Cottage cheese is having a moment, deservedly

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Have you seen health advice on social media and wondered, “Is that actually good for me?” CNN’s Wellness team explains and evaluates viral trends in this regular series: Fad Check.

For the Greatest Generation, cottage cheese was a staple of wartime rationing. Baby Boomers and Gen X may associate it with diet culture of the 1970s and ’80s. But many people born after all that are tucking it into recipes and making it popular again by posting about it on TikTok and Instagram, some swearing by its health benefits.

Hailey Bieber, a trendsetting model and businesswoman, first mentioned her obsession with cottage cheese in a Harper’s Bazaar interview last year. She more recently shared that chicken meatballs with tomato sauce and a large dollop of cottage cheese on top is one of her go-to meals. Others are spreading thick layers on toast, scooping it onto snack plates , blending it with eggs, enjoying it as a whole side to a meal or turning it into high-protein pizza dough .

The curds that the product is primarily made of have been around in some form for thousands of years. But cottage cheese was first in vogue during World Wars I and II, said Charissa Lim, a registered dietitian and owner of The Roasted Veggie, her private dietitian practice and media platform. Those periods were when the United States government promoted it as an inexpensive, high-protein substitute for meat that the government conserved for soldiers. That promotion also helped trim the surplus of dairy available due to the increased production for US and Allied troops during both wars.

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Consumption “declined in the ’50s and ’60s then rose again in popularity during the ‘high protein/low carb weight loss movement of the ’70s, only to be outpaced by yogurt, then Greek yogurt, starting in the ’80s,” Dr. Jennifer Nasser, a registered dietitian in Philadelphia, said via email. She’s also an associate professor in the nutrition sciences department at Drexel University.

Some are trying to convince us, and maybe themselves, that cottage cheese is delicious. It adds a welcome creaminess and a mild tanginess to some recipes.

But even if it’s not your favorite, cottage cheese enthusiasts cite a host of health or fitness benefits, particularly protein — a plus for the protein-maxxers . Other claims are that the dairy product aids fullness, weight loss and hormone production or regulation. Some people are eating cottage cheese for its calcium content, saying the food will aid strong bones and teeth.

There aren’t many high-quality studies on the direct effects of cottage cheese on human health. But all the health claims mentioned above are generally true, and the endorsement of some of them goes back over 100 years, Lim said.

Dairy provides high-quality protein containing all the essential amino acids, Lim said. Amino acids are molecules that form proteins and are the building blocks of life, helping the body digest, repair tissues, grow and perform other functions. A 100-gram serving of cottage cheese has 11 grams of protein ; a 1-cup (220-gram) serving has 24.2 grams of protein.

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Cottage cheese is also rich in the protein casein, which is more slowly digested and what can help people stay full, Lim said. The food is also a decent source of nutrients, such as phosphorus, vitamin B12, selenium and zinc, which support blood cell formation, nerve function, bone health and metabolism.

But, if calcium is the main goal, Lim said, there are better dairy sources, such as yogurt, milk and hard cheeses. One hundred grams of cottage cheese provides about 10% of the calcium most adults need daily, while 100 grams of sardines or mozzarella cheese provides about 38% or 96%, respectively, according to the US Department of Agriculture and expert dietary guidelines.

That cottage cheese is rich in protein and more filling while low in fat and calories is what can make it a good option for people trying to lose weight, said Laura Iu, a registered dietitian in private practice in New York City — although it doesn’t cause weight loss.

Including cottage cheese in meals may also support blood glucose management by prompting a greater insulin response than some other proteins, according to a few small studies on both healthy participants and people with type 2 diabetes .

“Overall, this trend is a net positive,” Lim said. “It’s touted as a super food. I don’t know if I necessarily agree with that, but it’s definitely a strong nutritional advantage to add it as a side or maybe as a nutritional boost to traditional dishes that we typically consume.”

However, these dietitians also pointed out that while cottage cheese is a great source of protein, you may not need as much protein as you think.

“Protein is absolutely important, but I think we’ve taken the message of ‘get enough protein’ and turned it into ‘maximize protein at every opportunity,” Iu said via email.

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The intake recommendation for most healthy adults is 0.8 grams to 1 gram per kilogram of body weight — so if you weigh about 135 pounds, you generally would need only around 48 to 61 grams of protein daily. Some exceptions that permit higher amounts are being age 65 or older, recovering from eating disorders, and building more muscle than normal.

Anyone monitoring salt intake for reasons such as high blood pressure or kidney disease should make sure their cottage cheese consumption falls within their limits, as a cup has around 700 milligrams of sodium, experts said.

“Those choosing cottage cheese as their primary source of daily protein need to choose low-sodium, or no-sodium brands of cottage cheese,” said Nasser, who is also a spokesperson for The Obesity Society, a scientific nonprofit organization advancing obesity research, education and care.

Overall, eating a balanced diet is more important than focusing on any one food for any single nutrient, sources said. Ensure that on a daily basis, you’re also eating a variety of whole fruits, vegetables, proteins and fats. You can scoop some cottage cheese onto them, if you like that sort of thing.

