Cheese Consumption Rises, as Do Concerns About Its Effects

I've been thinking a lot about cheese lately.

More accurately, I always think a lot about cheese. Cheese is my chocolate, the food I crave most, the one that always tastes great, no matter what. I could top cardboard with melted cheddar and find it luscious.

So I was shaken this summer when I read a study showing that consuming lots of animal-based saturated fat corresponds to an increased risk of pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer is among the most deadly of malignancies. It's the one that killed actor Patrick Swayze and Carnegie Mellon University professor Randy Pausch, author of that inspiring "Last Lecture." Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been treated for it, too.

At first I found the study vaguely reassuring. After all, I eat barely any fatty meat.

Then it dawned on me that those animal-based fats were found not just in hunks of marbled steak but also in butter, cream, ice cream . . . and cheese. In fact, according to the federal Dietary Guidelines for Americans, cheese is the leading source of saturated fat in the American diet, accounting for more than 13 percent of our daily intake, compared with 11 percent for red meat.

I know, I know: This should not have been news to me. I think I may have been subconsciously avoiding recognizing that cheese -- at least the full-fat varieties that I adore -- might pose a health risk. I really don't relish the thought of life without cheese.

Neither do most other Americans, it seems. According to the Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service, Americans consumed 32.48 pounds of cheese per capita in 2008, up from 11.37 pounds in 1970. If cheese is bad for us, apparently lots of us don't care.

So dietitians, nutritionists and others who try to improve our eating habits do their best to accommodate our fondness for cheese -- just not too much of it. The dietary guidelines say most of us can eat about 1.5 ounces of low-fat natural cheese per day as one of our three one-cup servings of dairy. (Out of sync with the current whole-foods zeitgeist, the guidelines say we can eat a bit more if the cheese is processed: two ounces of a low-fat variety.)

Some nutritionists suggest we rethink cheese's place in the food pyramid, the graphic representation of the dietary guidelines' key principles. Rather than considering cheese a calcium-supplying dairy product or, as some cheese lovers maintain, a source of protein, they consider full-fat cheese a source of "discretionary calories," the category that includes alcohol and sweets.

Sarah Krieger, speaking on behalf of the American Dietetic Association, favors treating cheese as a condiment, choosing intensely flavored kinds such as Parmesan and Romano to grate over a salad "instead of just cutting off a chunk and eating it with a cracker." (Rule of thumb, Krieger says: The higher in fat, the more flavorful the cheese.) She adds: "Enjoy your saturated fats in moderation, and not with other saturated fats." If you make a sandwich with a slice of cheese, for instance, substitute extra vegetables for the sandwich meat. Or include brie in a meal that features fat-free sorbet and skinless chicken breast. "An ounce of brie goes a long way," Krieger says.

Finally, Krieger says, "everyone should try" using low-fat (and, happily, low-cost) ricotta or cottage cheese as a spread. "Spread some on a muffin, and you'll get some amount of protein without a lot of fat," she says.

Naturally, the National Dairy Council remains gung-ho for cheese. Gregory Miller, the council's executive vice president for research, regulatory and scientific affairs, rattles off a number of health benefits associated with this favorite snack. A Danish study showed that people who ate cheese "didn't see the rise in blood cholesterol you'd expect," he says.