Reduced-fat cheese – is it worth buying?

If you look at all the evidence that is available rather than just what suits the argument, I think you will find that there is still a strong case for restricting the amount of saturated fat in our diet. Ignore this advice and you increase your chance of getting clogged-up arteries.

There is a good case for cutting down the amount of sugar and refined carbohydrate in the diet, but perhaps we should not condemn unrefined carbohydrate, which is one reason we are encouraged to eat vegetables.

I nominate peas as ‘naughty foods’ because they have a tendency to roll off the plate. 🙂

I would advise anyone who doubts the negative effect of eating too much saturated fat to have their cholesterol levels checked ASAP.

Depends how the evidence has been gained and which argument is being suited. It also crucially depends on who is financing the research. Some results are highly inconvenient to certain parts of the food and drug industry. Of course the public will be told only what this industry wishes them to be told, as fear is such a well-worn way of making people buy things. Billions of shekels are thus pouring into the coffers of these large companies, purely as a result of skilled marketing. When something is being heavily advertised to consumers, they would do well to be suspicious and ask themselves questions along the lines of my opening comments. The issue of cholesterol is highly complex and the jury is very much still out.

V920607588 – You could support the AllTrials campaign, which is doing its best to prevent the pharmaceutical industry from misbehaving. As you say, the cholesterol issue is complex, but that does not mean that we should not acknowledge that a high fat diet can predispose us to serious medical conditions.

I am very concerned about overuse of drugs, and also people taking unnecessary supplements, often promoted by misuse of science.

I omitted to say in my last comment that Wyke Farms Super Light Somerset Mature cheese has only 1.3g saturated fat per 100g.

Wavechange – I have found it depends very much on whether you eat it in a sandwich with a complimentary filling or from the cheese board with crackers.

I think you are right, Beryl. Perhaps the best compromise is to go for reduced-fat cheese where cheese is there more for nutrition than for its flavour and texture.

Maybe the lack of flavour will help me cut down my cheese consumption. 🙂

It depends upon your attitude to food, doesn’t it? I enjoy eating, so good-tasting food is one of life’s pleasures. But I eat a very varied diet. If you are really concerned about a particular food, rather than eating some less-flavoursome version that you don’t enjoy because it might be “better for you”, best to eat something else you do enjoy. Or eat a smaller portion of the real thing. I have a friend who will eat anything – including cheap sausage and chocolate – with no eating enjoyment at all; he just eats to live. Missing out.

Malcolm – I decided to try to find out if there was a reduced-fat cheese that is equally enjoyable and so far I have been disappointed. What I have in mind is trying reduced-fat cheese in cooking, where the difference is less noticeable. I expect that I will carry on eating full-fat cheese for enjoyment but if I do discover a tasty low-fat alternative I will be happy to switch.

Like many people I switched to semi-skimmed milk to decrease my intake of saturated fat. To start with, I did not enjoy it, but now I hate full-cream milk, though it is better on muesli.

I have noticed this more with salt. I use little salt, partly for health reasons and partly because I don’t find it enhances the flavour of most foods. As a result, I find bought soups very salty.

Hi Ann

I found some useful and reasonably balanced data here:

medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322044.php

I think this is also an area where browsing the small print on food labels can help.

Good link, Derek, showing once again that the only real clarity about cheese and cholesterol is that there’s no real clarity. It’s truly astonishing that we still know so little.

Ann: you have my sympathy.