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编者按：你是否在社交媒体上看到过一些健康建议，然后疑惑“这些建议真的对我有益吗？” CNN 健康团队将在本系列文章“潮流检测”中解释和评估这些热门趋势。

对于“最伟大的一代”来说，乡村奶酪是战时配给制度中的主食。婴儿潮一代和X世代可能会把它与20世纪70年代和80年代的饮食文化联系起来。但许多出生于此之后的人正在将它加入食谱中，并通过在TikTok和Instagram上发布相关内容，使其再次流行起来，有些人甚至对其健康益处深信不疑。

引领潮流的模特兼女商人海莉·比伯去年在接受《时尚芭莎》采访时首次提及她对乡村奶酪的痴迷。最近，她又分享说，鸡肉丸配番茄酱，再淋上一大坨乡村奶酪，是她最爱的菜肴之一。其他人则喜欢把厚厚的乡村奶酪涂抹在吐司上，舀到小吃盘里，拌入鸡蛋，作为配菜享用，或者做成高蛋白披萨饼皮。

制作这种产品的主要原料凝乳，其形式已存在数千年之久。但据注册营养师兼私人营养咨询机构和媒体平台“烤蔬菜”（The Roasted Veggie）的创始人查丽莎·林（Charissa Lim）介绍，乡村奶酪真正流行起来是在第一次和第二次世界大战期间。当时，美国政府大力推广乡村奶酪，将其作为一种价格低廉、高蛋白的肉类替代品，以弥补政府为士兵储备的肉类。此外，由于两次世界大战期间美国及其盟军需要大量生产乳制品，乡村奶酪的推广也帮助减少了过剩的乳制品供应。

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你应该多吃全谷物。以下是具体做法。

费城注册营养师詹妮弗·纳赛尔博士在电子邮件中表示，这种食品的消费量“在20世纪50年代和60年代有所下降，然后在70年代‘高蛋白/低碳水化合物’减肥运动期间再次上升，但从80年代开始，就被普通酸奶，尤其是希腊酸奶超越了。”她同时也是德雷克塞尔大学营养科学系的副教授。

有些人试图说服我们，或许也说服他们自己，乡村奶酪很美味。它能为某些菜肴增添令人愉悦的奶香和淡淡的酸味。

即使你不喜欢干酪，它的爱好者们也列举了它诸多健康益处，尤其是蛋白质——这对需要大量蛋白质的人来说无疑是一大福音。此外，干酪还能增强饱腹感、帮助减肥，并调节激素分泌。有些人食用干酪是为了摄取钙质，认为它有助于强健骨骼和牙齿。

林先生表示，目前关于干酪对人体健康直接影响的高质量研究并不多。但上述所有健康益处总体上都是正确的，其中一些益处的认可可以追溯到100多年前。

林先生表示，乳制品提供优质蛋白质，其中包含所有必需氨基酸。氨基酸是构成蛋白质的分子，是生命的基本组成单元，有助于身体消化、修复组织、生长发育以及执行其他功能。100克干酪含有11克蛋白质；1杯（220克）干酪含有24.2克蛋白质。

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林先生表示，干酪富含酪蛋白，这种蛋白质消化速度较慢，有助于增强饱腹感。此外，干酪也是磷、维生素B12、硒和锌等营养物质的良好来源，这些营养物质有助于血细胞生成、神经功能、骨骼健康和新陈代谢。

但林医生表示，如果主要目的是补充钙质，那么还有更好的乳制品来源，例如酸奶、牛奶和硬质奶酪。根据美国农业部和专家膳食指南，100克干酪可提供大多数成年人每日所需钙质的约10%，而100克沙丁鱼或马苏里拉奶酪分别可提供约38%和96%。

纽约市私人执业注册营养师劳拉·伊乌表示，这种乡村奶酪富含蛋白质，饱腹感强，脂肪和卡路里含量低，因此对于想要减肥的人来说，它是一个不错的选择——尽管它并不能导致减肥。

根据几项针对健康参与者和 2 型糖尿病患者的小型研究，在膳食中加入干酪可能有助于血糖控制，因为它比其他一些蛋白质更能促进胰岛素反应。

林说：“总的来说，这种趋势是积极的。它被誉为超级食物。我不太确定我是否完全同意这种说法，但把它作为配菜或为我们通常食用的传统菜肴增添营养，无疑具有很强的营养优势。”

然而，这些营养学家也指出，虽然干酪是蛋白质的良好来源，但你可能并不需要像你想象的那么多蛋白质。

“蛋白质当然非常重要，但我认为我们已经把‘摄入足够的蛋白质’这个信息转化成了‘抓住每一个机会最大程度地摄入蛋白质’，”Iu在电子邮件中说道。

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蛋白质摄入过量时，你的身体可能会发生以下情况。

对于大多数健康成年人来说，蛋白质的推荐摄入量为每公斤体重0.8克至1克——所以如果你体重约135磅（约61公斤），通常每天只需要48至61克蛋白质。一些特殊情况允许摄入更高的蛋白质，例如65岁或以上的老年人、正在从饮食失调中恢复的人以及肌肉量超过正常水平的人。

专家表示，任何因高血压或肾病等原因需要控制盐摄入量的人都应该确保他们的干酪摄入量在限制范围内，因为一杯干酪含有约 700 毫克钠。

“选择干酪作为日常蛋白质主要来源的人需要选择低钠或无钠的干酪品牌，”纳赛尔说。他同时也是肥胖协会的发言人，该协会是一个致力于推进肥胖研究、教育和护理的科学非营利组织。

总的来说，均衡饮食比只关注某种食物的单一营养素更重要，消息人士称。确保每天都摄入各种完整的水果、蔬菜、蛋白质和脂肪。如果你喜欢的话，还可以加一些干酪。

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