EDMOND —
Call me eccentric, but I’m always on the lookout for headlines about cheese. This week, I hit paydirt — again.
My interest in cheese is due to my travels across the United States, Europe, the Middle East and South Africa. Almost every region I visit points with pride to a locally grown crop, a locally bottled beverage — beer or wine — and to their locally made cheese. Even an amateur cheesiologist (yeah, that’s the word — look it up) can tell there are expansive ranges in cheese flavors and textures depending on local traditions, ingredients and preparation. But let’s get to that headline.
According to the latest issue of the journal Nature, a group of international scientists are confident they’ve discovered the most ancient evidence yet of prehistoric cheesemaking. They found pottery fragments in the Kuyavia region of Poland suggesting Neolithic herders made cheese more than 7,000 years ago.
No one knows how the first primitive herdsman discovered the art of cheesemaking. But the most likely theory holds that some ancient wanderer used an animal stomach (cow, buffalo, goat or sheep are all candidates) as a vessel to transport milk. An enzyme called rennet caused the milk to separate into “curds and whey.” The rest, really is, history.
Amazingly, even though cheese has been an important culinary favorite throughout Western populations for millennia, many modern nutritionists are eager to sound the alarm where cheese is concerned; there are too many calories, there’s too much fat, too much sodium, it’s incompatible with the human digestive system — and so on.
But a considerable body of modern scientific research suggests that cheese is getting a bum rap. Recent studies support the conclusion that cheese consumption offers the following benefits. It may lessen the risk of heart disease and contribute to improved dental health. Cheese may be beneficial to healthy sleep patterns and may even reduce the risk of diabetes. Let’s take a quick look at these possibilities.
On average, Americans consume about 30 pounds of cheese annually. The citizens of Greece and France, on the other hand, consume closer to 60 pounds per year. Epidemiological studies consistently establish the Greek and French populations experience relatively low incidence of cardiovascular disease. Though cheese consumption alone will not explain why Americans have higher rates of heart disease, there does seem to be a link.
Studies reported in 2000 and 2005 seem to indicate that cheddar, mozzarella, Swiss and American cheeses may help to prevent tooth decay. This may be because cheese contains high levels of calcium, which protects tooth enamel. Cheese also may increase saliva flow, which assists in washing away acids and sugars.
In 2005, the British Cheese Board conducted a study to determine the effect of cheese on sleep and dreaming. For two weeks, 200 subjects ate cheese before bed at night. The researchers concluded that cheese had a positive effect on the subjects’ sleep experience. This might be explained by the fact that cheese contains tryptophan, an amino acid that has been found to relieve stress and induce sleep.
The Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Australia, published a study in 2009 examining the effect of dietary cheese on weight loss. One group of subjects consumed three servings of cheese per day while another group consumed five per day. The researchers concluded that those who ate more cheese experienced a reduction in abdominal fat, lower blood pressure and lower blood sugar.
Earlier this year, British and Dutch researchers examined the diets of 16,800 healthy adults and 12,400 patients with Type II diabetes from eight European countries. Their findings were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Surprisingly, the researcher discovered that people who ate at least 55 g of cheese per day (about two slices) were 12 percent less likely to develop Type II diabetes.
This is great news to those of us who love cheese. We are now free to enjoy cheese in moderate amounts with the happy knowledge that it’s good for us.
Sadly, not everyone loves cheese. Notable author James Joyce, for example, says of cheese, “A corpse is meat gone bad. Well, and what’s cheese? Corpse of milk.” And it is true, some cheeses are too — exotic for most cheese lovers. Casu Marzu, for instance, is a Sardinian delicacy served wriggling and with live maggots. I’m really not sure how I’d feel about that.
But as we approach the holidays agonizing over which temptations to yield to, let’s keep in mind the sage advice of Jeremy Paxman, the noted British journalist. “The early bird may get the worm, but it’s the second mouse that gets the cheese.” I’m Hink and I’ll see ya.
MIKE HINKLE is an Edmond resident and retired attorney.
