Cottage cheese has many different health benefits when adding it as part of a balanced diet. It has the ability to assist with weight loss, it is an excellent source of protein as well as fat, it contains a high concentration of B vitamins and research has suggested it can aid in the prevention of breast cancer. It also contains essential minerals that the body requires to function correctly such as calcium, potassium, zinc, magnesium, selenium, and phosphorus. Each of these plays an important role in the human body and assists with the goal of living a healthy life.
Cottage cheese is created in a way quite similar to regular cheeses, to produce cottage cheese companies use milk in different proportions than regular cheese. They also add substances with a high acidic content such as vinegar, the mixture is then boiled and the milk begins to curdle. As the milk continues to boil a number of limps begin to form within the milk and this is essentially the cottage cheese that you find packaged in various retail stores although some brands will add things for added taste such as pineapple or herbs and spices. We hope this article will help you understand the various cottage cheese benefits.
So What Are Some Cottage Cheese Nutritional Benefits
As previously touched on, various studies have published papers suggesting cottage cheese has the ability to reduce the risk of breast cancer. The high amounts of Vitamin D and Calcium found within the cheese have been credited with this effect. One particular study carried out over a sixteen-year period by the Harvard School Of Public Health published a paper stating that the vitamin D and calcium from cottage cheese had a positive effect in reducing the risk of breast cancer within a premenopausal woman.
Cottage cheese is particularly high in protein, this is seen as a major benefit of the food to bodybuilders as it is readily available as well as cheap. The main source of protein within the cheese is casein, a slow-digesting protein that helps slowly release a low amount of protein into the body over a long period of time making it the perfect food to consume just before bed to prevent the body from running low on protein in the bloodstream. Vegetarians also take advantage of the high protein content as it suits their lifestyle choices being a high protein food that has no meat in it whatsoever.
Many doctors encourage pregnant women to consume cottage cheese regularly due to its high calcium and moderate phosphorus content. Both of these are essential for both the creation and maintenance of healthy bones. This not only helps the unborn baby develop a strong and healthy skeleton but also helps the mother’s body repair any damage caused to her bones from carrying the extra weight of the baby.
An Excellent Source Of B Complex Vitamins
One of the main cottage cheese benefits is its various types of B vitamins found in it naturally. These are essential for our body to carry out various daily metabolic activities and they include vitamin B12, thiamin, pantothenic acid, niacin, folate, and finally riboflavin.
To function correctly the human brain required vitamin B12, which assists with maintaining healthy brain waves and stress relief. Vitamin B12 also assists the body in the absorption of iron.
Riboflavin is an essential component when it comes to creating energy for our bodies from the carbohydrates we consume, it increases the efficiency of the whole process and also assists with the movement of fiber throughout systems. The Thiamin found in the cottage cheese further assists in this process by assisting our bodies to convert various sugars into energy, on top of this Niacin also assists the body in the production of energy song with various digestion tasks and the reduction of cholesterol in our blood.
Although our liver does have the ability to release natural enzymes into our blood stead to form various proteins, carbohydrates, amino acids, and some fats the pantothenic acid found within cottage cheese assists this process by acting as a synthesizer and increasing the body’s natural efficiency in the task.
As previously touched on cottage cheese is recommended to pregnant women to help them produce a strong healthy baby, another reason cottage cheese is so popular for this is the B vitamin Folate as it helps with the development of the fetus as well as the production of red blood cells.
Benefits Of Cottage Cheese For Weight Loss
Cottage cheese is regularly recommended to those who are wanting to lose weight, this is due to it being a nutrient-dense food that is high in protein has very little carb content, and helps keep your stomach feeling full for longer.
Standard cottage cheese will contain around 220 calories per cup and provide your body with around fifteen percent of its daily fat requirement although this does change slightly per brand. Various brands now also have a low-fat variation of cottage cheese that is produced with low-fat milk, usually two percent fat milk. This variation contains around 190 calories per cup and just under ten percent of your body’s daily recommended intake of fat. You can also purchase specialist nonfat versions of cottage cheese with some brands stating that their product contains less than 100 calories per cup and only trace amounts of fat.
The high protein content of the cheese will help your stomach feel fuller for longer as protein takes longer for the body to break down than carbohydrates or fat and it will also help your body maintain muscle mass while it burns fat.
Benefits Of Cottage Cheese Bodybuilding
Many of the topics above go into detail on these advantages already so for this section we will only skim over why cottage cheese is so popular with the body-building community. We hope as you are reading this article you are beginning to understand the various cottage cheese benefits.
Firstly it is high in protein and excellent for assisting with muscle growth, this is goal number one for the majority of bodybuilders making it an excellent food for them to include in their diets. It is also extremely nutrient dense helping their bodies stay topped up with a large number and a wide range of various vitamins and minerals.
Cottage cheese has little to no carbohydrates in it meaning it is also an excellent food for bodybuilders to consume when in various low carb diets designed for them when in their cutting phase ready for competitions.
The high calcium content of cottage cheese is also helpful to quickly repair any stress fractures their skeletal frame suffers when lifting the tremendous weights they lift on an almost daily basis.
Benefits Of Cottage Cheese Before Bed
As the main protein source found within cottage cheese is casein, cottage cheese is often consumed before bed to provide a cheap and easy to come by the source of slow-releasing protein to help the body keep its protein levels topped up throughout the night. This is particularly important for many bodybuilders who wish to prevent their body from developing a protein deficit while they sleep and potentially beginning to catabolize the muscles they have worked so hard to develop.
In addition to this, the cheese also provides an excellent source of vitamins and minerals for the body to digest throughout the night helping keep many essential bodily functions working efficiently.