How Healthy Nonfat Cottage Cheese Is
Just half a cup of 2% fat cottage cheese contains 92 calories and 12 grams of protein, which is a great snack or healthy meal. However, aside from natural ingredients, nonfat cottage cheese might contain different additives.
5-Minute Crafts found out if nonfat cottage cheese is actually good for you.
What nonfat cottage cheese consists of
Cottage cheese is a dairy product with a mild taste and a creamy, non-homogenous, soupy texture. The less fat it contains, the more artificial additives there are. So regular cottage cheese usually consists of 4 ingredients:
- Whey
- Milk
- Cream
- Salt
Nonfat cottage cheese often contains sweeteners, preservatives, sodium, and some other things. So it’s better to pay attention to the contents when you buy this product.
How healthy nonfat cottage cheese is
Even though cottage cheese is made from milk, it doesn’t have a lot of calcium. In general, most of the calcium comes from the whey.
At the same time, a cup of nonfat cottage cheese contains 9% of the daily norm of vitamin A, 8% of potassium, 20% of B12, 4% to 19% of vitamin B, 15% of phosphorus, plus other minerals and amino acids.
All these components make nonfat cottage cheese good for:
And thanks to casein, nonfat cottage cheese is just as nutritious as an omelet.
Even though nonfat cottage cheese is often drier than fatty cheese, it might contain more protein.
The difference between types of cottage cheese
Depending on fat, cottage cheese can be of different types:
- Regular
- Low-fat
- Nonfat
The most health-conscious eaters prefer nonfat, even though regular cottage cheese is very nutritious.
Also, people believe that the more fat cottage cheese contains, the tastier it is. And “fatty” doesn’t mean bad.
According to studies, cottage cheese can be a good snack to have 30-60 minutes before sleep. It increases metabolism, helps restore muscle, and has a positive effect on your health, in general.
Here is a comparison. For 100 grams of cottage cheese:
- 9% fat — 145 calories and 14 grams of protein
- 4% fat — 98 calories and 11 grams of protein
- 2% fat — 81 calories and 10 grams of protein
- 1% fat — 72 calories and 12 grams of protein
Because all kinds of cottage cheese are packed with protein, they are quite nutritious. But the more fat it contains, the more nutritious it is.
- Regular cottage cheese is 4% fat and more. 100 grams contains 100-120 calories, and the fat is 40-50 calories. It’s 5 grams or 8% of the recommended daily norm and 3 grams or 15% of the recommended daily norm of saturated fats.
- Reduced-fat cottage cheese is 2% fat. In 90 calories, 20 of them are fat. It’s 2.5 grams or 4% of the daily norm of fats and 1.5 grams or 8% of the daily norm of saturated fats.
- Low-fat cheese is 0.5%-1% fat. In 90 calories, 10 of them are fat. It’s 1 gram or 2% of the recommended daily norm, and 0.5 grams or 3% of the recommended daily norm of saturated fats.
- Nonfat cottage cheese is 0.5% fat. In 80-100 calories, 0-5 calories are fat.