Is Cottage Cheese Safe for Diabetes Patients?

The everyday diet is one of the obstacles of having diabetes. Because it is an insulin-deficit illness, the majority of American staple meals cause blood sugar levels to rise significantly higher than usual. Consequently, foods high in carbohydrates, such as white rice, potatoes, and breads, as well as pastries and candies, which essentially spike blood sugar levels, are frequently forbidden.

Those with diabetes may find it difficult to choose snacks because carbohydrates and sweets are off-limits. It’s obvious from taking a stroll down the snack aisle that the majority of our favorite snacks are high in carbohydrates and have flavors that invariably contain sugar of some kind.

Nuts and yogurts are examples of nutritious snacks, but they aren’t necessarily the right choice for everyone. Additionally, cheese typically contains a lot of salt. We have already discussed cream cheese as a potentially safe condiment for people with diabetes in our prior post.

However, cream cheese does not go well with everything. Instead, foods high in complex carbs, such crackers and bagels, which raise blood sugar levels, tend to go well with cream cheese.

Fortunately, there is another type of spreadable, creamy cheese that complements many nutritious foods including fruits and vegetables. We’re looking at cottage cheese, one of our favorite foods, in this article. Is it okay for diabetics to eat cottage cheese? That is the key question.

What is cottage cheese?

Snow-white in color, cottage cheese has a creamy, mild flavor. The type of cottage cheese you get will depend on where you get it. Some brands may have distinct lumps in a thick white liquid, while other brands may have versions that resemble Italian ricotta cheese more.

This is a mild cheese that doesn’t need to be aged or cultured. The Food Network recipe calls for just four ingredients to produce cottage cheese: heavy cream, kosher salt, white vinegar, and skim milk.

The entire procedure is really easy to follow: first, place the skim milk in a pot, heat it to around 120 degrees Fahrenheit, or almost simmer, and then slowly mix in the vinegar. Continue cooking for a few more minutes, or until the cheese curds come away from the milky liquid called whey.

After 30 minutes at room temperature, the combination should look like a moist lump of curds floating in an opaque white liquid. You have just created cottage cheese when you strain everything through a cheese cloth until there are no more liquids to extract.

Because heavy cream, the final ingredient, has a significant amount of saturated fat—a known adversary of heart disease, which frequently coexists with diabetes—you may be concerned about this. However, don’t panic. According to the Food Network post, after the cheese itself is done, their form of cottage cheese is served with heavy cream as a condiment.

If so, the answer is straightforward: When serving, omit the heavy cream. It’s a fact that adding kosher salt to cheese enhances its flavor and highlights its inherent, delicate sweetness. It’s tasty enough without that extra heavy cream to make your heart bleed.

Read Also: Diabetes and coconuts, coconut milk and coconut oil

Based on its appearance, cottage cheese appears to be one of those cheeses that is created using basic components. Given that it is created from skim milk and has no added sugar, we may even refer to it as a “clean” cheese. However, this does not imply that cottage cheese is compatible with diabetes, even if it is generally not very harmful to our health. So what is the relationship between diabetes and cottage cheese?

What does cottage cheese contain?

We are referring to cottage cheese’s nutritional makeup. In comparison to other dairy products like cheddar and cream, cottage cheese is a healthier option because, per the US Department of Agriculture’s FoodCentral Database, 100 grams of cottage cheese only contain 1.7 grams of saturated fat (or about 8% of the daily value), 2.7 grams of sugar, 3.4 grams of carbohydrates, and 11 grams of protein.

The data displayed above pertains to cottage cheese made with 2% milk; however, you will obtain even less saturated fat—which in the case of cottage cheese is milk fat—if you purchase or prepare the kind made with skim milk and no additional cream.

The majority of the minerals included in dairy products are retained in cottage cheese as it doesn’t contain the typical saturated fat and carbohydrates found in full-fat milk. These all seem to suggest cottage cheese as a surprising and healthful snack choice.

The glycemic index (GI) of cottage cheese gives it one extra point for wellness. A study’s computation indicates that cottage cheese has a GI of roughly 10, which indicates that it doesn’t significantly raise blood sugar levels. However, just because a dairy product is more nutrient-dense and healthily than another doesn’t always guarantee that people with diabetes will benefit from it.

For diabetics, how healthful is cottage cheese?

Put simply, remarkably well. To be clear, since cottage cheese is made of milk, which is typically not allowed on a diabetic’s diet, it is by no means a superfood with a ton of additional benefits especially for diabetes.

Nevertheless, a dietician from sharecare.com claims that skim milk is a better choice for people with diabetes to assist with weight management. Given that cottage cheese is produced using skim milk, it makes sense—at least in terms of dairy—to assume that it is a safer option than whole milk.

You’ll also notice that vinegar is the primary ingredient in cottage cheese, which is what caused the milk to curdle into cheese during the procedure. Dr. Bradley presented some information regarding the potential benefits of vinegar for decreasing blood sugar levels following high-GI foods in a thoroughly researched paper that was published on Diabetes Action.

As previously established, the GI of cottage cheese is low. People with diabetes already have increased blood sugar at baseline due to insufficient insulin activity. Because vinegar is one of cottage cheese’s constituents, it’s possible that it not only doesn’t raise blood sugar levels, but also helps regulate them.

Nevertheless, there is conflicting data regarding vinegar’s ability to control blood sugar, therefore it is best to not rely solely on it. That does not imply, however, that eating cottage cheese as a snack is not a smart option. In fact, including some cottage cheese snacks in your diet may still be advantageous even though there isn’t any proof of a direct correlation with diabetes—but only indirectly.

In fact, scientists discovered in a 2004 critical study that eating foods high in protein requires our bodies to use more energy during the process of thermogenesis, which is the breakdown of the food. Diets richer in protein promote weight loss through this mechanism.

Why not choose a snack that will aid in your weight loss if you are going to munch anyway? According to study, if you have diabetes, decreasing weight will help improve your blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels, among other elements of your health.

You can also include cottage cheese in your snacks by having several snacking periods over the day. A 2010 study found that eating modest portions of high-protein snacks more frequently helped overweight and obese individuals feel full and regulate their appetite.

It doesn’t take a thoroughly conducted scientific study to demonstrate that increased appetite and a sense of unfulfilled need are unquestionably linked to overeating, which in turn causes weight gain and blood sugar elevation. However, a research study was necessary to demonstrate why.

In this instance, it appears that the issue is, at least in part, a lack of protein and large meals. Including cottage cheese, spread out over multiple eating periods, may help you better regulate your appetite and weight.

Having said that, it is not for nothing that eating big amounts of cheese is often discouraged. Therefore, if you’re allowed to consume cottage cheese at all, ask advice from your doctor before substituting too much of it in your diet.

Here are some incredibly healthful things you may do with cottage cheese if you do include it in your diet.

In conclusion, delicious suggestions

You are welcome to crumble the larger curds from either homemade or store-bought cottage cheese and combine it with the milky liquid that was left over after the cheese was made.

The creamy outcome makes a delicious base for fruit cups, a great accompaniment for dipping veggies, or a garnish for your meat entrees. You may even combine cottage cheese and yogurt in your nutritious parfait to get even more protein. The main idea is to try cottage cheese on its own; you’ll probably find that many of your favorite snack foods pair well with its mild, rich, and refreshing flavor (nuts, even?).