How Much Cheese Can You Eat On Keto?

Cheese is one of your best friends if you’re following a keto diet. Containing low-carb and moderate protein with high-fat content, cheese is one of the most delicious dairy foods that make an excellent addition to your keto meal plan for weight loss and overall wellness.

However, you must choose the right cheese type to get the most out of the diet. Not all cheeses are created equal!

So how much cheese can you eat on the Keto Diet?

Cheese can be tasty and beneficial in furthering your keto lifestyle when used correctly.

In this blog post, we’ll look more closely at how keto dieters can eat the best keto cheeses, enjoy healthy fats, and still enjoy the weight loss benefits from the ketogenic diet.

The Ketogenic Diet Health Trend

If you’ve been following the latest health trends, you may have heard of the ketogenic diet.

This high-fat, low-carb diet has been gaining popularity over the last few years as a way to lose weight and improve overall health.

Very simply, it involves significantly reducing your intake of carbohydrates and increasing your intake of healthy fats.

It varies across each keto diet, but typically, about 70 to 80% of your calories should come from fat, 5 to 10% from carbs, and 10 to 20% from protein content.

This roughly equates to 20 grams and 50 grams of carbohydrate intake daily.

The scarcity of carbs forces your body into a metabolic state known as “ketosis,” where it starts to burn fat for energy instead of glucose from carbs.

When this happens, your liver produces molecules called “ketones,” which are then used by cells throughout your body for energy.

This process can help you lose weight quickly, reduce inflammation in your body, reduce blood sugar levels, and improve brain function.

Many people have seen excellent results while following the keto diet, and many benefits exist.

1. Can Help With Losing Weight

The most popular benefit of following the keto diet is its ability to help with weight loss.

By cutting out carbs and focusing on healthy fats, your body will burn fat instead of glucose for fuel.

This means it will start using stored fat as energy, which can result in fast weight loss.

Additionally, because the keto diet has been linked to reducing hunger hormones, you may find that you’re not as hungry throughout the day and don’t feel like snacking as much.

2. Improved Blood Sugar Levels

For those with diabetes or pre-diabetes, changing your diet can effectively manage blood sugar levels better.

Eating fewer carbohydrates means less glucose entering your bloodstream at once, which lowers your blood sugar levels.

This can benefit those who manage their diabetes or prediabetic condition through lifestyle modifications such as diet changes.

3. Improved Health Markers

Following a low-carb diet has also been linked to improved cholesterol levels and lower triglyceride levels – both markers of good health.

This can reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease and other chronic conditions associated with high cholesterol or triglyceride levels.

Additionally, research suggests that following a low-carb diet may help reduce inflammation in the body – which can cause many health issues if left untreated.

4. Might Improve Cardiovascular Health

By shifting away from processed foods and refined carbohydrates, following the keto diet results in lower levels of bad cholesterol (LDL) while at the same time raising good cholesterol levels in your body (HDL).

Additionally, it helps reduce inflammation throughout the body, reducing strain on your heart and lowering blood pressure.

Furthermore, when consuming healthy fats alongside keto-friendly proteins, you can achieve an optimum level of cardiovascular health for your individual needs.

5. It Might Improve Brain Function

By drastically reducing carbohydrate consumption and replacing them with high-fat foods, ketosis can be achieved – effectively rewiring the brain’s supply of energy sources.

During this process, increased production of compounds in the brain provides neuroprotective effects and improves memory performance.

In addition to providing sensation sharpness, alertness, shorter response time, and improved learning rates, research remains optimistic about how keto may even help prevent certain neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

6. Might Reduce The Risk Of Cancer

Research has steadily been demonstrating that the keto diet is an effective way to reduce the risk of certain types of cancer.

Studies have found that by strictly following this eating regime, people can effectively reduce inflammation levels while increasing immune health, both critical components in protecting against cancer progressions.

Additionally, healthy omega-3 fatty acids from sources like fish and avocados are encouraged on the keto diet, which also helps to reduce cancer risks.

Most keto dieters are also cheese lovers and might wonder if they can eat cheese while following this strict diet. The good news is that most cheese’s carb and fat content makes them ideal for the keto diet!

The key to understanding why cheese is allowed on the keto diet lies in its macro-nutrient breakdown.

A half-cup serving of high-fat cheese, like full-fat cottage cheese, contains around 100 calories, 12 grams of protein, 4.5 grams of fat, and about two to three grams of carbohydrates, well below the recommended daily carbohydrate intake of 20 to 50 grams.

These macros make it possible to include cheese in your daily meals without exceeding your carb limit or throwing off your macronutrient ratios—which makes it an excellent food to eat while following a keto diet.

