Why Cheese?

As I sit here eating a thin slice of Colby pepper jack, sliced fresh today from my favorite mass market grocery story, I must attempt to answer the question, “Why a fine food shop specializing in cheese?” I could say, “My fascination for cheese began in 1958 in a one-room school house in Fredonia, Wisconsin, the cheese (head) state”  I was actually in Fredonia in 1958 but the only thing I remember are those cute little glass milk bottles they gave us for lunch. No, my love for cheese actually began when I had Lap-Band surgery in 2005. Although cheese was a staple for me all through my single years as a good, affordable meat substitute; my true love for cheese began after this surgery which limited the amount of food I consumed at each meal. It was then I began savoring each bite! And each bite of a good cheese is an experience, shall we say a journey, of extraordinary tastes. (And nothing goes better with college football than cheese! Sorry, just had to get that in. My favorite time of the year begins tomorrow!)

Here are a couple of interesting articles for you to consider:
Cheese, a “Near-Perfect” Food

At a Mediterranean Diet conference that I attended recently it was interesting to note that the cooking demos I was able to catch both included cheese in their ingredients, as in “healthy food.” We’ve known it for years, that cheese was a near-complete, a “near-perfect” food.

While we certainly appreciate how cheese can enhance a recipe, we enjoy fine cheeses on their own, without having to cook with them. It’s great to see that more Americans are catching on to the cheese idea; well most of them. A new store that’s opening soon near where I live in lower Manhattan has a banner that claims: “We don’t cook with butter, cream, mayo, or other unhealthy fats!” Though the banner did not mention cheese, apparently not everyone has caught on yet.

-Max McCalman
Dean of Curriculum and Maître Fromager

Posted by Max McCalman

http://blog.artisanalcheese.com/cheese_news/cheese-a-near-perfect-food

Calcium-rich Dairy foods Boost the Body's Burning of Fat After a Meal
A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition not only shows a diet rich in calcium, which is supplied by low-fat cheese, is associated with fat loss but may help explain why.

Normal-weight women ranging in age from 18-30 years were randomly assigned to a low (less than 800 mg per day) or high (1000-1400 mg per day) calcium diet for 1 year, and the rate at which their bodies burned fat after a meal was assessed at the beginning and end of the study.

After 1 year, fat oxidation (burning) was 20 times higher in women eating the high calcium diet compared to those in the low-calcium control group (0.10 vs. 0.005 gram per minute).

The women's blood levels of parathyroid hormone were also checked and were found to correlate with their rate of fat oxidation. (The primary function of parathyroid hormone is to maintain normal levels of calcium in the body. When calcium levels drop too low, parathyroid hormone is secreted to instruct bone cells to release calcium into the bloodstream.)

Higher blood levels of parathyroid hormone were associated with a lower rate of fat oxidation and lower dietary calcium intake, while lower blood levels of parathyroid hormone levels were seen in the women consuming a diet high in calcium, who were burning fat more rapidly after a meal. So, it appears that a high-calcium diet increases fat oxidation, at least in part, by lessening the need for parathyroid hormone secretion, thus keeping blood levels of the hormone low.

The George Mateljan Foundation, a not-for-profit foundation with no commercial interests or advertising, is a new force for change to help make a healthier you and a healthier world. www.whfoods.com.