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Why cheese is no longer my friend | Why cheese is no longer my friend |
(2 days later) | |
My name is Tim and I'm a cheese addict. But what I've been discovering recently has shaken me to the core. | My name is Tim and I'm a cheese addict. But what I've been discovering recently has shaken me to the core. |
I can barely look a Babybel in the face. A half-eaten halloumi squeaklessly lies yellowing in the fridge. My cheese dreams are shattering. | I can barely look a Babybel in the face. A half-eaten halloumi squeaklessly lies yellowing in the fridge. My cheese dreams are shattering. |
For, after a lifetime of unfettered devotion, could it possibly be that cheese is more foe than friend? That I am addicted to something that is not so good for my body? That cheese should be toast? | For, after a lifetime of unfettered devotion, could it possibly be that cheese is more foe than friend? That I am addicted to something that is not so good for my body? That cheese should be toast? |
These are questions that began surfacing a couple of months ago when I began making an episode for my new podcast for the BBC, All Hail Kale, looking into whether dairy was scary. | These are questions that began surfacing a couple of months ago when I began making an episode for my new podcast for the BBC, All Hail Kale, looking into whether dairy was scary. |
For some time, I'd increasingly been questioning the logic of adults drinking milk. | For some time, I'd increasingly been questioning the logic of adults drinking milk. |
While milk and dairy products, such as cheese and yoghurt, are good sources of protein and calcium and can form part of a healthy, balanced diet, as Dr Michael Greger, from NutritionFacts.org, put it to me: "There's no animal on the planet that drinks milk after weaning - and then to drink milk of another species even doesn't make any sense." | While milk and dairy products, such as cheese and yoghurt, are good sources of protein and calcium and can form part of a healthy, balanced diet, as Dr Michael Greger, from NutritionFacts.org, put it to me: "There's no animal on the planet that drinks milk after weaning - and then to drink milk of another species even doesn't make any sense." |
He then reeled off a series of studies showing the life-shortening potential of drinking this "hormonal stew". | He then reeled off a series of studies showing the life-shortening potential of drinking this "hormonal stew". |
I'd always blithely assumed cheese was a more mature - perhaps benign or even more beneficial - form of dairy. It fitted a mental picture of spritely, long-living Greeks and Italians liberally sprinkling around feta and pecorino; yet in reality, only a low to moderate amount of cheese figures in the hallowed Mediterranean Diet. | I'd always blithely assumed cheese was a more mature - perhaps benign or even more beneficial - form of dairy. It fitted a mental picture of spritely, long-living Greeks and Italians liberally sprinkling around feta and pecorino; yet in reality, only a low to moderate amount of cheese figures in the hallowed Mediterranean Diet. |
I'd also unilaterally decided that a childhood diagnosis of lactose-intolerance should in no way impede me from mainlining paneer when in India or, when skiing, spending more time forking bread into fondue than bothering with the slopes. | I'd also unilaterally decided that a childhood diagnosis of lactose-intolerance should in no way impede me from mainlining paneer when in India or, when skiing, spending more time forking bread into fondue than bothering with the slopes. |
De-cheese? | De-cheese? |
Perhaps this sense of denial-cum-delusion stems from an actual addiction. One US doctor controversially (and not supported by any of the professors I spoke to) refers to cheese as "dairy crack" - for apparently containing addictive, opiate-like chemicals - and even suggests a three-step programme to de-cheese. | Perhaps this sense of denial-cum-delusion stems from an actual addiction. One US doctor controversially (and not supported by any of the professors I spoke to) refers to cheese as "dairy crack" - for apparently containing addictive, opiate-like chemicals - and even suggests a three-step programme to de-cheese. |
Step One: know why you want to break away. | Step One: know why you want to break away. |
Well, I don't know that I do want to break away. | Well, I don't know that I do want to break away. |
But in the journalistic pursuit of seeing whether cheese is a less scary form of dairy than milk, I took my head out of the sand (under which a special Turkish cheese is apparently fermented) and contacted three heavy-hitters in nutrition. They all agreed the milk secretion of another species is a strange thing for us to have latched onto - and adult humans have no need to drink it. But could a cheese consensus be reached? | But in the journalistic pursuit of seeing whether cheese is a less scary form of dairy than milk, I took my head out of the sand (under which a special Turkish cheese is apparently fermented) and contacted three heavy-hitters in nutrition. They all agreed the milk secretion of another species is a strange thing for us to have latched onto - and adult humans have no need to drink it. But could a cheese consensus be reached? |
