Eat Wisely – The Cheese WOW Factor

There is an adage, “eat to live; live not to eat”. Is this silly or what?

It certainly sounds silly. But think about it – do you really need to eat all that ……

Let’s look at the average amount of cheese an American eats per day. The latest USDA figures say that an average American eats about 31 pounds of cheese a year (http://www.ers.usda.gov/AmberWaves/February05/pdf/FindingsDietandHealthFeb05.pdf).

Processed Cheese

That is over 2.5 cheese pounds a month.

Surprised?

So, how come we over-cheese it! Where does all the cheese come from? Just think about it – pizza, cheese sandwiches, cheese on salad, cheese ravioli, cheese on pasta – the list is endless, not to mention our favorite cheesecake.

I don’t mean to say that cheese is evil. It is a great nutritious and delicious food; I love it and I’m already drooling. But as the saying goes, even too much of a good thing is not good.

Cheese is actually a highly concentrated source of nutrition and is made from milk. The amount of calories per unit will vary depending on the type of milk used to make the cheese. Nevertheless, let’s take a look at our favorite cheddar cheese. On an average it can contain about 30% fat and 25% protein. Compare this with whole milk, which has about 3.5%, each, of fat and protein.

So, if you drink 3 glasses (~24 fluid ounces) of whole milk for a wholesome diet, you can get it from one-tenth the amount of cheddar cheese.

And that’s the cheese WOW factor!

So, next time you are tempted to order an extra-cheese sandwich or top off your salad or pasta with extra cheese, count backwards from 30 to 0 before you do. It’s never too late for you to take control of your life by adopting a healthy eating lifestyle.