Cheese Please

I'm in Italy! Let's talk about cheese!

I got a request to discuss cheese. He wants to know what kinds of cheese or nutritional beneficial and which ones to pack in sandwiches, as snacks, and on top of many foods.

Cheese an awesome nutritionally dense type of food. It's made from my favorite ingredient: milk. Cheese for the most part is just a concentrated form of milk, but usually has other cultures and flavors added. Cheese is usually high in calcium, vitamin D, protein, and saturated fat. The last one on that list is undesirable, so look for this stat on the nutritional label when buying cheese and pick the ones with low values. Unfortunately, low fat content usually makes the cheese not very tasty whatsoever, so another method you can use is only eating so much cheese at once or buying prepackaged cheeses like mozzarella sticks or portioned out cottage cheeses.

When cooking with cheese, it should always be the addition to the product. Let me give some examples: Parmesan on top of spaghetti, a slice of cheddar on your sandwich or burger, or crumbled feta on top of your salad. When cheese is thought of as an addition rather than the main ingredient, you are on the right track to adding beneficial protein and calcium to your diet! Watch out for foods that really focus on cheese being the main ingredient. Examples of this include pizza, macaroni and cheese, alfredo, queso dips, and some thick soups (broccoli cheddar). These are usually high in fat and can get greasy just because of this cheese factor.

Here are some cheese profiles to keep in mind when choosing your cheeses!

• American Cheese, 1 slice: 94 Cal, 4.3 g sat. fat, 5.6 g protein, 14% Calcium
• Cheddar, 1 oz slice: 113 Cal, 6 g sat. fat, 7 g protein, 20% Calcium
• 1% Cottage Cheese 4 oz (~1 cup): 81 Cal, <1 g sat. fat, 14 g protein, 7% Calcium
• Mozzarella string cheese (1 stick): 70 Cal, 4 g sat. fat, 8 g protein, 25% Calcium
• Parmesan Cheese (3 Tbsp): 66 Cal, 3 g sat. fat, 6 g protein, 6% Calcium
• Feta cheese (1.3 g, small wedge): 100 Cal, 5.7 g sat. fat, 5.4 g protein, 19% Calcium
• Swiss, 1 oz slice: 106 Cal, 5 g sat. fat, 7.5 g protein, 22% Calcium

So looking at this list, cottage cheese and string cheese can be real easy quick snacks for the athlete due to their high protein count and low fat content. If you can find some pre-packaged cottage cheese you like, try adding fruit to it as well to get an energy boost.