My Favorite Food
Filed under: Nutrition
If you know me like my fiance does, then you already know what will be discussed today. My favorite food, partly for its nutrient composition, partly for its versatility, but mainly for its ease of use. Today I am talking all about the glory that is cottage cheese. I specifically wanted to discuss my favorite cottage cheese, Friendship Digestive Health.
All by its lonesome, cottage cheese is clearly not the most appealing of foods. It has an odd texture and a rather bland taste. That bland taste though, allows for lots of creativity with recipes that can be used at any time of day. Cottage cheese takes on the flavors of whatever you add to it, making it a very versatile food. I use it as a base for lots of my recipes, and I often consume it at least twice per day.
Moving on to the nutrition of cottage cheese, this one in particular, there is a lot to discuss. First, it is a protein source of the highest quality. Dairy protein is top notch, consisting of 80% casein and 20% whey, a beautiful blend that supports growth. Friendship brand cottage cheese have the greatest amounts of protein and the least amount of sugars of any cottage cheese I’ve seen, another reason why I tend to prefer them. This one in particular has 14 grams per 1/2 cup, very solid.
Second, this particular cottage cheese is a good source of fiber. Not just any fiber, but a fiber that is also a prebiotic, helping to nourish the healthy bacteria in your gut that are so important for digestion and immunity. This particular fiber, inulin, and actually a specialized oligofructose-enriched inulin at that, has been shown to increase the absorption of of calcium and magnesium, and serves to fuel beneficial bacteria, like Bifidobacterium, stimulating its growth and activity.
Healthful bacteria like Bifidobacterium reside primarily in the colon. It is known to aid in the production and absorption of vitamin K and biotin among others, and utilize non-digestible fiber (like inulin) for food. Increasing the number of healthy bacteria in the gut serves to help prevent harmful bacteria like H. pylori and E. coli from getting a foothold while also increasing the absorption of nutrients and the overall health of the gut.
Cottage cheese is also a good source of calcium, riboflavin, phosphorus and the ever important, cancer fighting selenium. It is also low in lactose and is usually well tolerated by people with mild lactose intolerance, especially with the addition of inulin and bifidobacterium.
In summary it may not be the world’s superfood, but it is a solid addition to almost everyone’s diet, can easily be used as a base for many fantastic recipes and improves the health of our gut, an area we are discovering to be of more importance to our health than ever previously thought possible.
Bonus: Jen Heath’s Protein Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups Friendship Digestive Health cottage cheese
- 2 cups old fashioned oats
- 1.75 cups egg whites (12 egg whites)
- 2 scoops Vanilla Low Carb Metabolic Drive
- 1/2 cup water
- cinnamon to taste
- 1 cup frozen wild blueberries
Mix all ingredients in a blender until smooth. This may take a while, and I suggest not putting in the oats and cottage cheese first, or at least separate them with the egg whites. The batter will be very thick. Add the blueberries after blending and stir by hand. Makes 6 medium to large absolutely delicious pancakes. Enjoy.
Nutrition Info (per pancake)
- Calories = 225
- Protein = 24.3
- Carbs = 25.1
- Fiber = 5.2
- Fat = 3.3
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Posted on March 3rd, 2009 by Brian St. Pierre
8 Comments
March 3rd, 2009 at 3:00 pm
[...] Very Simple Articles put an intriguing blog post on My Favorite FoodHere’s a quick excerptThat bland taste though, allows for lots of creativity with Brecipes/B that can be used at any time of day. Cottage cheese takes on the flavors of… [...]
March 3rd, 2009 at 3:20 pm
big fan of Jen’s pancake recipe — works great with Walden Farms calorie free syrup.
Also try Tom Venuto’s Pumpkin Protein Pancakes recipe — made them the other night and they are awesome:
http://www.burnthefatblog.com/archives/2008/10/try_my_highprotein_pumpkin_pan.php
March 3rd, 2009 at 7:55 pm
First, I never knew that so many people had an aversion to cottage cheese until I started reading fitness articles. I like you, love it.
Secondly, I posted a tweaked pancake recipe on T-Nation forums. It may have originally been based on the recipe above. I just did a Google search and made some small modifications.
http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_forum/diet_performance_nutrition_supplement/double_berry_protein_pancakes
Lastly, cottage cheese is amazing.
March 4th, 2009 at 12:16 am
Does cooking cottage cheese, like in pancakes have any affect on the probiotic bacteria? Is it me or doesn’t it seem like it would kill the bacteria?
Also, where do you buy Friendship Cottage Cheese?
March 4th, 2009 at 12:26 am
Hey Brian, what do you think of farmer’s cheese. Here is a link to Friendships farmer cheese, without added salt. Its 0g sugar, and 0g carbs.. seems like a good source of protein, but is the protein as good as protein in cottage cheese?
http://www.friendshipdairies.com/products/detail_product_farmer_nosalt.php
March 4th, 2009 at 8:09 am
Steve,
Yes cooking the cottage cheese or yogurt for that matter kills the cultures, but the fiber is still there. I buy Friendship at Stop n Shop, though I know Whole Foods carries it as well. The Friendship website shows where you can find them, or you can email them, they are a great company and will definitely get back to you.
The Farmer’s cheese is fine. It has a higher fat content, so do keep that in mind, other than that, have at it.
March 4th, 2009 at 10:50 pm
If your live in Canada like me (Toronto), President’s Choice now carries a cottage cheese brand with probiotics. It’s great (available in 1%, 2%). 3G’s of fiber per 1/2 cup serving. Only $1.99. I’ve been looking for a product that matches the American Friendship brand for a while now. It’s the only cottage cheese I’ll buy from now on.
http://www.presidentschoice.ca/FoodAndRecipes/GreatFood/ProductDetails.aspx/id/19957/name/PC1MFCottageCheese/catid/183/type/2/language/english
March 23rd, 2009 at 10:39 pm
Love this stuff, couldnt believe once I tried it for the first time that I had been missing out on this stuff for so many years.