The Big Cheese - Where Does Cheese Fit in a Diabetic Diet?

In the US and around the world, cheese is an incredibly popular food eaten every day on burgers, pizzas, subs, salads, and macaroni. Today you can even buy cheese in pre-packaged single serving sizes for snacking.

Cheese is nutritious but it's often one of the first foods cut from diets when the goal is to cut calories or lose weight. Many diabetics routinely don't include it in their nutrition plans simply because they believe cheese has too many calories. Others consider cheese as a no-no because it is seen as a food high in cholesterol. But, if you are selective about what type of cheeses you eat, and minimize the amount you eat at a sitting, cheese can be an integral part of a diabetic diet.

Cheese has a high amount of quality protein. It also has a good amount of:

calcium
vitamin B6
vitamin A
beta-carotene
thiamine
niacin
folate and
phosphorus

The protein is especially good because it is from whey and casein... exactly the kind of protein that bodybuilders take in to build muscle fast and help strengthen the immune system. Cheese also has CLA, or conjugated linoleic acid and spohingolipids, which come from milk fat. Studies have shown these to reduce the risk of heart disease and certain cancers.

One of the advantages for diabetics is that cheese is low-carb, even if the label says otherwise. That's because the bacteria has eaten a good amount of the carbs in the cheese before it hits your mouth! Even if you are lactose intolerant and don't have the enzyme to break down lactose, you still might be able to eat cheese, especially types which have been aged thirty days or more. Often, the process of making cheese reduces the lactose.

When adding cheese to your nutrition plan, the biggest concern for diabetics is the fat content. The American Diabetes Association puts cheese in a category on the Diabetic Food Pyramid named "meat and meat substitutes." Cheese has comparable amounts of protein and fat to other meats. But just as you can choose lean cuts of meat and cut off the extra fat, so you can buy low-fat and non-fat cheeses.

Today many cheeses are made from skim or nonfat milk. You can even get skim-milk mozzarella cheese, the type which is used to top pizzas. In fact, some of the labels the USDA allows on cheeses are fat free, nonfat, low fat, less fat, light and reduced fat. Because people with diabetes need to be concerned about cholesterol levels and heart disease, it is best to stick with these new categories of cheese.

If you already are having heart problems, try nonfat, reduced sodium cheeses. While none of these are going to taste just like the fattiest cheeses, you can still enjoy cheese flavors and get all of the benefits which come from milk products. Another one of these bonuses is increased bone density from calcium.

Even if you have type 2 diabetes, you can still eat cheese. You just need to change the types of cheeses which you eat and have smaller and fewer servings. Perhaps most importantly of all, be aware of how much saturated fat is in the cheese you choose and keep it as low as possible.

Would you like more information about alternative ways to handle your type 2 diabetes?

To download your free copy of my E-Book, click here now: drugfreetype2diabetes.com/faq.html Answers to Your Questions... its based on questions many diabetics have asked me over recent months.

(c) 2010 Beverleigh Piepers is a registered nurse who would like to help you understand how to live easily and happily with your type 2 diabetes.
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