Feta Cheese: Good or Bad for Health?

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Medical Video: Is Cheese Good For You You'll Be Amazed By the Answer

There are many types of cheese in this world. Each cheese certainly has different characteristics, including taste, texture, color, and others. One type of cheese that you might already know is feta cheese. Maybe you have often found this type of cheese in a supermarket. Feta cheese has a different color and texture than usual cheese. What is feta cheese and what are the benefits of feta cheese?

What is feta cheese?

Feta cheese is cheese from Greece. Different from the usual cheese, this cheese is made from milk of sheep or goats, not from cow's milk. These sheep and goats are specifically raised in local grassland areas. So, the sheep and goats produce milk with unique characteristics to be made into cheese. The feta cheese has white characteristics, has a texture that is rather chewy and can be crushed when cut, and has a flavor creamy when in the mouth.

Benefits of feta cheese for health

Because it is made of milk, cheese certainly has many important nutrients for the body. Some of the nutrients contained in feta cheese are calcium, vitamin B2, vitamin B12, vitamin B6, phosphorus, selenium, and zinc. Not only that, this cheese also contains less fat and calories than other cheeses, such as cheddar or parmesan cheese.

Because many contain important nutrients, it's no wonder feta cheese offers many benefits for your health. Some of the benefits of feta cheese are:

1. Supports bone health

Feta cheese contains calcium, phosphorus and protein so that it can support your bone health. Calcium and protein can help maintain bone density, while phosphorus is an important bone mineral.

The calcium content in feta cheese is even more than other cheeses, such as mozzarella cheese, ricotta, and cottage cheese. This is because sheep and goat's milk (as the origin of feta cheese) contain more calcium than cow's milk. So, consumption of feta cheese can help you meet your daily calcium needs.

2. Helps maintain intestinal health

Feta cheese is made by adding lactic acid bacteria to sheep or goat's milk so that it contains probiotics which are good for your intestinal health. Probiotics are good bacteria that live in the intestine.

Feta cheese contains probiotics with types Lactobacillus plantarum. These good bacteria can protect the digestive tract from disease-causing bad bacteria, such as E. coli and Salmonella. Not only that, good bacteria in the intestines are also proven to help boost immunity.

3. Helps improve body composition

Cheese made from sheep's milk contains conjugated or linoleic acid conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) which is higher in number than cheese made from cow or goat milk. This CLA turns out to have many benefits for the body. CLA can help improve body composition, by reducing fat mass and increasing lean body mass. Not only that, CLA can also help reduce the risk of diabetes.

But be careful, feta cheese contains high sodium

In the process of making feta cheese, curd of goat's milk or lamb is added with salt. During storage, feta cheese is also soaked in salt water. So don't be surprised if feta cheese contains high sodium from salt. In 1 ounce (28 grams) feta cheese contains 312 mg of sodium.

For those of you who have high blood pressure, heart disease, kidney disease, and diabetes, you may have to limit or even avoid taking feta cheese. People with the disease are advised to limit sodium intake to no more than 1500 mg per day.

Feta Cheese: Good or Bad for Health?
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