The Truth About Cheese

Did you say cheese?

I could have titled the story “The Truth About Dairy: Don’t say anything” but dairy is a loaded word, so I clinched a compromise and cheesed it, and you, of course, and even set out to frustrate and exasperate by cheesing you off. Those hunks of cheese in the picture are only there to illustrate what can happen to a joint, not the one that is smoked but the one that becomes crooked, deformed, grotesque, inflamed, misshapen, painful, unsightly. You may get the picture now. Every joint is attacked, but the pictures are almost exclusively focused on the fingers; all of them, even the thumbs. However, like most diseases, not everyone can discern this outcome. Yet osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis, affects millions of people worldwide.

Milk and other dairy products are the top source of saturated fat in the American diet, contributing to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease. Studies have also linked dairy to an increased risk of breast, ovarian, and prostate cancers. Physicians Committee

What is contributing to those diseases? Dairy, saturated fat, or the American diet? It is unclear in that sentence. Dairy? All three? I would skip the middle one since research has shown, for some years now, repeatedly, that saturated fat is not and was never the problem. PubMed has many readily-available studies that discuss this fact. Check it out! Some physicians and medical researchers, and Big Pharma, have, after all, mastered the art of the deal. It is a shame that they forgot about the art in heart and the art of the heart.

Saturated fat is not the offending lump, dairy is, including cheese, of course. Saturated fat was never the so-called enemy, carbohydrates (carbs, sugars) were and always will be our life shorteners. And dairy, including cheese, is loaded with carbs, except that lactose, the dairy-specific carb, is rarely mentioned as one. Yet lactose is a disaccharide and thus consists of two sugars: one molecule of glucose (a sugar mainly made by plants) and one molecule of galactose (it has the same chemical composition as glucose but is mostly found in lactose; the Milky Way is too good not to mention). By the way, milk (low-fat 1%) is the 8th highest source of carbs, with 12g per glass. In case you are wondering, sweet potatoes are the first, with 59g per cup (mashed). Most fruits (bananas are the worst at 34g/cup), grains (brown rice is the worst at 52g/cup), and legumes (navy beans are the worst at 47g/cup) are carb bunkers loaded with carbs (fructose bombs). Fructose is the best sugar in terms of taste but it is the worst in terms of health; all mammal (that we know about) health.

Moreover, this committee is referring to the American diet, but the dire risks that they raise regarding dairy affects the entire Western diet and some other dietary regimes. Furthermore, this committee only raises the names of these four terrible diseases; it does not cover the common symptom of these diseases: inflammation. Heart disease, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and cancer, to some significant degree, are accelerated by inflammation. And so is arthritis (itis is used to form names of inflammatory diseases). The body gives a mean fight. The objective is no survivors. Can one despise war even at that lifesaving level? And the number one cause of inflammation is carbs, not fats, and not oils. There are, of course, bad fats. Not all fats are created equal. Avocado, coconut, small fish, organic meat, and a few other gems are good fats. In the case of oils, only pure coconut oil and pure olive oil (and a few other exotic ones) are healthy. All other famous oils are very detrimental to our health.

So, did you say cheese?

I love cheese. Well, we had a few breakups over the years, but I always loved it, even when I was not eating it. Cheese, you eat. You do not consume cheese. Cheese consumes you. Back to the bad cheese. All cheese is bad. All dairy is bad, except (there is always an exception) ghee (butter oil): another good oil. Enough with the cheese! Let us discuss dairy! There is nothing to discuss. The research is clear. Milk is for babies, and as soon as any mammal is weaned off of it, it becomes detrimental to its health to consume (eat) it in significant quantities. There is organic lactose-free cheese, which is acceptable.

You can refer to a related story that discusses the best diet for optimal health.