It’s important to remember that dairy is also high in B fat. So you
must be careful to eat cheese in a way that maintains balance with
your intake of A and C fats. If you are recovering from an inflamma-
tory-related illness, such as cancer, heart disease and the others dis-
cussed in this book, limit or avoid dairy products. In addition, avoid
so-called “American” cheese, cheese spreads and other processed
cheeses. These highly processed products, which outsell natural
cheese, are usually several types of unripe cheeses, ground up with
added chemical stabilizers, preservatives and emulsifiers.
Curds and Whey
Remember Little Miss Muffet, eating her curds and whey? These are
the two proteins found in milk. Whey protein is the thin liquid part of
milk remaining after the casein (the curds) and fat are removed. Whey
is the part of the milk containing most of the vitamins and minerals,
including calcium, and it’s a complete protein. During the making of
cheese, which mostly is produced from curds, whey is often fed back
to the animals for nutritional reasons.
The whey component of milk contains a group of natural sulfur-
containing substances called biothiols that help produce a key antiox-
idant in your cells (called glutathione). Because it helps the immune
system, whey has been used to help prevent and treat many chronic
conditions, from asthma and allergies to cancer and heart disease. It
can also help improve muscle function. Most people who are allergic
to cow’s milk can usually consume whey without problems. Small
amounts of lactose are found in whey (much less than is found in liq-
uid milk) but this is usually too little to cause intestinal problems,
even in most people sensitive to lactose. In those who are truly lac-
tose-intolerant (probably less than 5 percent of the population), this
amount of lactose could be a problem.
Most cheeses are made from curds, but some are made from
whey. Italian ricotta is the most common one; check the ingredient
label on ricotta to make sure the main ingredient is whey. Whey is
also made into powders for use in baked goods and smoothies as dis-
cussed below.
The curds from milk are used for most cheese making. Cottage
cheese is the best example of what curds look like. However, the curd
MAKING WISE PROTEIN CHOICES • 95