Are there cheeses with less saturated fat?
I like cheese, but I'd like to find ones with better fat ratios.
Do all cheeses have high amounts of saturated fat? More importantly, are there any natural cheeses that have a high mono- and polyunsaturated fat to saturated fat ratio?
I know for instance that nuts can vary in this regard. Some nuts can be high in saturated fat while others aren't. I'm looking for something similar with cheeses.
Finally, if such cheeses exist, are any of them suitable for pizza?
Best Answer
No, there aren't such cheeses. All cheeses are made from the same basic product - milk - and there are no changes to the fat happening in the cheesemaking process. Whatever ratio of saturated to unsaturated fats goes in, the same ratio goes out.
There are cheeses made from milk of different animals, and they do have a different ratio of saturated to unsaturated fat:
- cow: 55% saturated
- sheep: 65% saturated
- goat: 65% saturated
As you see, the difference is very small. Besides, the majority of cheeses you get in the West are made with cow's milk, which has the lowest saturation of the three. If this is too much for your dietary goals, then you don't have alternatives with less saturated fat.
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Answer 2
As previously answered, yes cheese is made of milk, and milk's fat can't really be broken out into saturated and non saturated. The ratio is fixed, but you can lower the total volume of it in a cheese. (or eat less cheese for the same effect)
However, vegans have been innovating the the non-milk cheese category for some time. Cashew cheese is a pretty good replicant of soft spreading cheese, or can be pressed into firm blocks to go on crackers and such.
There are commercially available non-dairy cheeses too. Daiya is a vegan cheese that even gets melty. It has a 1:3 ratio of saturated to non-saturated fats. They have a mozzarella flavor, and I think this would be your best bet for pizza.
Answer 3
Not all cheeses run the same fat content. Generally harder cheeses have less water, more protein, and lower fat than soft cheeses. (Compare parmesan to brie) This is influenced with the starting milk. Fatter milk = fatter cheese.
Fat is what nature puts in food to make it taste good. There are low fat cheeses. There are low fat cheese flavoured products. They do not do well cooking, and are acceptable in sandwiches only of you also find acceptable Kraft Singles.
I may get shot down by not answering the question. You are asking (IMHO) the wrong question. You aren't really interested in low fat cheese, you are interested in becoming healthy. If this is true, then you may want to ask a somewhat different question on a health/nutrition/fitness board, such as,
"What is the current consensus on the health aspects of saturated fats?" There is a lot of comment going on about this. Eggs are no longer evil. Butter is better than margarine.
Meanwhile, enjoy your cheese.
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Images: Josh Hild, Fidel Hajj, alleksana, Milan