Frequently ASKED QUESTIONS
Can I eat cheese when I am pregnant?
The consumption of cheese during pregnancy is a matter of personal preference.
Contrary to popular belief, the concern isn’t regarding whether the milk was raw or pasteurized, the concern is the moisture content in which the harmful bacteria listeria can exist in. It should be remembered that cheese is a great and concentrated source of protein and calcium that the body needs in growing a healthy, happy baby. It also contains many more essential nutrients and minerals, such as: Vitamin A, Vitamin B12, Potassium, Magnesium, Zinc, Phosphorus.
If choosing to eat cheese during pregnancy we recommend that you stick to hard, aged cheese with low moisture content. These include: Semi hard and hard cooked cheeses.
Cheeses to be avoided are those that cannot be aged due to their high moisture contents. These include: soft cheese such as brie and camembert, blue and processed cheese.
What does a vegetarian cheese refer to?
Vegetarian cheeses are produced using microbial or plant-based material to coagulate the milk as opposed to the ‘traditional’ milk coagulating enzymes found in the lining of the stomach, most commonly derived from the 4th stomach of a calf (rennet)
What is Lactose Intolerance?
When we consume milk, our small intestines break lactose down into other sugars under the action of an enzyme called lactase. Most mammals stop producing this enzyme when they are weaned and humans when they reach adult age. Lactose intolerance occurs when people stop producing the lactase enzyme.
Lactose-intolerant people cannot drink or consume products from animal milk in any quantity without experiencing health problems. Generally they can tolerate small quantities of ordinary full cream milk better than most modern low-fat milks, which are often boosted with skim milk powder that contains extra lactose.
Well made, aged cheeses (above the age of 6 months) are actually one of the few dairy products that will not cause problems for people with lactose intolerance. The first and most important step of cheesemaking, alongside protein coagulation, is the conversion of lactose into lactic acid – souring or fermentation action of lactic acid bacteria on milk. The small amount of lactose left over after active cheesemaking ends is further broken down by glycolysis during aging.
Milk is about 87% water; it also contains significant amounts of proteins, fats and minerals.
Cheese as a source of nutrition
Cheese is delicious and also an amazing source of nutrition. It supplies us with many valuable nutrients, including proteins, sugars, vitamins and minerals. For example, if you compare the nutritional content of a 100gm piece of Farmhouse cheddar to an equal amount of chicken eggs, the cheese contains about twice as much protein and only a quarter of the cholesterol.
Another advantage of cheese is that its nutrients are absorbed by bacteria and enzymes during the cheesemaking process and aging. This means the process of breaking down its proteins, fats, and sugars has already begun before we begin to digest.
Nutritional experts have begun to agree that fat tastes good and satisfies us and that there are beneficial fats available in milk. Many fats in milk work as antioxidants and also provide fat soluble vitamins that are good for our skin and other organs.
The process of Lipolysis, which breaks down fats during cheese maturation, makes the dairy fats much easier to absorb and turns them into beneficial fatty acids, some of which enable us to metabolise the fats from other foods.