Cottage cheese is great as a snack or to add some fluff to your scrambled eggs — but how do you know if it's good for you? Even if there's fruit included or it's labeled low fat, there are plenty of unhealthy cottage cheese brands on the market.
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00:00Cottage cheese is great as a snack or to add some fluff to your scrambled eggs.
00:04But how do you know if it's good for you? Even if there's fruit included,
00:08or it's labeled low-fat, there are plenty of unhealthy cottage cheese brands on the market.
00:13Daisy is a familiar brand to cottage cheese lovers, with its product line offering a variety
00:17of flavors to cater to every taste. For those with a sweeter tooth, its cottage cheese with
00:22strawberries seems like a great choice, combining high-protein cheese with a sweet, flavorful fruit.
00:27All of this flavor comes at a nutritional cost, though, with this product delivering
00:30a high amount of sodium and added sugar. In every serving of Daisy Cottage Cheese
00:34with Strawberries, there's 420 milligrams of sodium and 5 grams of added sugar.
00:39Neither of these ingredients are particularly attractive, and the whole picture is made even
00:43unhealthier by this product's saturated fat levels. With 3.5 grams of saturated fat,
00:48Daisy Cottage Cheese with Strawberries covers 18 percent of your daily value.
00:52This combo of sodium and high fat could potentially pose issues for folks who have
00:56high cholesterol. For folks who are lactose intolerant, cheese can be one of the hardest
01:00dietary sacrifices to make. So we can understand why people might think that Lactaid's Cottage
01:05Cheese is a godsend. Its 4 percent milk-fat cottage cheese is 100 percent lactose-free
01:10and promises an easy digestive experience with all of the flavor of a regular product.
01:14However, a lot of its taste is bolstered by its 440 milligrams of sodium per serving.
01:19This sodium amount makes Lactaid 4 percent milk-fat cottage cheese one of the saltiest
01:24on the market. Furthermore, with its 3 grams of saturated fat, it's also fairly fatty.
01:28Its sodium content is good evidence of why you should never assume that a snack is healthy,
01:33even if it's often deemed to be.
01:34That's cottage cheese.
01:35Cottage cheese? Like, cheese from some cottage?
01:38Cottage cheese is one of those things that people always want in their fridge,
01:42but they don't want to have to spend a pretty penny on it. That's where Walmart's Great Value
01:45Cottage Cheese comes in. Its 4 percent milk-fat small curd cottage cheese is a reasonably priced,
01:50accessible option. The price tag may be appealing, but it's not the healthiest option. With 400
01:55milligrams of sodium per serving, it covers a significant portion of your daily value.
02:00It also has 3 grams of saturated fat in its half-cup serving size. The sodium amount is
02:05particularly important to note, due to its potential effects on blood pressure.
02:08Excessive sodium intake can increase the amount of fluids in our blood,
02:11which can then in turn increase blood pressure and raise the risk of hypertension-associated diseases.
02:17Breakstone has made a name with its dairy products, and it's clearly well aware of
02:21its cottage cheese's snackable nature. Strawberry Cottage Doubles are proof of this,
02:25with the company offering snack packs combining cottage cheese and a sugary strawberry topping.
02:29However, it's probably no surprise that the sugary topping has a fair amount of sweetener in it.
02:34In just a few spoonfuls, you get 4 grams of added sugar.
02:37More sugar, more sugar!"
02:39Consuming high amounts of added sugar can have a significant effect on your health,
02:43impacting everything from your skin quality to your liver and even to your mood,
02:47so it's probably not worth it for a few bites of cottage cheese.
02:51Cottage cheese mix-ins are all the rage at the moment, with more and more companies realizing
02:55that the combination of sweet, fruity flavors and rich, creamy cottage cheese makes an exciting
03:00replacement for fruit yogurt. Depending on the brand you choose, though, you may be getting
03:03more than you bargained for. Dairy Pure's Cottage Cheese Blueberry mix-ins has a particularly poor
03:08nutritional profile, containing a whopping 480 milligrams of sodium and 11 grams of total sugar
03:13per serving. If you're not keeping an eye on the nutritional labels of your food, it can be tricky
03:18to know how much sodium you're eating. However, there are a few key signs. Bloating and puffiness
03:22can occur as a result of excessive sodium intake due to your body retaining too much fluid,
03:27per WebMD. This can also cause a sudden increase in weight. You may also notice that you're using
03:31the restroom more than usual, not sleeping normally, or that your stomach is feeling unsettled.
03:36One of the biggest concerns around eating cottage cheese is fat intake. Luckily,
03:40cottage cheese is just as good when it's low-fat, and Westby Low-Fat Cottage Cheese
03:44is one of the more popular options out there. Unfortunately, the brand has clearly decided
03:49that the best way to replace the flavor lost from having a lower fat quantity is by adding salt,
03:53and this results in it having a high 450 milligrams of sodium per serving.
03:57Salt content in cheese is a perennial problem, whether it's low-fat or not.
04:01The additive acts both as a flavor enhancer and a preservative,
04:04extending its shelf life by preventing bacteria from growing too quickly. It
04:08also contributes to cheese's texture, helping the case and bind together more easily.
04:13Amazon Fresh has quickly become a major player in the food industry,
04:16allowing you to have the basics delivered to your doorstep in no time. Amongst these basics
04:20is its low-fat small curd cottage cheese, but its ingredients list is far from simple.
