The Nuance
What’s the Healthiest Kind of Cheese?
Full-fat, traditionally made cheeses may be better for you
Every week, the Nuance will go beyond the basics, offering a deep and researched look at the latest science and expert insights on a buzzed-about health topic.
Not long ago, cheese’s reputation was in the gutter. The 2005 U.S. Dietary Guidelines highlighted cheese as the largest source of saturated fat in Americans’ diets and linked its consumption to an increased risk for heart disease.
“Cheese is generally high in cholesterol, saturated fat, and sodium,” says Michael Miller, MD, a professor of cardiovascular medicine and director of the Center for Preventive Cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center. As a result of these attributes, a lot of doctors and dietitians used to tell people to eat cheese sparingly.
But like many other fatty foods, cheese is enjoying an image overhaul.
Research spanning the past decade indicates that cheese has either beneficial or neutral effects on an eater’s weight status and that it may lower a person’s risk for heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. One example: A 2016 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that people who ate more than one serving of cheese a day were less…
