cottage cheese and sodium

[Special K]

Cottage cheese has been a staple of my diet for a couple of years now. I typically eat 1-2.5 cups every weekday. I normally take it to work with me and eat it with some mixed nuts for a slow digesting lunch/afternoon meal.

Although I've always known it was a good source of protein, I recently took a closer look at the nutrition label and was suprised to see how much sodium is in one serving. Why does cottage cheese have so much sodium in it? Is sodium that bad for you? What about for someone who lifts and does cardio on a regular basis?

Finally, is cottage cheese considered a processed food? If you look on the ingredient list there is a lot of stuff listed. Is it a bad choice for protein because of this? I've always packed it because it's relatively inexpensive, contains a fair amount of protien, is slow digesting, and requires no prep time. If the sodium and processed nature of it makes it an unhealthy food then I'll try to find something else, however.

 

[Mfusick]

Sodium from natural food sources is perfectly fine if your otherwise healthy and genetically do not have high blood pressure.

It is excellent source of protien as it is mostly Casien... which is very highly quality and slow digesting. It promotes lean mass and limits fat gain...


Your smart to do what your doing... keep it up

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Sodium from natural food sources is perfectly fine if your otherwise healthy and genetically do not have high blood pressure.

It is excellent source of protien as it is mostly Casien... which is very highly quality and slow digesting. It promotes lean mass and limits fat gain...


Your smart to do what your doing... keep it up

Sodium from natural sources is no different from sodium in processed foods. Also, if you didn't get it, cottage cheese is a processed food to a certain degree.

OP, what has your blood pressure been when visiting the doctor? If it's been over 120/80 consistently, then you're in a pre-hypertensive state and cutting sodium may be beneficial for you.

Also, in reference to the quoted post, casein really doesn't do that much. The speed of digestion doesn't matter if you get sufficient amounts of protein throughout the day. You could just as easily eat some low-fat cheese sticks - they have next to no sodium typically.

 

[Special K]

Sodium from natural sources is no different from sodium in processed foods. Also, if you didn't get it, cottage cheese is a processed food to a certain degree.

OP, what has your blood pressure been when visiting the doctor? If it's been over 120/80 consistently, then you're in a pre-hypertensive state and cutting sodium may be beneficial for you.

I don't remember my blood pressure off the top of my head, but I know I've never had a nurse or doctor tell me that there was anything wrong with it, either. I'll have to remember the actual number the next time I have it taken.

Also, in reference to the quoted post, casein really doesn't do that much. The speed of digestion doesn't matter if you get sufficient amounts of protein throughout the day. You could just as easily eat some low-fat cheese sticks - they have next to no sodium typically.

Are you saying the speed of digestion has no effect? I thought you want to have slower digesting foods outside of your workout timeframe because you don't want to unnecessarily spike your insulin levels.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

I don't remember my blood pressure off the top of my head, but I know I've never had a nurse or doctor tell me that there was anything wrong with it, either. I'll have to remember the actual number the next time I have it taken.

Are you saying the speed of digestion has no effect? I thought you want to have slower digesting foods outside of your workout timeframe because you don't want to unnecessarily spike your insulin levels.

Well, doctors/nurses won't typically make a big deal of it unless you're actually hypertensive (140/90 - if either number is greater or equal to that).

And the research shows that, if you have a high enough average protein intake, the benefits of varied types just isn't there. The info about casein comes from bodybuilders who are notorious for overthinking their protein. It doesn't work the way they think though.

A slower digesting protein like casein has always been used to hypothetically keep a constant supply of amino acids coming in. Eating slower digesting carbohydrates is typically key in limiting insulin response. Protein in itself tends to be relatively slow digesting, resulting in smaller insulin spikes on average than carbohydrates. On top of that, if you're looking to build lean body mass, insulin is technically anabolic (muscle building). That's why people drink their creatine with whey and dextrose. The huge insulin spike (from the dextrose - just chained glucose) promotes transport or creatine, amino acids, and sets of a cascade that promotes lean tissue production.

 

[brikis98]

Depending on where you live, it may be possible to find cottage cheese with only natural ingredients and minimal processing, such as Friendship Dairies, which is available on the east coast. You can apparently make cottage cheese yourself, but I'm far too lazy to try.

 

[Special K]

On top of that, if you're looking to build lean body mass, insulin is technically anabolic (muscle building). That's why people drink their creatine with whey and dextrose. The huge insulin spike (from the dextrose - just chained glucose) promotes transport or creatine, amino acids, and sets of a cascade that promotes lean tissue production.

Right, but you only want to do that right after your workout, correct? If you had dextrose shakes at every meal, would you eventually become diabetic?

Also regarding the digestion of carbs - if you mix protein and/or fats with the carbs, the overall digestion speed is reduced, correct?

