Joel Marion, CISSN

2 WHAT COTTAGE CHEESE DOES TO YOUR BODY

“Little Miss Muffet sat on her tuffet, eating her curds and whey…

You may remember this beloved nursery rhyme, but have you ever wondered, what the heck are curds and whey anyway?

Well—it’s actually cottage cheese.

The curds are the lumps and the whey is the liquid found in cottage cheese. The whey often rises to the top as the curds stay hidden underneath, which is why you have to stir it up after opening a fresh container.

As you’ll soon discover adding the right type of cottage cheese to your diet can be a magical combination in your quest to live a longer, healthier, leaner life.

Let’s dive in and take a closer look… THE HISTORY OF COTTAGE CHEESE

Cottage cheese dates all the way back to 1831 and was named as such because of how it was made. Farmers would make cheese in their cottage using the left over milk they had after all the butter was churned and created.

This type of cheese is drained but not pressed, which is why you see the curds of cheese still remaining lose in the mixture. It is also not aged like other cheeses are and is not colored either, which is why it remains white—just like milk.

Cottage cheese was initially made by simply setting milk out near a fire or another

3 warm place in the cottage, which allowed the bacterial action to begin to occur. This transformed the milk into a curd and cottage cheese was born. FUN FACTS YOU NEVER KNEW ABOUT COTTAGE CHEESE

• In India they call cottage cheese, paneer, which is used in many savory as well as spicy dishes. It’s often used as an additive to help tame the hot spices in these dishes, creating an excellent taste and texture that most people there thoroughly enjoy.

• The former US President, Richard Nixon, had his last meal as president with cottage cheese. He was served cottage cheese with a slice of fresh pineapple.

• Cottage cheese can be a superior form of cheese for those who are dieting because it’s higher in protein and lower in fat than other popular cheeses.

• Americans alone consume about 600 million pounds of cottage cheese each and every year! Now that’s a LOT of curds and whey.

• It takes approximately one hundred pounds of milk to produce just fifteen pounds of cottage cheese.

Before we talk shop about cottage cheese and weight loss, let’s quickly take a look at the nutrition profile and anti-aging benefits.

While many over-the-counter processed cheeses aren’t always considered ‘healthy’ due to their high fat content and processed additives, cottage cheese is quite different from the norm.

It has a completely different nutrient profile and therefore really should not be

4 categorized as an actual cheese. COTTAGE CHEESE BY THE NUMBERS

Nutritional Profile

One cup of 1% fat milk cottage cheese yields the following:

• Calories: 163 • Total Fat: 2.3 grams • Saturated Fat: 1.3 grams • Cholesterol: 9 mg • Sodium: 918 mg • Total Carbs: 6.1 grams • Dietary Fiber: 0 grams • Sugar: 6.1 grams • Protein: 28 grams • Calcium 137.9 mg • Potassium: 194.4 mg 4 ANTI-AGING HEALTH BENEFITS OF COTTAGE CHEESE Anti-Aging Health Benefit #1: Amazing Source of Vitamin B12

One of the primary benefits of consuming moderate amounts of cottage cheese in your diet is the fact that it’s a rich source of vitamin B12.

5 Many people are deficient in B12, especially if you don’t eat a lot of red meat, which is where this vitamin is predominately found.

Vegetarians in particular are known for having a diet that is low in B12, therefore if you happen to be a lacto vegetarian and consume dairy on your diet, you’ll definitely want to make sure you are eating some cottage cheese on a regular basis.

Vitamin B12 is an incredibly important vitamin to be aware of because it helps with supporting optimal function of the brain, overall growth of the nervous system1, proper nerve function, and it also helps to lower the overall levels of homocysteine in the blood.

When homocysteine levels rise too much, this can actually become toxic and could lead to heart problems.

Anti-Aging Benefit #2: Increases Bone Density & Fights Against Osteoporosis

I’m sure you’re keenly aware of the need for getting adequate calcium into your diet as you age in order to build strong bones.

Yet most people are still falling short. When you aren’t consuming sufficient dietary calcium to meet your body’s daily needs, you’ll actually start to remove calcium from the bones, which are essentially like a giant calcium storage house, to ensure day to day life sustaining needs are being met. This leaves your bones robbed, depleted, and more likely to suffer from stress fractures, breaks, as well as osteoporosis.

