Which cheese is the healthiest for you to eat?

• Published date: 25 May 2023
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Regardless of how dairy products make you feel, during Shavuot week it seems impossible to avoid meals rich in cheese and dairy products, so we decided to check which cheese is the best for health, and which is less so

Note that the following rankings deal only with animal cheeses, not vegan substitutes. The reason for this is that vegan cheeses are composed in a completely different manner, usually from a base from nuts, almonds, or soybeans, so their nutritional value is always high, even if fattening.

The highlights: Ricotta, cottage and 'fromage blanc'

Cheeses have quite a few health benefits, but unfortunately, the most popular cheeses have far too much salt, too little calcium and more than a little fat. And these are exactly the sections that are examined when looking for healthy cheese. The one that does not fall into these categories, and at the same time is also delicious and indulgent, is ricotta cheese. Ricotta cheese (5-9% fat) can contain up to 620 mg of calcium in a serving of three tablespoons (100 grams), where 1,000 mg of calcium is the recommended daily amount for an adult.

In ricotta cheese, the amount of sodium (salt) is low to medium: 100 to 300 mg of sodium, and the amount of cholesterol ranging from 3-27 mg is also low. Ricotta is also rich in quality whey protein, so it's always a good choice. In fact, ricotta (Italian for "re-cooking") is a cheese created from the water left over from the process of making another cheese. But don't let that discourage you, this is a particularly delicious cheese, both for spreading on bread and for combining in recipes for cheesecakes and pies.

Second place goes to "simple" white cheese (also known as maquée or fromage blanc), assuming you take a moment to choose the right one. Various white cheeses contain calcium in an amount ranging from 85 mg to 230 mg calcium per 100 grams. That is why it is very useful to read the food label of seemingly identical products, and choose the cheese with the higher amount of calcium.

In 100 grams of white cheese, the amount of fat and calories is relatively low (about 0.5-9% fat, about 64-100 calories) and the amount...