Opinion
Cheese — it's what's good for us
- Opinion
-
-
Don’t leave Oklahoma!
May is graduation season. As I have done every year as lieutenant governor, I have given multiple commencement speeches. Advice flows freely during this time and it usually runs the gamut. What to do, what not to do, how to do ‘x’, be sure not to do ‘y.’ Too often commencement speakers speak in big generalities. So general, the message is frequently lost or forgotten.
-
Last-minute funding proposals not in state’s best interest
All indications point to this being the last week of this year’s legislative session. The Legislature will go home a week early. This is good news for Oklahomans as not only will there be cost savings but all Oklahomans should breathe a sigh of relief when the Legislature stops making new laws a week ahead of schedule.
As usual, the Legislature will take a number of important votes during the last week. Some will be forced due to attempts to introduce and pass far-reaching, new policies that should have been introduced much earlier in the year. -
BY THE NUMBERS: Oklahoma still needs to invest in its economy
After six months of stagnation, the Oklahoma economy finally appears to be expanding again albeit still weakly. Unfortunately, our leaders aren’t making the investments we need to give our economic prospects a boost.
Last week the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services reported that in April state General Revenue fund collections were 5.2 percent above the estimate and 14.7 percent higher than last year’s collections. Under normal circumstances, such a report would indicate that the Oklahoma economy was very strong. But this isn’t a normal circumstance, and April isn’t a normal month. -
Americans deserve the truth on Benghazi
Lately, the media has been consumed by the controversies surrounding the White House. Among these controversies is the horrific terrorist attack on the United States’ diplomatic compound in Benghazi that took place Sept. 11, 2012. As more people come forward with additional information regarding the attack on the consulate, many Americans, including myself, are still asking for the truth.
The Obama Administration and the State Department have been less than forthcoming with key information on Benghazi and recent information points toward a major cover-up. -
Seizure of AP phone records insult to independent press
Distrust of government secrecy has been elevated to an exceptional level with the disclosure the Justice Department covertly examined two months of Associated Press phone records to determine who leaked details to the AP about a foiled terrorist plot.
-
HEY HINK: Some people just are not cut out for command
Recent headlines cause me to remember an incident that occurred on an army base some years ago. Warning here: I’m taking some liberties with names and details, but the basic outline of events is accurate.
A certain company commander, let’s call him Captain Duntz, had command of a motor pool on a large army base in the continental U.S. -
We’ve become our own worst enemies
The past couple months have been marked by a seeming unprecedented number of man-made tragedies, as distinct from those caused by violent outbursts of the natural world, such as earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis.
You don’t want to dwell too long on the negative, but we do have to take notice of horrific human events and we owe it to ourselves to respond to them in some way. We don’t always agree on those responses, however, and that usually exacerbates the problem. -
Let’s reimburse higher ed for remediation costs
The good news: Oklahoma schools are teaching phonics. The bad news: It’s in college.
Students at Tulsa Community College, for example, can take a college English course called “Spelling and Phonics,” which “helps students master basic spelling literacy, principles of phonics and decoding skills.”
This sort of higher education brings to mind former Boston University president John Silber’s quip: “Higher than what?” -
AGAINST THE GRAIN: Department of Commerce highlights Main Street successes
The 24th annual Oklahoma Main Street Awards Banquet was at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum last week. Oklahoma Department of Commerce Secretary Dave Lopez addressed the gathering, and spoke of how the Commerce Department works with Main Street organizations throughout the state that are working to improve their downtown areas. Lopez pointed out that the partnership between his department and those local organizations has brought new life to those communities and that the attendees would see some of that revitalization in a video presentation. Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin also addressed the gathering, and said the Main Street program has resulted in more than $1 billion in investments in the state and more than 1 million volunteer hours in its 24 years of operation.
-
OUR VIEW: Be Edmond needs your help
BMX star and local legend Mat Hoffman knows what’s it like to fall from great heights and find yourself at one of the worst low points in life. He also knows how to climb back up and tackle life’s problems head on.
- More Opinion Headlines
-
Don’t leave Oklahoma!