Likewise, if you are engaging in intense exercise that may cause the bones to break down, you’ll need that calcium to help with the rebuilding process, ensuring they are

6 built back up stronger than they were before. Just as protein is required to rebuild muscle mass tissue, calcium is required to rebuild bone.

Cottage cheese serves as a real powerhouse for building bone tissue because not only does it deliver calcium, but it also provides an efficacious dose of phosphorus as well. These two minerals work as a powerful combination with each other, promoting the strongest bone development possible.

Research published in the American Society for Clinical Nutrition2 has noted that three key factors – calcium, phosphorus, and protein all go into predicting bone mineral density and those who suffer from the lowest bone density are typically those who are most depleted in these nutrients.

Cottage cheese provides 184 mg of phosphorous per half cup serving making it a better bone- building food than milk, which contains just 120 mg.

Anti-Aging Benefit #3: Detoxifies Your Body Toxins & Increases Energy

Research published by the University of Maryland Medical Center3 has also noted that next to calcium, phosphorus is the most abundant mineral in the body, which means it helps filter out waste in the kidneys and also plays an essential role in how the body stores and utilizes energy on a day to day basis.

It’s important that you are regularly taking proactive steps to detoxify your body. If you let toxins accumulate it can eventually lead to excess inflammation, which is a direct cause of today’s diseases.

7 Anti-Aging Benefit #4: May Help Stabilize Blood Glucose Levels

Taking steps to control your blood glucose levels and preventing insulin spikes will fight off diabetes, increase your energy levels, and allow your body to use stored fat as a fuel source.

One of the best ways to prevent swings in blood glucose levels is by eating foods rich in protein and low in sugar. Cottage cheese fits the bill nicely.

It does contain a few grams of sugar per serving, coming from lactose, which is the natural sugar found in dairy. However, it contains far less sugar than a glass of milk, especially if you account for calories and protein.

Cottage cheese contains just 6.1 grams of sugar for a 163 calorie serving containing 28 grams of protein, whereas one cup of 2% milk contains 122 calories and 12.3 grams of sugar. And this comes with just 8.1 grams of protein.

If you were aiming to get the same amount of protein from milk alone, you’d end up taking in approximately 43 grams of sugar and 427 calories! As you can see, nutritionally speaking, cottage cheese is much better.

A Word Of Caution

Now that you’ve discovered some of the amazing health benefits that cottage cheese has to offer, I’d like to flip the coin with a word of caution for certain individuals who may have a genetic predisposition to high blood pressure—or are overly sensitive to salt.

Due to its high sodium content, if consumed too frequently cottage cheese can increase sodium intake to potentially risky levels.

Eating a quarter to half cup 4 to 5 days per week—or finding a low sodium option can minimize any risk associated with high sodium intake.

Furthermore, some people are lactose intolerant and simply can’t consume dairy

8 products like cottage cheese. If you find yourself having stomach pain or digestive discomfort after eating cottage cheese, you may be at risk.

CAN COTTAGE CHEESE HELP YOU BURN MORE STUBBORN FAT?

So can cottage cheese really help you slim down?

I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Fat Burning Benefit #1: Less Hunger & Reduced Cravings

What’s unique about cottage cheese that sets it apart from many other protein sources out there that you could consume such as chicken, beef, or fish is that it’s a form of casein protein.

Complete milk proteins from dairy, like cottage cheese are composed of 20% whey protein, which is rapidly digesting, and 80% micellar casein, which is digested much more slowly.

Because it digests at a much slower pace, it will stay in your system longer helping you reduce hunger and fight cravings day or night.

Fat Burning Benefit #2: Increased Lean Muscle Mass

Regardless of age, gender, or current condition, more muscle on your body means a healthier metabolism, less fat storage, and a better quality of life.

Anytime you cut calories or go on a diet you’re at risk for losing muscle and since

9 cottage cheese is an amazing source of high quality protein it can help you prevent muscle loss, while helping repair and build new muscle tissue.

This is especially important because it’s your lean muscle mass that dictates how many calories your body burns each day at rest. The more lean muscle you have, the greater your overall calorie burn will be.

Bottom line: gaining and maintaining lean muscle makes long-term fat loss that much easier.

Fat Burning Benefit #3: Reduced Fatigue And Muscle Pain After A Workout

The extra phosphorus found in cottage cheese can also help to lower the amount of perceived fatigue you are experiencing during the day and may even help to relieve muscle pain after an intense workout is finished.

