Why I Gave Up Cheese, and Why You Should Too

Most people can agree that cheese is a guilty pleasure. Who can resist the ooey, gooey, stretchy goodness cheese has to offer? Let’s face it: cheese is life. So why should you give it up, you ask?

1. It messes up your hormones.

Research has proven that cheese contains hormones such as estrogen, that throws our naturally regulated hormones out of whack. It also raises our levels of insulin, which causes blood sugar swings and the result of dreadful acne. Think about it this way: the dairy you consume contains the hormones from the female cow and the male cow that were used and produced during impregnation. Pretty gross, don’t you think?

2. It’s very fattening, and excluding it from your diet can help you lose weight.

Cheese is a high-calorie product loaded with fat, sodium and cholesterol. Most cheeses are typically 70% fat. You can determine which cheese have the most fat by how much it melts. Brie melts a lot: lots of fat. Bocconcini on the other hand barely melts at all: less fat. Sometimes fat isn’t all that bad, such as good fats from avocado, but the fat in cheese is the very very bad kind – saturated fat.

3. It’s downright gross!

Cheese has been noted to be made with rennet, which is made from an enzyme that comes from calves’ stomach linings. Only the “vegetarian” labeled cheeses don’t contain rennet; other than that most of them do.

4. Dairy cows are seen as machines, rather than animals with feelings.

Dairy cows are treated like milk-producing machines, and are genetically manipulated and pumped full of antibiotics and hormones to make them produce more milk. Cows are often excessively milked so that their udders become blistered and infected, leaking pus and bacteria into the extracted milks. Not to mention they suffer extreme discomfort and pain.

One could argue that not all cheese is bad. Cheese is in fact high in calcium and protein, however, moderation is key. So for the cheese lovers out there who can’t seem to remove it from their diet, here are some tips for you. Know the difference between processed and unprocessed cheese. Chose vegetarian cheese instead of rennet infested cheese. Buy from local farmers, by doing so you know the cows are well kept and milked properly and you help a local business! Vegan cheese is a great alternative as well. Found at most grocery stores, it is better for you and tastes the same!

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