Cheese- Friend or Foe? Protien or Fat? Vote now!

Low fat cheese is good in moderation.

There are other ways to get calcium and protein. I love cheese but not the calories so I limit how much I eat and have cut it out of a lot of my recipes. If you want to stay away from the fat, don't eat it. Low fat cottage cheese has plenty of protein and calcium and there's always The Laughing Cow!:bigsmile:

I love cheese. I mostly by the lower fat kind, but it can still be high in calories. The thing is, your body needs fat and cheese IS a good source of protein, not to mention calcium. There's nothing wrong with eating cheese IN MODERATION. I general stick to 1 30g serving a day. Sometimes in the form of cheese and crackers, sometimes as a pasta or salad topping, or in a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich. The fat isn't a problem if you're already monitoring your fat intake- lean meats are a staple of most of our diets, that meats our fats are waaaaaaaaaaaay down. Eggs and nuts have bunches of fat in the too but nobody cuts those out! LOVE LIVE CHEESE! :laugh: :flowerforyou:

Friend!

I'm with Kerri on this one..Love my cheese not giving it up no ways. I eat the 2% or string cheese.

I vote-low fat cheese is a friend.

All cheese is good in moderation. There's nothing wrong with fat in your diet. You need it. Some cheese is more fat, less protein. Other cheese is less fat, more protein. It just depends on the type. No food is inherently bad (except trans fat, but that's only found in appreciable amounts in man-made forms).

It's fat. With the exception of cottage cheese. There's so much junk in there anyway, with antibiotics and hormones. It's better to get protein from nuts, beans, seeds, natural foods.

It's fine if you eat it. Just know that you're eating junk food when you do, don't fool yourself. Just like chewy chocolate chip granola bars. Sure, they're yummy, but they're also junk.

Calcium is kinda like cholesterol. Your body needs it but you don't have to go out of your way to be sure you're eating it and too much of it can actually weaken your bones. You can get plenty of calcium from chickpeas, carrots, sprouts ... and there's plenty of protein in nuts and soy.

So eat it if you like, just know that it's not essential.

Did you really just say that?

Calcium "you don't have to go out of your way to be sure you're eating it and too much of it can actually weaken yur bones." ???????

Please tell me your source of this information. I'd like to read it somewhere other than in that post..:noway:

Calcium is kinda like cholesterol. Your body needs it but you don't have to go out of your way to be sure you're eating it and too much of it can actually weaken your bones. You can get plenty of calcium from chickpeas, carrots, sprouts ... and there's plenty of protein in nuts and soy.

So eat it if you like, just know that it's not essential.

Did you really just say that?

Calcium "you don't have to go out of your way to be sure you're eating it and too much of it can actually weaken yur bones." ???????

Please tell me your source of this information. I'd like to read it somewhere other than in that post..:noway:

It seems like they've confused it with something else. Calcium absolutely is essential, not just for bone health, but proper muscle function. It's used in contractions for both striated and smooth muscle. So, no calcium = no heart beat.

Yes, it's essential. :huh:

From:
http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/calcium.asp

Is there a health risk of too much calcium?
The Tolerable Upper Limit (UL) is the highest level of daily intake of calcium from food, water and supplements that is likely to pose no risks of adverse health effects to almost all individuals in the general population [2]. The UL for children and adults ages 1 year and older (including pregnant and lactating women) is 2500 mg/day. It was not possible to establish a UL for infants under the age of 1 year.

While low intakes of calcium can result in deficiency and undesirable health conditions, excessively high intakes of calcium can also have adverse effects. Adverse conditions associated with high calcium intakes are hypercalcemia (elevated levels of calcium in the blood), impaired kidney function and decreased absorption of other minerals [2]. Hypercalcemia can also result from excess intake of vitamin D, such as from supplement overuse at levels of 50,000 IU or higher [1]. However, hypercalcemia from diet and supplements is very rare. Most cases of hypercalcemia occur as a result of malignancy - especially in the advanced stages.

Another concern with high calcium intakes is the potential for calcium to interfere with the absorption of other minerals, iron, zinc, magnesium, and phosphorus [108-111].

Most Americans should consider their intake of calcium from all foods including fortified ones before adding supplements to their diet to help avoid the risk of reaching levels at or near the UL for calcium (2500 mg). If you need additional assistance regarding your calcium needs, consider checking with a physician or registered dietitian.