Health Benefits Of The Very Best Cheeses

Quality cheese is loaded with essential vitamins and minerals, plus it contains probiotics that promote healthy digestion. Here are some other benefits of naturally-produced cheeses.

1. Good for Your Bones

Cheese is an excellent source of calcium, which helps keep your bones strong and healthy.

Calcium is essential for maintaining bone density and preventing osteoporosis, especially in older adults.

And because cheese is so rich in calcium, just one serving can provide up to 20% of your recommended intake!

2. Can Help You Lose Weight

Contrary to popular belief, cheese can be beneficial when trying to lose weight.

Cheese is high in protein and low in carbohydrates, so it will help keep you feeling full longer—which means you’ll be less likely to snack on unhealthy processed foods throughout the day.

In addition, protein-rich foods like cheese also boost your metabolism, so they can help speed up weight loss efforts as well.

3. Promotes Gut Health

Cheese has healthy probiotic bacteria, the good bugs in fermented foods that help boost your immune system and promote a healthy gut.

Eating probiotic-rich foods like cheese helps regulate digestion and keep your gastrointestinal system functioning properly.

This helps reduce common digestive issues such as bloating and constipation.

Plus, having healthy gut bacteria may help reduce inflammation throughout the body, which could have several beneficial effects on overall health and well-being.          

Types Of Cheese You Can Eat On The Keto Diet

1. Cream Cheese

Cream cheese is creamy, flavorful, and high in fat — a key player for the keto diet.

In addition, cream cheese has many antioxidants and minerals like calcium, potassium, and vitamin A.

Plus, it is an excellent source of protein and beneficial, healthy fats such as omega-3 fatty acids, which have been shown to improve heart health and more.

2. Blue Cheese

Blue cheese contains fewer carbohydrates than other fatty foods and dairy products, making it perfect for ketogenic diets.

Additionally, it’s also full of beneficial bacteria that aid digestion provides essential vitamins and minerals, and can help improve overall gut health.

Another perk is that blue cheese has an intense flavor that allows for a little bit goes a long way when adding it to your cooking.

This means a smaller serving of blue cheese can bring bold flavor to your meal without a significant amount.

3. Goat Cheese

Goats produce delicious and versatile cheese, making them ideal for keto diets.

Quite often, people on the keto diet find it difficult to enjoy high-fat cheeses while maintaining their desired macronutrient ratio.

Fortunately, goat’s milk solves this dilemma perfectly as it contains significantly lower levels of lactose than other cheese varieties, making it ideal for people with lactose intolerance.

Additionally, goat cheese contains fewer calories and carbs and higher amounts of healthy monounsaturated fat and protein than cow’s milk cheeses.

4. Parmesan Cheese

Parmesan cheese is a complex, sharp Italian aged cheese made with whole cow’s milk; it has very low carbs per serving, and plenty of flavors, making it an excellent addition to any meal.

Packed with protein and healthy fats, it boosts satiety, so you’re not left feeling overly hungry as you eat your keto diet meal.

Additionally, Parmesan cheese is high in calcium and vitamin A and contains iron and zinc.

Types Of Cheese To Avoid On The Keto Diet

1. Cottage Cheese

While cottage cheese can be made with largely natural ingredients such as milk and salt, most commercial brands are loaded with preservatives and sugars that can undermine your keto diet.

Nutritional profiling shows that most brands of store-bought cottage cheese are high in carbs and can be well above the recommended daily dietary fat content for anyone following a keto diet.

Moreover, many products contain thickeners or emulsifiers identified as potential allergens or causing digestive trouble.

2. Ricotta Cheese

Ricotta cheese has about 9 grams of carbs per 1/2 cup serving, a sizeable chunk of your allowed 20 to 50 grams daily.

This can seriously impede keto dieters from reaching their goal of reducing carbs to induce weight loss and metabolic changes.

Other healthier options are low in carbs but still full of flavor and aroma that offer more calories with fewer carbs per cup than ricotta.

3. Imitation Cheeses

Whether on a keto diet or not, you might want to avoid refined cheese foods. It is packed with unhealthy saturated fat and too many calories, and worse yet; it is usually filled with additives to make it seem more appealing.

This means that you are likely consuming something highly processed, lacking in nutrition, and possibly even containing chemicals that can harm your health.

If you want to enjoy cheese while maintaining a healthy eating regimen, choose fresh cheese with naturally-occurring sugar instead.

The best keto cheese contains rich proteins, many vitamins and minerals, and good-quality fatty acids that will keep your metabolism running strong.

You can’t have as much cheese as you want on a keto diet, but it can still be an excellent addition to any healthy diet in moderate quantities.

Not only does cheese contain essential vitamins and minerals, but it can also add fantastic flavor and texture to meals without blowing your carb intake out of the water and breaking your state of ketosis.