We’re cutting too much cheese
If, in no way, I ever see another pernicious blue box of instant macaroni again, I’ll be a happy camper.
Read the ingredients? It should read whole milk, grated sharp cheddar cheese, chopped onion, salt and pepper, paprika and another layer of cheese on top with a splash of more milk. Instead it reads like the ingredients to jet fuel. Where’s the cheese? Make your own, for goodness sakes.
Cheese is a dairy food made from milk. A starter culture of bacteria is first added to convert some lactose — the primary milk sugar — to lactic acid. An enzyme is next added to coagulate casein — the major milk protein — into a soft solid, or curd, that consists of calcium caseinate and milk fat. Milk fat exists as globules of a triglyceride wrapped in a phospholipid-protein membrane. Did someone say triglyceride?
Pizza isn’t what it used to be, however. A pizza today contains about two or more pounds of artery detonating cheese on top and inside the crust combined with pancreas stressing white flour — a cardiologist’s dream. Got some chunk in your trunk? Don’t get cheesed at me, but cheese is partly responsible for our epidemic of obesity in America.
Before the proliferation of Pizza Shops, Mom discovered a pizza kit at the grocery, and the only cheese was a smidge of powerfully flavored parmesan, not two pounds of shredded, gooey, mozzarella between layers and inside the crust. The gooey substance is loaded with saturated fats — catastrophic for our arteries and waist line. In Italy, only a hint of cheese is used. More is not better for our health equity.
According to the USDA, the average America now eats 30 pounds of mucus-causing, intestinal blocking cheese annually. Cheese consumption has grown five times faster over the past decade. Burp!
Never let the curds get in the whey of a good thing. Cheese is a concentrated source of many of milk’s nutrients, including protein. Americans are pleading, “More cheese, please,” according to a new study released by the California Milk Advisory Board of Modesto. Foods that cause constipation include cow’s milk, yogurt, cheese, cooked carrots and bananas. Anyone got any warm prune juice?
The Nutrition Acton Newsletter informs us that Panera’s throws cheese on all five of its hot panini sandwiches and seven of its nine signature sandwiches. Gorgonzola, Asiago and Feta end up on six out of its nine salads. Appleby’s was busted for applying cheese on five of its seven salads and all but two of its 12 sandwiches and burgers. It appears they need to earn back our trust.
“Americans are eating far too much fatty cheese,” said Margo Wootan, Nutrition Policy Director for CSPI… It’s on sandwiches, salads, spinach, lean chicken, pizza and even on fries. It’s more damaging to our hearts than greasy beef or butter.”
You don’t have to totally cut back on cheese. Did you know that man is the only species on Earth that profits and depends on milk from another species? Pretty heavy, eh? Practice moderation, as you already know.
Seek low-fat, nutritionally jam-packed soy cheese. Yes, years ago, soy cheese tasted like doggie doo and would not melt. However, every grocery now carries some tasty cheese alternatives that even fool my grandkids. We make grilled cheese, broccoli casserole and baked macaroni with soy cheese and no one can tell the deference. Be lovingly sneaky.
I assure it won’t kill you to give them a try.
