Feta Cheese Benefits

If you are looking for a tangy, crumbly cheese, feta -- a traditional Greek cheese -- offers up a toothsome texture. This type of cheese is most often made from goat or sheep cheese, although you may also find it made from cow's milk. In all cases, you can purchase this cheese made from pasteurized milk or unpasteurized milk. Feta cheese offers a range of nutritional benefits.

Protein

A 1-oz. serving of feta cheese contains 4 g of protein. This accounts for 7.1 to 8.6 percent of the quantity of protein you should consume daily. The protein in feta cheese is not complete, so you should consume a variety of protein sources each day to get the essential amino acids you require. Protein reinforces your immune function, particularly when you have a weakened immune system, such as when you cancer or less serious infections.

Riboflavin

Eat a serving of feta cheese, and you take in 14 percent of the riboflavin, or vitamin B-2, you need daily. The riboflavin your get from this cheese provides important antioxidant protections, which may help prevent some signs of aging as well as degenerative disease. There is some evidence, as discussed in research published in the April 2010 issue of "The Journal of the Association of Physicians of India," that riboflavin may help you avoid migraine headaches. Pharmaceuticals may work more effectively, but eating feta cheese for riboflavin may offer a natural alternative; speak to your physician about your options.

Calcium

Feta cheese is a tasty choice to incorporate more calcium into your diet. One serving provides 14 percent of the daily recommended intake. The most commonly known use for calcium is its benefit to your bones, but the calcium has additional benefits. Evidence in the December 2010 issue of the journal "Expert Opinion in Pharmacotherapy" indicates that calcium may help ease premenstrual syndrome.

Other Vitamins and Minerals

One serving of feta cheese has 9 percent of the phosphorus you should consume each day, as well as lesser amounts of many B vitamins including vitamin B-12, thiamin, niacin, vitamin B-6, folate and pantothenic acid. The B vitamins help your body efficiently convert food to fuel. You also get small quantities of vitamin A, vitamin K, selenium, zinc, magnesium and iron in a serving of this cheese.

Combats Food Poisoning

Eating feta cheese made from raw milk in small seaside tavernas in Greece could be a good way to combat food poisoning, Researchers presented evidence at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the Society for General Microbiology indicating that lactic acid bacteria found in raw sheep milk from small farms in Macedonia, Greece may naturally neutralize bacteria, such as Listeria, which can cause food-poisoning.