Individuals who don’t have enough phosphorous in their diet can suffer from phosphorous fatigue and cottage cheese can help prevent it.

Reduced muscle pain after exercise means faster recovery, which will help increase results from your exercise plan because the more often you can workout the more calories you’ll burn over the course of the week.

Fat Burning Benefit #4: Increased Fat Loss From The Abdominal & Belly Region

If you’re a cottage cheese fan, like me, this one will get you excited.

One last way that cottage cheese may help to take your results to the next level is by actually promoting greater fat loss from the abdominal and belly region.

Research published in the International Journal of Obesity4 has demonstrated that those who include dairy rich foods as part of their hypocaloric diet show a greater likelihood of losing fat in the abdominal and belly region compared to those who

10 exclude dairy from their plan.

Many people are under the notion that not eating dairy is better for fat loss because dairy rich foods are often thought to be high in fat and calories but if you select the right dairy products, this actually doesn’t need to be the case.

As long as you still maintain the proper calorie balance and you’re not sensitive or intolerant to lactose, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to include cottage cheese as an integral part of your diet program.

DAIRY SUGAR BY THE NUMBERS

• Milk (1 cup): 12.3 grams • Greek Yogurt, plain (3/4 cup): 7 grams • Regular Yogurt, plain (1 cup): 11.4 grams • Cottage cheese (1 cup): 0.7 grams

Research obviously shows there are many ways that cottage cheese can help you get that extra edge on your health, longevity, and fat loss plan.

Let’s recap… PROS OF COTTAGE CHEESE:

• Is a quick and easy food to prepare – no cooking required

• Provides a great dose of calcium and phosphorus to support healthy bone growth and development

11 • Is lower in fat than many other dairy sources

• Is a very rich source of protein – almost as good as beef or chicken • Is a slower digesting protein form, thus will help to reduce appetite better and may prevent catabolic processes in the body

• May help reduce fatigue in the body

• Is great for helping to detoxify the body

• Can help stabilize blood glucose levels and possibly prevent diabetes in the long run

• Is a cost effective source of protein – it will usually be cheaper, serving per serving compared to other protein sources such as beef or fish

CONS OF COTTAGE CHEESE:

• Is quite high in sodium so this may be something that those who are dealing with heart disease or high blood pressure levels need to take into account

• Some people may be put off by the taste and/or texture of cottage cheese

• Individuals who are lactose intolerant or have an auto-immune disease should eliminate cottage cheese from their diet

• It won’t last as long in the fridge as other cheeses will

12 HOW TO CHOOSE THE BEST COTTAGE CHEESE

When selecting cottage cheese, the two main things to look for are whether it’s organic or not and the total fat percentage.

Organic cottage cheese can be slightly healthier than non-organic cottage cheese because it’s created without the use of hormones, pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, or antibiotics.

If you can find and afford organic cottage cheese, it’s definitely worth the extra cost.

Also, keep in mind that low fat options may NOT be the best choice because they typically have a lot more sugar. If your goal is to lose stubborn fat then the 2% or full fat versions may just be the better choice. The milk fat is naturally occurring and it has much less sugar.

Lastly, make sure to avoid cottage cheese that has added flavoring mixed in like fruit on the bottom or mixed in since they’ll have far too much added sugar to be healthy.

Stick to non-flavored plain varieties. You can add organic berries or other fruits if desired to crave your sweet tooth naturally. THE BEST TIME OF DAY TO EAT COTTAGE CHEESE

While you can eat cottage cheese at any point during the day because it makes an excellent accompaniment to your meal as well as a great snack to tide you over until your next meal, one time that’s especially excellent for eating cottage cheese is right before bed.

13 The slow releasing casein protein takes hours to digest so it’s an excellent choice for a pre-bed meal to feed your muscles during the night, while fighting off hunger and cravings. GET COOKING!

Stuck for ideas on how you can make cottage cheese taste great? No problem. We’ve cooked up some delicious recipes that will help you get this amazing food into your diet plan.

COTTAGE CHEESE SCRAMBLED EGGS

A great way to whip up your favorite breakfast – eggs. Cottage cheese adds even more protein and great taste! Feel free to sauté some vegetables and serve this alongside the eggs.

