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Ask most people what they’d most miss if they followed a vegan diet (or, in some cases, why they could never become a vegan) and the most common answer would easily be cheese. Indeed, cheese seems to be such a big deal that we’re going to take three entries from the Daily Vegan to discuss it.
I have often wondered if there is something addictive in cheese, for how else would you account for those late-night cravings that are so common, or the general difficulty that people have in resisting it? I used to think that it was connected to that lethally attractive dietary combination of saturated fats and salt, the levels of which are alarmingly high in cheese. But this doesn’t alone explain why it seems even harder to give up than other salty and fatty foods.
It is now widely recognised that there is indeed something addictive in cheese, but rather than fat, the key ingredient is casein. This is the primary protein in cow’s milk.
As confirmed by a recent study by the University of Michigan, when the human body digests the protein from dairy, it produces casomorphins and these have a mild opiate-like effect. This is greater in cheese than in other dairy foods because production methods ensure that the casein is consumed in a much more concentrated form. This has led Neal Barnard MD, from the US-based Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, to call cheese ‘dairy crack’.
So, if you’re struggling to resist the temptation of cheese, that’s probably why. But here are a couple of things to keep in mind for when you’re tempted:
- A 4oz piece of cheddar contains 450 calories and 37g of fat (much of it saturated). It is a particularly unhealthy food.
- Dairy cows and their offspring are amongst the most exploited of all farmed animals. For further details, click here or watch the video below.
Another section on cheese tomorrow, featuring some of the alternatives.