Too much can also constipate you.
Had to get a poo-fact in there somehow. :bigsmile:

songbyrd, the Poo thing would be from malabsorbtion and/or poor metabolic processes, right.
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From that same doc

What affects calcium absorption and excretion?
Calcium absorption refers to the amount of calcium that is absorbed from the digestive tract into our body's circulation. Calcium absorption can be affected by the calcium status of the body, vitamin D status, age, pregnancy and plant substances in the diet. The amount of calcium consumed at one time such as in a meal can also affect absorption. For example, the efficiency of calcium absorption decreases as the amount of calcium consumed at a meal increases.

Age:
Net calcium absorption can be as high as 60% in infants and young children, when the body needs calcium to build strong bones [2,11]. Absorption slowly decreases to 15-20% in adulthood and even more as one ages [2,11,12]. Because calcium absorption declines with age, recommendations for dietary intake of calcium are higher for adults ages 51 and over.

Vitamin
Vitamin D helps improve calcium absorption. Your body can obtain vitamin D from food and it can also make vitamin D when your skin is exposed to sunlight. Thus, adequate vitamin D intake from food and sun exposure is essential to bone health. The Office of Dietary Supplement's vitamin D fact sheet provides more information: http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitamind.asp.

Pregnancy:
Current calcium recommendations for nonpregnant women are also sufficient for pregnant women because intestinal calcium absorption increases during pregnancy [2]. For this reason, the calcium recommendations established for pregnant women are not different than the recommendations for women who are not pregnant.

Plant substances:
Phytic acid and oxalic acid, which are found naturally in some plants, may bind to calcium and prevent it from being absorbed optimally. These substances affect the absorption of calcium from the plant itself not the calcium found in other calcium-containing foods eaten at the same time [6]. Examples of foods high in oxalic acid are spinach, collard greens, sweet potatoes, rhubarb, and beans. Foods high in phytic acid include whole grain bread, beans, seeds, nuts, grains, and soy isolates [2]. Although soybeans are high in phytic acid, the calcium present in soybeans is still partially absorbed [2,13]. Fiber, particularly from wheat bran, could also prevent calcium absorption because of its content of phytate. However, the effect of fiber on calcium absorption is more of a concern for individuals with low calcium intakes. The average American tends to consume much less fiber per day than the level that would be needed to affect calcium absorption.
Calcium excretion refers to the amount of calcium eliminated from the body in urine, feces and sweat. Calcium excretion can be affected by many factors including dietary sodium, protein, caffeine and potassium.

Sodium and protein:
Typically, dietary sodium and protein increase calcium excretion as the amount of their intake is increased [5,14]. However, if a high protein, high sodium food also contains calcium, this may help counteract the loss of calcium.

Potassium:
Increasing dietary potassium intake (such as from 7-8 servings of fruits and vegetables per day) in the presence of a high sodium diet (>5100 mg/day, which is more than twice the Tolerable Upper Intake Level of 2300 mg for sodium per day) may help decrease calcium excretion particularly in postmenopausal women [15,16].

Caffeine:
Caffeine has a small effect on calcium absorption. It can temporarily increase calcium excretion and may modestly decrease calcium absorption, an effect easily offset by increasing calcium consumption in the diet [17]. One cup of regular brewed coffee causes a loss of only 2-3 mg of calcium easily offset by adding a tablespoon of milk [14]. Moderate caffeine consumption, (1 cup of coffee or 2 cups of tea per day), in young women who have adequate calcium intakes has little to no negative effects on their bones [18].


Other factors:

Phosphorus: The effect of dietary phosphorus on calcium is minimal. Some researchers speculate that the detrimental effects of consuming foods high in phosphate such as carbonated soft drinks is due to the replacement of milk with soda rather than the phosphate level itself [19,20].

Alcohol: Alcohol can affect calcium status by reducing the intestinal absorption of calcium [21]. It can also inhibit enzymes in the liver that help convert vitamin D to its active form which in turn reduces calcium absorption [3]. However, the amount of alcohol required to affect calcium absorption is unknown. Evidence is currently conflicting whether moderate alcohol consumption is helpful or harmful to bone.
In summary, a variety of factors that may cause a decrease in calcium absorption and/or increase in calcium excretion may negatively affect bone health.

I'm not exactly sure as to why it would cause constipation. It could be an intestinal contraction thing, or something as simple as preventing the poo from being properly hydrated and lubricated. It's just one of the adverse effects listed in my text books and it stuck in my mind. :laugh: