Sunday, November 20, 2011

Can Cheese affect your Cholesterol?

Being one of those people with very few risk factors for heart disease, but who have had stents and also by-pass surgery, I tend to be fairly fanatical about “living the great life” with lots of exercise and fantastic food prepared by the young bride! But there are a few things that I have missed and secretly yearned for over the years, and one of them is Cheese!

Don’t get me wrong: I love what I eat and I never think of it as “healthy” eating, but as awesomely delicious and nutritious food. But there’s something just a little indulgent in say a fine grating of cheese on, perhaps, a sliced zucchini slipped under the grill until it is browned and then eaten whilst still hot!

Well, maybe that little indulgence could become a hope and then a reality because some kind physician at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark has looked at the effects of cheese and butter on Cholesterol levels. The results were that Cheese caused no increase in LDL or total Cholesterol, but with those who consumed the butter had a 7% higher level of LDL. Why there is a difference between cheese and butter is yet to be decided, but it may be to do with Cheese’s relatively high level of Calcium that may affect the excretion of fat by the gut.

But be warned: this does not mean that people with known heart disease should start loading their plated with seven different varieties of Cheese: it just means that once this research has been reviewed and expanded upon, if the Danish findings are confirmed, then that little morsel of Cheese will taste even more delicious.

And finally, just a quick “pat on the back” for our cousins across the ditch - as we in Australia describe New Zealanders! Apparently Kiwi fruit is better at lowering blood pressure than the good old apple a day: so well done guys! The downside is that you have to eat 3 of them a day - and they are pretty “tart” at the best of times! I think I’ll stick to Pomegranate juice!
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4 comments:

Mariodacatsmom said...

Wow - that is good news. Living in WI (the dairy state of the US), we love our cheese here. Do try to watch it tho because of the very reasons you mentioned. Now when we occasionally have cheese, I won't feel so guilty about serving it.

why high cholesterol is bad said...

I hope that you can follow up this post about the study of cheese and the possible effects it can bring to your heart.

Anonymous said...
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Skeptigirl said...

Cheese is awesome. Why should all cheese be cut out of even the healthiest diet. Even some butter, with it's bad news, should have a place, a very small place, in the best of diets. Small indulgences, what each person personally enjoys, are the key to not losing control and keeping one fron driving ones car through the window of a Krispy Kreme, ordering the staff out at gun point and rolling out a month later bigger than Jabba the Hut. (as a side note, I do not personally enjoy Krispy Kremes, they make me nauseous, too rich, however I could take over Vermont at gun point if I tried to stop eating cheese). Praised be Cheesus!