dairy Archives

Why I Stopped Eating Processed Cheese and You Should Too

July 24, 2023 By Susan Patterson

I really like cheese. I like cheese in my salad, I like cheese on my popcorn… I just like cheese. But, I have now stopped eating cheese and with it all processed dairy products including yogurt and milk. I have gone cold turkey.

Americans eat way too much-processed cheese

According to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine,

“Americans eat more than 33 pounds of cheese per person per year—three times more than they did in 1970—and our country is more obese than ever … Cheese is a high-calorie product loaded with fat, sodium, and cholesterol. Typical cheeses are 70 percent fat. And the type of fat they contain is mainly saturated (“bad”) fat.”

We should consume healthy saturated fat: We should consume 2 tablespoons of healthy saturated fat daily from good sources such as coconut oil or avocados. However, consuming a boatload of processed, unhealthy saturated fat such as that found in processed cheese, is very hard on your body. Yes, we need saturated fat to function but only when it comes from healthy sources.

The Bad News

So here are just some of the reasons why I decided to ditch processed cheese:

Too many ingredients: Ok, have you ever turned over the package of a bag of cheese only to find a huge list of ingredients, many of which you can’t even pronounce? The list includes things such as emulsifiers, saturated vegetable oils, excess sodium, food coloring agents, preservatives, and sugar.

Vegetable oils: A variety of nasty, industrially produced oils, such as soy, sunflower, canola and corn oil, are used in processed cheese products to improve flavor and texture. They also serve as cheap fillers to bulk up the product so that less real cheese needs to be used.

Sodium and sugar: Processed cheese normally contains at least twice as much sodium as is used in the making of natural cheese. This is because food manufacturers have become wise to the particular combinations that trigger our taste buds and brains most effectively.

Cheese can contain pus from bladder infections in cows: This is just gross and enough of a reason for me to stop eating processed cheese. Peta has this to say,

“They [the cows] are treated like milk-producing machines and are genetically manipulated and pumped full of antibiotics and hormones that cause them to produce more milk. While cows suffer on factory farms, humans who drink their milk increase their chances of developing heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and many other ailments.”

Many kinds of cheese are made with rennet: Perhaps you have not heard of rennet before. It is actually an enzyme that comes from calves’ stomach linings. Unless the cheese is labeled vegetarian, there is a good chance that it contains rennet. The Vegetarian Society tells us this about rennet.

“The traditional source of rennet is the stomach of slaughtered newly-born calves. Vegetarian cheeses are manufactured using rennet from either fungal/bacterial sources or genetically modified micro-organisms.”

Artificial colors: Along with the other carefully composed properties of processed cheese, the color is also made “just right” to tempt the eye of purchasers. Some examples of coloring agents include apocarotenal, yellow dye and yellow tartrazine. All considered dangerous substances.

In Summary

I could go on and on about processed cheese, but I am sure that you get the picture. Better to stay away from it all together. It is best to eat only high quality, real cheese made with no artificial ingredients and do so in moderation than to risk the health dangers of the processed stuff!

-Susan Patterson

6 Ways To Prevent Bloating And Swelling This Summer

August 8, 2018 By Susan Patterson

Summer is a time for indulgences. Whether it’s a family reunion or a trip to your favorite beach, chances are you’re treating yourself to food and drink that you avoid the rest of the year. Add the heat of summer to the mix, and you’ve got a recipe for bloating and swelling that leaves you feeling uncomfortable. [Read more…]

Why You Should Eat Real Butter and How to Eat More

October 4, 2017 By Susan Patterson

When we think of superfoods, we are regaled by mental images of crunchy kale, tart goji berries, and succulent avocados.

We rarely consider butter. However, organic grass-fed butter truly embodies the characteristics of a superfood, and, while it may seem counterintuitive, deserves a starring role on your household menu.

It is a crying shame that for years, Americans have been taught to fear butter and avoid it like the plague, in favor of imposter margarine – which, by the way, contain dangerous trans fats and other unhealthy additives.

Luckily, public opinion of organic butter and other healthy saturated fats is changing, now that more and more research is discovering that they are not linked to heart disease after all.

An analysis performed this past summer by the University of Cambridge surveyed 72 studies involving a total of 600,000 people from 18 different countries, and found no link between saturated fats and heart disease. In fact, the more testing that is done on healthy, natural saturated fats, such as come from grass-fed butter and organic coconut oil, the more health benefits of these fats are being found.

The dietary cholesterol found in butter actually functions as a potent antioxidant, which can help to reduce disease-promoting inflammation throughout the body. Butter also contains vitamins A, D, E and K2, as well as the minerals iodine, lecithin and selenium.

These nutrients, along with the short and medium-chain fatty acids found in butter, can help improve digestion, boost immune system function, and may actually protect against heart disease.

Additionally, the iodine found in butter is highly absorbable, and essential for proper thyroid function.

But wait: not all butter is created equal. While organic, grass-fed butter is a nourishing superfood, conventionally manufactured butter is made using milk from cows fed genetically modified grains.

Not only does this pose the risk of genetically modified material ending up in your butter, thereby entering your body, it also compromises the nutrition of the butter itself. This is because grains are not a natural diet for cows, and when they are not allowed to dine on grasses, their milk becomes nutritionally depleted.

So, now that we’ve got the butter facts straight, here are three ways that you can get more of the golden goodness into your diet.

Put it in your coffee

Pouring a freshly-brewed cup of organic coffee in the blender and whipping it up with some unsalted grass-fed butter can make a wonderful concoction that will provide you with tons of energy throughout your day.

You will get the vitamins and minerals that butter contains along with your morning caffeine, and the healthy fats will keep you satiated and help to stop cravings in their tracks.

Plus, you’ll add the many nutrients in butter to the benefits of coffee itself – and there are many!

Add it to your oatmeal

To add some oomph to your breakfast, melt a square of butter over your oatmeal. Organic, steel-cut oats are a wonderful source of fiber, which not only keeps you feeling full, but is very important for health. Adding the benefits of butter means your body will be pampered from the inside by not only fiber but healthy fat – perfect sustenance for a busy day.

Additionally, oatmeal and butter is a perfect, gluten-free breakfast cereal alternative. Just make sure you are buying organic, steel-cut oats or raw oat groats, with no additives, which may contain gluten and other preservatives you don’t want in your bowl.

Note: while non-contaminated oats are considered gluten-free, there is a protein in oats, called Avenin, which causes a negative reaction in approximately 5% of people with celiac disease.

Drizzle over fresh, organic veggies

Research has found that butter can actually unlock many of the nutrients found in your favorite veggies, making them more available to your body. This is because many vitamins and minerals are fat-soluble, and eating them without fat may not allow your body to absorb their full benefits.

A 2009 study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health tested the cardioprotective effects of fruits and vegetables with and without high-fat dairy products such as butter. The researchers concluded:

“Daily intake of fruit and vegetables was associated with a lower risk of coronary heart disease when combined with a high dairy fat consumption … but not when combined with low dairy fat consumption.”

Organic butter has been a celebrated staple in many cultures since ancient times, and for very good reason. Isn’t it time you joined the club.

-Susan Patterson