Here’s What Happens to Your Body if You Eat Cheese Every Day
Cheese on a table
Cheese is not a food that people tend to have no opinion about. Typically, if someone likes cheese, they really like cheese and can find a way to incorporate it into virtually any meal. Omelets oozing cheddar, seasonal salads with goat cheese, ravioli stuffed with mozzarella, baked brie and crudite…So many cheeses, so many dishes.
Of course, it’s the foods we eat every day that impact our health the most, so if you eat cheese regularly, it’s important to know what it does to the body both in the short and long term. For example, maybe you want to lose weight and you’re wondering if that means cutting ties with cheese. Or perhaps you want to lower your risk of cardiovascular disease. Can eating cheese work for you or against you? Here, registered dietitians explain everything you need to know.
Related: 31 Types of Cheese To Add to Your Next Charcuterie Board
Is Cheese Healthy?
As long as you don’t have a dietary sensitivity to cheese, registered dietitian Alexis Newman, RD, says that cheese can absolutely be part of a healthy diet. “Cheese is full of nutrients such as protein, fat, calcium, phosphorus and vitamins A, B12 and D,” she says. She adds that certain types of cheese (including blue cheese, brie and Swiss cheese) have a particular type of fat called conjugated linoleic acid (or CLA) that can help reduce inflammation, cardiovascular disease and obesity.
Alex Caspero, RD, a registered dietitian at DelishKnowledge, agrees that cheese can be part of a healthy diet as long as it’s eaten in moderation and other nutrient-rich foods are included in one’s diet as well. While cheese does have several important nutrients, no one can live on cheese alone. Caspero says that even though cheese has nutrients like protein and calcium, it also contains saturated fat and sodium, which can negatively impact the body if consumed in excess. This is why it’s important to stick to moderate amounts of cheese and not eat too much of it.
Related: These Are the 10 Healthiest Cheeses, According to Registered Dietitians
Caspero says that it's also important to consider how cheese is eaten. “For example, cheese is often added to foods that are already high in saturated fat, like pepperoni pizza or a burger. In these examples, adding more saturated fat and sodium is likely not adding any additional health benefits,” she says, adding that eating cheese with foods like refined grains and processed meats will negate any health benefits. However, Caspero does say that cheese can be a healthy choice if consumed as a replacement for red and processed meats, or eaten alongside other healthy foods, like having an apple and cheddar cheese for a snack.
Related: 45 Recipes Every Cheese Lover Needs
How Eating Cheese Every Day Impacts the Body
When it comes to eating cheese every day, Caspero says that cheese is health-neutral; it will impact the body in some positive ways as well as some negative ways. “The question of whether or not it's healthy to consume daily is really a matter of overall diet context,” she says. “Saturated fat in the diet should be kept to less than 10 percent of total calories. If a diet is already rich in saturated fat, then adding more cheese will likely have a negative impact on health, especially cardiovascular health. If a diet is plant-rich and naturally lower in saturated fat, then adding in small amounts of cheese will be neutral or slightly positive because of the added calcium.”
If you’re trying to lose weight in a healthy way and are wondering if consuming cheese can help or hurt your goal, here’s some good news: Caspero says that eating cheese will not cause weight gain as long as you are still maintaining a calorie deficit. (She emphasizes that this is true of any food.) In fact, Newman says that including cheese as a part of a healthy snack (such as paired with fruit) can help with weight loss because cheese is satiating and may prevent overeating later.
In terms of long-term health, Newman says that eating cheese every day can help prevent osteoporosis. This, she says, is because cheese is high in calcium, which is important for bone health.
If you want what you eat to help protect you from cardiovascular disease, Caspero says it’s important to be mindful of how much saturated fat is in the cheeses that you are consuming; too much will up your risk. “Long-term intake of diets rich in saturated fat is associated with high levels of LDL cholesterol in the blood and a high level of LDL cholesterol increases your risk of heart disease and stroke,” she says.
There are some foods (like most vegetables) you can eat as much as you want without really worrying if it’s negatively impacting your health. Cheese is a type of food that requires a bit more thought. It can be part of a healthy diet, as long as it’s eaten in moderation and along with a wide variety of other nutrient-rich foods. “Consider your overall diet first and work to reduce intake of high-saturated fat foods and replace them with fiber-rich, unsaturated fat options. From there, a small amount of cheese in a low-refined grain and fiber-rich diet can be healthy,” Caspero says. Her advice is to think of cheese as a condiment instead of the main focus of a meal or snack.
With these tips in mind, you and cheese can live happier ever after together—in all the many ways you love to eat it.
Next up, here's the verdict on whether cottage cheese is healthy.
Sources
Alexis Newman, RD, registered dietitian
Alex Caspero, RD, registered dietitian at DelishKnowledge
