Total nutrition & my experiments with fat-free cheese
In the latest leg of my Weight Watchers obsession, I picked up Dr. Joy Bauer’s Complete Idiot’s Guide to Total Nutrition and have been reading up on protein, carbs, fat, vitamins, minerals, and all that fun stuff. Really interesting, and definitely helping me to reign-in my addition to veggies and counting points. I’m trying to transition back to normal life with a heightened understanding of what my body needs, how much it needs, and what it really *doesn’t* need to function properly and keep me feeling good, energetic, and happy.Â
My two major takeaways from the book so far:
(1) A balanced/varied diet of fruit, veggies, whole grains, lean protein, and low-fat dairy will give you pretty much everything you could possibly need, with the exception of perhaps a calcium supplement for women (which I already take anyway).
(2) I don’t get nearly enough dairy in my diet because I essentially cut it out (with the exception of 1 cup of non-fat yogurt every morning) due to the high fat content.
Sooooooooo, armed with this new knowledge and a gentle push from Dr. Bauer to get more dairy into my daily intake, I decided to do a series of experiments with reduced-fat and fat-free cheese. Now, my dears, I have NEVER before in my entire life eaten anything other than whole-fat cheese, so this was really branching out for me. Would it taste good? Would it melt? What the heck is in there when you strip out the fat, anyway???
So here’s what I did, and here are my results so far:
(a) Fat-free mozzarella cheese. Scenario #1: Eaten plain, as a snack. Results: edible, but not good. Kinda felt like eating a pencil eraser. No taste, except for a slight chemical-ish aftertaste. Definitely wouldn’t do it again. Scenario #2: Shredded & melted in my dinner. Results: not bad. Definitely added the melty/gooey texture that I love about cheese. Added some mild mozzarella flavor. Made me feel like I was being bad even though I wasn’t. Would do it again.
(b) 75% reduced-fat cheddar cheese. Scenario #1: Eaten plain, as a snack. Results: not bad, definitely doable, even somewhat enjoyable. Definitely had that pencil eraser texture again, but I *did* taste a little of that cheddar goodness, and it was definitely more cheese-like than the fat-free mozzarella. Would do it again. Scenario #2: Shredded & melted in my dinner. Results: Haven’t tried it yet, but planning to do it tomorrow. Am pretty optimistic based on previous results.
Edited to add (July 13, 2009): The results are in! I melted some 75% reduced-fat cheddar in my dinner tonight, and it was actually – dare I say it – pretty good. Not as good as regular cheddar, but pretty good. Will definitely do that again.Â
I suppose another option is to try reduced-fat or non-fat milk, but I really only drink milk with my cereal, and I don’t eat cereal anymore because it’s too high in carbs/sugar. So milk’s out. Perhaps cream cheese & cottage cheese are in my future? I am open to experimentation. I’m exploring new frontiers here, people. At the very least, I got 3 servings of cheese into my diet today (plus the yogurt), which hopefully gave me a nice boost of calcium, vitamin A, protein, etc. Onward and upward!
P.S. – Sorry about all the random/non-dating-related posting lately. This is my life, people! Thanks for bearing with me. : )
Don’t know anything about that book, but dairy is not a necessary part of your diet, and in fact, it is really pretty bad for you overall. I don’t give a fuck, because I don’t watch what I eat, I have trouble trusting any book that says that dairy is an essential part of a healthy and balanced diet.
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July 13th, 2009 at 12:16 amHammer does have a point here – dairy is not important for you, milk can even harm you (check website of Peta for further information).
July 13th, 2009 at 3:06 amComplete and utter bullshit. Dairy is an essential part of any healthy diet. CALCIUM CALCIUM CALCIUM CALCIUM CALCIUM
And the worst part of it all? My hard earned dollars will go towards nursing home fees for people with broken hips from Osteoporosis – resulting from a belief that dairy is bad for you. *face palm*
July 13th, 2009 at 4:48 amTry soy milk. I like the chocolate kind. Yummy. You can find “light” variations.
Oh, and cottage cheese mixed with pineapple chunks is very good. I have that for breakfast sometimes.
July 13th, 2009 at 11:21 amMilk isn’t the only thing you can get calcium in. More tolerable than greens for some, though.
However, you can usually find ten articles arguing against most things and then ten arguing for. Look at eggs. Eggs are bad for you! No they’re good, just throw out the yolk! No, are you crazy…the yolk is the most nutritious part!
Gives a person a headache
July 13th, 2009 at 11:37 amYou know what I find funny, you can find anything on the internet to back up any claim. Milk is bad for you, go read Peta. Milk is good for you, go read… You get my point.
You do need the calcium and you still need some fat in your diet. But I’m not a doctor.
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July 13th, 2009 at 11:55 amHammer – I don’t think I (or the book) said that low-fat dairy was “essential,” but I agree with the book that dairy is an important part of a balanced diet, if for nothing else but the calcium. Calcium (like most nutrients) is best absorbed by the body through food (as opposed to a supplement), so any low-fat, low-calorie foods that provide these nutrients sound good to me.
Nadine – I think there’s an inherent risk in all animal-derived foods, but I don’t think that’s going to stop me from eating dairy (or meat, for that matter). I’ve been drinking milk for 30 years and seem to be a-ok. Everything in moderation.
AJ – Agree about the importance of calcium for building and maintaining strong bones. The book mentioned that your bones are like a “calcium bank,” and as long as you keep depositing your savings into the bank, it’ll be there as your nest egg when you get older and need to make a withdrawal. Cheesy analogy, but it makes sense to me and the science seems to back it up.
Rachelle – I have a WW friend who raves about cottage cheese and pineapples – I’ll have to give it a try!
Virgin – Very true about news media constantly contradicting themselves regarding nutrition (and all sorts of other issues, by the way). I think if you take everything in moderation, you should be ok. I eat eggs, but I don’t eat a dozen each week. Just like I eat peanut butter, but not an entire jar each week.
Gray – Exactly. And I agree that calcium and fat are important parts of your daily intake. I think my low fat intake is what contributed to my period being two weeks late – your body needs fat to produce hormones, among other things. Lesson learned, though. I need more balance.
July 13th, 2009 at 6:34 pmI second those who say that dairy products are TERRIBLE for you. And actually, while milk does contain calcium, it leeches MORE calcium out of your bones than it replaces.
You’re better off eating lots of dark greens (which contain tons of calcium), drinking soy milk and eating soy yogurt.
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July 15th, 2009 at 12:05 pm