Dr Michael Greger took a hard line: cheese, with its combination of sodium and concentrated butterfat, should not be part of our daily diets. "Make it for a special occasion rather than the day-to-day." | Dr Michael Greger took a hard line: cheese, with its combination of sodium and concentrated butterfat, should not be part of our daily diets. "Make it for a special occasion rather than the day-to-day." |
Dr Walter Willett, a professor of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health - took a more semi-hard view of cheese. "It does not seem to have the same growth-promoting effects as milk does. Have your Brie in moderation and enjoy it." He said we should have only one portion of dairy a day. | Dr Walter Willett, a professor of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health - took a more semi-hard view of cheese. "It does not seem to have the same growth-promoting effects as milk does. Have your Brie in moderation and enjoy it." He said we should have only one portion of dairy a day. |
Over at Cornell University, its Nutrition professor David Levitsky took a distinctly softer stance on the perils of dairy - and confessed to having a small cheese plate before dinner every night. "I enjoy it, but I don't eat masses of cheese." | Over at Cornell University, its Nutrition professor David Levitsky took a distinctly softer stance on the perils of dairy - and confessed to having a small cheese plate before dinner every night. "I enjoy it, but I don't eat masses of cheese." |
The consensus, of sorts, was that cheese should certainly not be at the high end of the spectrum. | The consensus, of sorts, was that cheese should certainly not be at the high end of the spectrum. |
In the spirit of de-ostriching, I then went to see a GP, Dr Enam Abood from the Harley Street Health Centre to get my lactose intolerance retested 30 years on. | In the spirit of de-ostriching, I then went to see a GP, Dr Enam Abood from the Harley Street Health Centre to get my lactose intolerance retested 30 years on. |
She confirmed that not only was the intolerance still in force but by ignoring it I might have inflamed my gut. | She confirmed that not only was the intolerance still in force but by ignoring it I might have inflamed my gut. |
According to Dr Abood, my ropey gut means I'm probably not absorbing vitamins and minerals, which isn't great for my immune system, energy levels, and even maybe my mood. | According to Dr Abood, my ropey gut means I'm probably not absorbing vitamins and minerals, which isn't great for my immune system, energy levels, and even maybe my mood. |
The damage is most likely the result of me overdoing dairy for years. | The damage is most likely the result of me overdoing dairy for years. |
Dr Abood recommended that if I consume cheese, I should pop a lactase pill - giving me the enzyme I, and many people like me, lack to be able to digest dairy properly. | Dr Abood recommended that if I consume cheese, I should pop a lactase pill - giving me the enzyme I, and many people like me, lack to be able to digest dairy properly. |
The one silver (gut) lining from my medical travels was an intestinal expert telling me that a nice piece of bacteria-rich, non-processed, unpasteurised cheese will go down a treat with the gut microbiome. | The one silver (gut) lining from my medical travels was an intestinal expert telling me that a nice piece of bacteria-rich, non-processed, unpasteurised cheese will go down a treat with the gut microbiome. |
Having also been making an All Hail Kale episode on the role of the gut to your moods, this seemed like an excellent rationale to keep cheese on the table. | |
I never got as far as Step Two: think about what you can do to change the recipes you have already. Step Three - think about the non-dairy cheeses - seemed too much to even consider stomaching. | I never got as far as Step Two: think about what you can do to change the recipes you have already. Step Three - think about the non-dairy cheeses - seemed too much to even consider stomaching. |
Instead, I think about how bewildering it is to get definitive answers around nutrition. I think I should remember to carry around lactase enzyme pills. And I think my gut would want me to have a little slice of Roquefort… tomorrow. | Instead, I think about how bewildering it is to get definitive answers around nutrition. I think I should remember to carry around lactase enzyme pills. And I think my gut would want me to have a little slice of Roquefort… tomorrow. |
Download BBC Sounds to listen to All Hail Kale. | Download BBC Sounds to listen to All Hail Kale. |