04:25Each serving has a generous 460 milligrams of sodium, covering 20 percent of your daily value
04:30in just a half cup. As well as this, this cottage cheese has one ingredient in it we'd rather not
04:35see — carrageenan. Carrageenan is extracted from red seaweed and is frequently added to
04:40foods to thicken and emulsify them, making it the perfect choice to bring cottage cheese
04:44mixtures together. Unfortunately, carrageenan has been observed to produce inflammatory effects
04:48in humans. There's something about Cabot Creamery's products that just feels comforting.
04:53We don't know whether it's the homely logo, simple color scheme, or claim that its food
04:57is fresh from Vermont, but at first glance, it looks like an all-natural winner.
05:01A closer inspection at the ingredients list for its cottage cheese, however,
05:05tells a different story. Each serving has 420 milligrams of sodium,
05:08enough to cover 18 percent of your daily value. Curiously, too, this cottage cheese contains
05:14carrageenan. It's curious because carrageenan is usually reserved for low-fat cottage cheese
05:18products, where it adds thickness and improves texture. However, Cabot Creamery's cottage cheese
05:23still has a generous 2.5 grams of saturated fat.
05:26One of the most worrying potential impacts of carrageenan is its effect on the digestive system,
05:30and especially on the colon. A review published in Carbohydrate Polymers discussed carrageenan's
05:35ability to cause colon inflammation, also known as colitis. This can result in a change in stools,
05:40abdominal pain, weight loss, and fatigue, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
05:44Pineapple is often paired with cottage cheese, with its tart, sweet taste perfectly offsetting
05:49the creamier dairy notes. Dairy giant Kemp's is never one to be outdone by competitors,
05:54and true to fashion, it offers its own cottage cheese with pineapple product.
05:58Real quick, do you have any cottage cheese?
06:00Who eats cottage cheese?
06:01Look, it's how I maintain my figure.
06:04However, this cottage cheese contains 400 milligrams of sodium and 3 grams of added
06:08sugar per serving, both covering significant proportions of your daily value. Kemp's cottage
06:13cheese with pineapple also has a slew of additional ingredients, like cornstarch,
06:17guar, and carob bean gum, and carrageenan. Although its sugar content is pretty small
06:22compared to some other cottage cheeses out there, it's still important to take note of.
06:26It's also important to think about how you can cut down on sugar in your diet more generally,
06:30by opting for snack options that don't have added sugar and consuming fewer sugary drinks.
06:34Getting used to reading nutritional labels can be a crucial first step in controlling
06:38added sugar intake. Cottage cheese is meant to be simple, so why do all these manufacturers
06:43keep putting so much salt in them? Anderson Ericsson is a particular culprit of this,
06:48with its old-fashioned cottage cheese containing 460 milligrams of sodium.
06:52This makes it one of the saltier options available today, and covers 20 percent of
06:56your daily value. To put into perspective how salty that is, a serving of Fahier 2%
07:01Milk Fat Plain Greek Yogurt contains just 55 milligrams of sodium. While the two products
07:05aren't exactly the same, they both offer a smooth creaminess and mountains of protein.
07:09It's just that you'll get way more salt with one than the other. Unfortunately,
07:13excessive salt consumption is a widespread issue. Almost every population across the world
07:18eats too much salt, and much of this sodium comes from processed foods like cottage cheese.
07:22Crucially, we do need some sodium in our diets. The nutrient helps keep our nerves and cells
07:26functioning properly. However, the likelihood of not getting enough sodium is very low,
07:31and so, instead, focus on consuming less whenever possible.
07:34It's fair to say that cottage cheese and peach is a pretty delicious combo.
07:38Knudsen knows this fact well, and its Peach Flavor Cottage Cheese Doubles is a serious
07:42crowd-pleaser. However, you get a fair amount of sugar in a small serving size if you opt for this
07:47after-dinner treat, with 4 grams of added sugar in every portion. At 390 milligrams of sodium,
07:53this isn't the saltiest option out there, but its sodium content is still notable,
07:57and contributes pretty significantly to your overall recommended daily value of 2,300 milligrams.
08:03Both sodium and sugar intake can affect hypertension, but while most people are
08:07pretty aware of sodium's effect, fewer folks are aware of how sugar impacts it.
08:11Sugar can reduce the amount of nitric oxide in your blood, which can then narrow your
08:14blood vessels and lead to higher blood pressure. Consuming added sugar can also make you more
08:19sensitive to the impact of sodium on your blood pressure, with the two going hand-in-hand to
08:23promote hypertension. While this cottage cheese product has relatively small amounts of both
08:27nutrients, over time, things can add up.
08:30Maybe I'll get a son who will finish his cottage cheese.
08:34Ah, cottage cheese with pineapple. A combination that can be relied on to deliver flavor,
08:38and to supply you with a lot of sugar in one go, Friendship Dairy's Cottage Cheese
08:42with Pineapple is no exception. This cottage cheese may be pleasingly low in sodium,
08:46containing just 300 milligrams, but it also has a high 15 grams of total sugars per serving.
08:52Although some of these sugars will naturally come from the pineapple that's included in the recipe,
08:56much of it will likely come from the sugar listed on the ingredients list.
08:59Although added sugar is the type we need to keep an eye on most closely,
09:02it's important to consider the amount of total sugar we eat as well. The more sugar we eat,
09:06the harder our pancreas has to work, which can eventually create a strain and affect
09:10its ability to produce insulin. This can increase the likelihood of developing
09:14insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes.