Should Cellulite Victims Eat More Processed Cheese? The Dr. Oz Show Reports on Healthy Fats

It’s week one of Dr. Oz’s new talk show and already he is pushing the limits of daytime television.  He performed an impromptu navel inspection after a woman complained of smelly belly button fuzz.  He revealed intimate secrets about what turns him on in the bedroom (if you must know, it involves the spot “between #1 and #2″ … ‘Nuf said, right?).  He even convinced an audience member to recreate her fecal matter using a remarkably lifelike version of poop play dough.

But it was the segment on “healthy fats” that caught ANALYST’s attention, especially the bit about American cheese.  It’s a sign of progress that we’re even talking about “healthy fats” in the first place, considering that dietary fat has been a nutritional no-no for decades.  Not surprisingly, the American cheese slices were not included in the Oz-man’s “healthy fats” category.  American cheese used to be made from a blend of Colby and cheddar but today it’s manufactured from a list of equally manufactured ingredients, such as milk protein concentrate and a multitude of food colorings and preservatives.

As a sincere patriot, it grieves ANALYST to admit that American cheese often doesn’t even meet the legal definition of cheese and must be labeled as a “cheese product” or “cheese food” on the packaging.  Dr. Oz is right on target with his disapproval of processed cheese food (the term doesn’t even make grammatical sense –-are you supposed to feed “cheese food” to hungry little cheese slices?).  But the segment would have been even more informative if Dr. Oz’s list of healthy fats included an example of Real Cheese. 

The fact that Real Cheese and American cheese are considered the same type of food product is a testament to the limits of the English language.  Both are examples of “processed food,” but the processes couldn’t be more different.  American cheese is made from industrial processes, including ultrafiltration, evaporation, and drying.  Real Cheese is made from traditional processes, namely, fermenting fresh milk with a variety of healthy bacteria, mold, and yeast organisms.  American cheese is made from milk protein concentrate.  Real Cheese is made from Real Milk. 

Real Cheese can be tricky to find these days, but it’s nothing that a little label-reading won’t remedy.  Look for the term “grass fed” or for cheeses that are imported from countries like France where animals are more likely to be raised on pasture.  Most dairy cows in the United States are raised in confinement and fed a grain-based diet.  But any second grader can tell you that cows are supposed to eat grass!  When they are allowed to eat their natural diet, the resulting milk is much richer in omega-3 fats and conjugated linoleic acid, a potent anti-cellulite agent.  Grass-fed cheese is also higher in beta-carotene, vitamin A, vitamin D, and vitamin E.

So instead of throwing a slice of Kraft singles on your burger, why not use a chunk of smoky blue cheese or Gorgonzola?  Why bother with Velveeta when you can make a grilled cheese sandwich just as easily using a Swiss Gruyere or a Spanish Manchego?  Avoiding processed American cheese is easy when there are so many wonderful Real Cheese options to choose from.  Which ones are your favorites?