Eat cheese, if you please

Cheese consumption in this country has been climbing, reaching an all-time high of 42 pounds per person last year. Yet most cheese varieties contain a fair bit of saturated fat and sodium — two things people with heart disease are often urged to limit. Still, there's no need to banish cheese from your diet. In fact, a daily serving of this popular dairy product may be good for your heart.

For a 2023 review in Advances in Nutrition, researchers pooled findings from dozens of observational studies looking at cheese consumption and health. They found that eating some cheese — averaging 1.5 ounces per day — was linked to a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, and death from cardiovascular disease.

"It's reassuring news for cheese lovers," says Emily Gelsomin, a senior clinical nutritionist with Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital. What might explain the potential cardiovascular benefits? Cheese production involves fermentation, which uses beneficial microbes to break down milk sugar (lactose) and proteins to create distinct flavor compounds. Some fermentation byproducts also have health effects that may counteract the sodium and saturated fat found in cheese, she explains.

For example, bacteria in many cheese varieties (such as Asiago, cheddar, and Parmesan) break down milk proteins to create compounds similar to those found in a widely used class of blood pressure drugs known as ACE inhibitors. The fermentation of dairy products also produces vitamin K, which has been shown to help slow the buildup of harmful calcium deposits in the heart's arteries and valves. Muenster, Camembert, and Edam cheeses contain the highest amounts of vitamin K.

No cheese stands alone

It's hard to say whether certain types of cheese are more healthful than others, mainly because there's no research pitting different varieties against each other. And differences in typical serving sizes make comparisons tricky. For example, a serving of cottage cheese is one-half cup (about 4 ounces), while a serving of a snacking variety such as cheddar or Swiss is 1 ounce, Gelsomin points out. A single serving of a hard cheese such as Parmesan or Romano is also 1 ounce. But volume-wise, that can be anywhere from one-quarter to one-half cup, depending on how finely it's grated.

Saturated fat and salt

Granted, some cheeses contain slightly less saturated fat than others. Mozzarella and goat cheese each have about 4 grams of saturated fat per ounce, while an ounce of Swiss, provolone, or cheddar has around 5 grams. But so do soft cheeses like Brie and blue cheese, which you might assume have even more.

Blue cheese, feta cheese, and Parmesan are higher in sodium than other cheeses, but their strong flavor means they're often used more sparingly and can be used to replace some of the salt you might normally include in a dish.

Cottage cheese also contains a fair amount of sodium — about 350 to 480 milligrams per half-cup serving. But even 4% fat cottage cheese has just 3 grams of saturated fat, and it's also an excellent source of protein, Gelsomin says. Still, she doesn't promote or avoid any particular type of cheese. "I wouldn't want someone to look at a chart showing the nutrition breakdown of different cheeses and think they should avoid specific varieties. Those that are slightly higher in sodium or saturated fat, such as Parmesan, may have higher amounts of beneficial fermentation products," says Gelsomin.

Processed "cheese"

The one exception is American cheese, which is labeled as "pasteurized process cheese" because it contains added ingredients, such as preservatives and colorings. It's not necessarily unhealthy but likely doesn't offer the potential health benefits of 100% cheese. That's true as well for dairy-free or plant-based "cheeses," many of which contain coconut oil, which is high in saturated fat. These products also may lack the protein and other nutrients found in dairy-based cheese.

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