Ingredients • 3 eggs • 1/3 cup cottage cheese • butter • salt and pepper, to taste

Directions 1. Place the eggs, cottage cheese, salt and pepper into a blender and blend until smooth. 2. In a small frying pan, melt a little butter (to coat the bottom of the pan). 3. Pour the eggs mixture into the frying pan. 4. Without stirring, gently push the cooked portion to the center; continue until all the eggs are fully cooked (but not dry).

14 TOMATO COTTAGE CHEESE SALAD

A totally different take on a salad, this one is sure to please. If you’re tired of lettuce based salads, don’t miss out on this delicious recipe. It’s so full of flavors, no dressing is required.

Ingredients • 1 (8 ounce) container cottage cheese, drained • 2 Roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped • 3 green onions, chopped • 1 medium cucumber, peeled and diced • salt and pepper to taste

Directions 1. In a medium bowl, stir together the cottage cheese, tomatoes, green onions, and cucumbers. 2. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 3. Chill until serving

COTTAGE CHEESE SPINACH DIP

The classic spinach dip gets a great make-over with this recipe! Water chestnuts are added for a unique twist that will bring extra crunchy texture that you’ll be sure to love. This recipe is a much higher protein version than the classic, so is one that will definitely keep your bodyweight in check better.

Ingredients • 16 ounces cottage cheese • 10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry • 4 ounces water chestnuts, chopped

15 • 1 tablespoon onion powder • 1 teaspoon garlic powder • 2 cloves garlic, finely minced • ½ teaspoon salt • 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley • rice chips or veggies for serving

Directions 1. Place the cottage cheese in a blender and process until smooth. 2. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and add spinach, water chestnuts, onion powder, garlic powder, minced garlic, salt and minced parsley. 3. Stir to combine. 4. Serve with rice chips or cut-up veggies

PEPPER & COTTAGE CHEESE FRITTATA

A delicious egg meal you can serve at any point during the day, this pepper and cottage cheese frittata recipe will make you feel like you’re eating gourmet. High in protein and low in carbs, it’s perfect for those looking to control their body weight!

Ingredients • 1 tbsp. olive oil • 6 eggs • ½ cup egg whites • ½ cup cottage cheese • ½ red pepper, diced • ½ green pepper, diced • 2 large mushrooms, diced • 1 cup spinach, diced • ¼ onion, diced • 1 tsp. pure sea salt • Pepper, to taste • Mozzarella cheese • Antipasto or salsa

16 Directions 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 2. Melt the olive oil (or butter) in a large cast iron skillet on the stove on medium heat. 3. Dice your veggies and cook the onions and pepper, until the onion is slightly translucent. Add mushrooms, then finish up with spinach and heat until it looks slightly wilted. 4. Whisk the eggs, egg whites, cottage cheese, salt, and pepper together. 5. Pour over the veggies. 6. Cook until the edges start to set (around 5-8 minutes). 7. Place in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the frittata is cooked and puffy looking. 8. Once baked, sprinkle on a little mozzarella cheese and place back in the oven for 1-2 minutes. Slice into 6 sections and serve hot. 9. Serve this frittata with antipasto or salsa.

COTTAGE CHEESE BREAKFAST BOWL

It doesn’t get easier than this! Whip up this delicious recipe whenever you are in the mood for something different than your eggs or cereal. It’s also a perfect option to take with you on the go.

Ingredients • ¼ cup sliced almonds • ¼ cup chopped walnuts • 1 cup cottage cheese • ½ cup raspberries (or your berry of choice) • Dash of cinnamon

Directions Combine ingredients into a bowl and voila - You’ve got yourself a tasty cottage cheese breakfast bowl

17 CONCLUSION

Congrats! If you read this report you officially have your cottage cheese PhD. ☺

As long as you can tolerate dairy and aren’t trying to avoid sodium it definitely deserves to be priority in your diet plan.

18 REFERENCES:

1. Strand, Tor A., et al. “The effect of vitamin B 12 supplementation in Nepalese infants on growth and development: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.” Trials 18.1 (2017): 187. 2. Teegarden, Dorothy, et al. “Dietary calcium, protein, and phosphorus are related to bone mineral density and content in young women.” The American journal of clinical nutrition 68.3 (1998): 749-754. 3. http://www.umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/supplement/phosphorus 4. Zemel, M. B., et al. “Dairy augmentation of total and central fat loss in obese subjects.” International journal of obesity 29.4 (2005): 391-397.

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