Cheddar Cheese Diet Food

Cheddar Cheese Diet Food
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If your goal is to find diet foods that contain cheddar cheese, you might need to reconsider the diet you intend to follow. A low-fat diet would require low fat or non-fat cheddar, but a low-carbohydrate diet could accommodate full-fat cheddar. A high-calorie diet could accommodate all kinds of cheddar, and a high-fat diet, sometimes prescribed for medical purposes, would incorporate nothing but full-fat cheese.

Low-Fat Diets

Low-fat diets suit many dieters because, of the three major macronutrients, fat has 9 calories per gram whereas both protein and carbohydrate have only 4. Luckily, non-fat cheddars have as few as 45 calories per ounce, according to Calorie Count. Low-fat cheddar cheese diet foods should be high-fiber or have a high-water content to assist in appetite control; clear soups containing vegetables, lean meat and low-fat cheddar cheese are excellent options. The cheese adds protein, texture and flavor to the high-volume, high-fiber, low-calorie soup.

Low-Carbohydrate Diets

Low-carb diets do not necessarily require low-calorie foods. Yet, low carb diets still should incorporate a wide range of foods, to ensure you get the vitamins and minerals you need. The USDA nutrition charts list regular cheddar cheese as having 114 calories and less than 1 g of carbohydrate per 1-oz. serving, ideal for low-carb meals. It can be melted over broccoli, grated over green salads, crumbled into omelets or simply eaten on its own.

High-Calorie Diets

Accumulating calories becomes easy and fun when you are allowed to choose cheese as part of your eating plan. In fact, cheddar cheese diet food for high-calorie diets can simply mean adding any cheddar cheese, full-fat or non-fat, to any food you like. You can add cheddar to your eggs, create multi-layered cheese sandwiches, grill thick slices of cheddar on toast and stir up a tangy, cheddar-based fondue. If your meal is already high in fat, you might wish to avoid rich cheddars, because they are high in the saturated type of fat. Naturally low-calorie dishes can tolerate a good 2 to 3 oz. of naturally high-calorie cheddar.

High-Fat Diets

High-fat diets are helpful in reducing severe epileptic seizures. "The New York Times Magazine" presents the story of a boy whose seizures were reduced 75 percent by his going on an extremely high-fat diet with minimal carbohydrates. Cheddar cheese joins the diet's mainstays: margarine, nuts, oils, eggs, vegetable oils, avocado and bacon and other high-fat meat. Such a diet raises concerns about long-term health effects and heart disease, but for the short-term, cheddar here helps render other high-fat foods palatable and calcium-rich.

Significance

Cheddar cheese diet foods run the gamut. The addition of cheddar cheese can improve taste, texture and nutrition in every dish from low-calorie green salads to high-calorie fondues. Once you have decided which diet will best meet your goals, use cheddar's versatility and enjoy it.

References

Article reviewed by Helen Covington Last updated on: Jun 14, 2011

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