient, high protein content under the same weight, less added sugar, more calcium and less salt. ▲

Editor of this issue: Yang Meng

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