 

[Special K]

Depending on where you live, it may be possible to find cottage cheese with only natural ingredients and minimal processing, such as Friendship Dairies, which is available on the east coast. You can apparently make cottage cheese yourself, but I'm far too lazy to try.

Thanks brikis98, I wonder if Whole Foods has something like that. That would probably be my best bet.

I've read a lot of your other posts and you seem to emphasize natural foods a lot. Would/do you eat regular cottage cheese?

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Right, but you only want to do that right after your workout, correct? If you had dextrose shakes at every meal, would you eventually become diabetic?

Also regarding the digestion of carbs - if you mix protein and/or fats with the carbs, the overall digestion speed is reduced, correct?

Not in normal, healthy individuals. On top of that, there's no real good research that the glycemic index is related to insulin sensitivity. You know who gets diabetes? People who are overweight, and thereby increase their insulin resistance by default. On top of that, they tend to eat a LOT of sugar (fructose has been linked to diabetes) and a LOT of fat (fatty acid flux from both obesity and diet increase insulin resistance).

So in essence, you are very very unlikely to get diabetes if you took just glucose in and were at a normal weight. If you had diabetes, it would likely be genetic and exacerbated by a poor diet (specifically would be type I diabetes mellitus). Your body isn't a frail piece of machinery. If you're a healthy weight and active, you essentially won't get diabetes unless your beta cells are dying, which is an autoimmune problem.

And in general, yes, the carb digestion rate is reduced when mixed with other macronutrients. However, both protein and fat can induce insulin spikes on their own. Don't make things overcomplicated. Eat your damn food and don't worry about insulin. Just don't eat crappy processed foods and voila. Your health will be fine no matter what.

 

[brikis98]

Thanks brikis98, I wonder if Whole Foods has something like that. That would probably be my best bet.

I've read a lot of your other posts and you seem to emphasize natural foods a lot. Would/do you eat regular cottage cheese?

Yup, I eat cottage cheese every day.

 

[EvilYoda]

I haven't had cottage cheese in a few months but I picked up a tub at Costco to mix with the leftover cranberry relish I made for the holidays...sooooo good. So now for my snacks I have Greek yogurt, cottage cheese + cranberry relish, or a slow-cooked apple sauce & yam (with nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger). For "healthy" snacks, I love them.

 

[Special K]

Yup, I eat cottage cheese every day.

So you don't consider cottage cheese to be a processed food?

And do you worry much about sodium intake?

 

[surfsatwerk]

Yup, I eat cottage cheese every day.

Most brands produce foul inedible crap and call it "cottage cheese". There's a local brand who's 1% product is just delightful. It's fairly sweet, but occasionally I prefer cottage cheese with a more tangy flavor. My efforts to find a reliable brand with that flavor haven't been too successful.

 

[brikis98]

So you don't consider cottage cheese to be a processed food?

Processing isn't a black and white issue. Even basic cooking (e.g. grilling meat) is a sort of "processing", so unless you eat food completely raw - that is, pulling it out of the ground/tree/animal and immediately biting down - some sort of "processing" will happen. The real question is: what your motivation is for trying to avoid certain types of food?

I mostly subscribe to the ideas Michael Pollan lays out in In Defense of Food: something has screwed up our food system in the last ~30-50 years that is causing all sorts of health problems. The bad news is that, despite numerous theories (too much fat, too many carbs, too much processing, etc), we don't have a conclusive answer on what the real problem is. The good news is that it may be possible to solve the problem anyway by avoiding the foods that are recent additions to the food system. Pollan lays out some good rules of thumb for identifying these - e.g. don't eat anything your grandma doesn't recognize - and I usually dumb it down to avoiding anything overly "processed" or with lots of ingredients you don't know.

If you buy into this philosophy, cottage cheese is perfectly fine - it has been around a long time and is made through a simple process of boiling & straining. Of course, I'm sure some companies do other processing and add all sorts of weird ingredients to their cottage cheese, but I do the best I can to find "all natural" brands. The same goes for other types of food: e.g. I eat bread made with the "classic" ingredients (whole wheat flour, yeast, salt, water) but avoid things like Wonderbread that include several dozen ingredients I've never heard of. It's ultimately a judgment call, and I'm sure I'll occasionally avoid perfectly good foods or eat something unhealthy, but I think on the whole, it's a fairly reasonable way to eat.

And do you worry much about sodium intake?

No, not really. I have perfectly healthy blood pressure and I think my diet keeps my sodium intake at reasonable levels anyway.

 

[kinev]

I've been meaning to try this, just haven't had the chance yet...Good Eats homemade "cottage cheese". You can control exactly how much salt you add and avoid additives.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWKvV54azWw&t=9m14s