We consume too much salt, sometimes even without realizing it, because it lurks in processed foods, the bread and… cheese. The WHO recommends reducing sodium intake to less than 2 grams per day (or 5 grams of salt) in order to reduce blood pressure and therefore the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke and coronary heart disease in adults.
People suffering fromhypertension must be particularly vigilant. However, is this a reason to completely deprive them of the food that makes our national pride? No, because while all cheeses contain salt to ensure their preservation, they do not all contain it in the same amount. It is enough to know those which have a lower salt content to indulge yourself a little pleasure at the end of the meal without feeling guilty.
The English medical journal BMJ has just published a study by a British group (Consensus Action on Salt and Health) whose objective is to encourage manufacturers to reduce the amount of salt in prepared meals. For their latest study, the group looked at the salt content of 23 cheeses.
Results? The 5 most salty cheeses to consume very occasionally are:
– Halloumi: a Cypriot goat cheese that can be eaten grilled in a salad or on a skewer. It contains around 3% salt.
– Blue-veined Roquefort or Bleu d’Auvergne cheeses which are about twice as salty as the average cheese.
– Feta: this Greek cheese that we love to eat in a salad in summer contains 1500 mg of salt per 100 g of cheese.
– Processed cheese (such as Ficello or Toast for Burger) is a type of cheese that is not widely consumed in France but which is widely used in the United States and the United Kingdom.
– Edam: the famous Dutch cheese recognizable by its red paraffin film which contains 2300 mg of salt in 100 g of cheese.
On the other hand, we can have more pleasure with:
– Wensleydale: a blue cheese produced in Wensleydale, a valley in North Yorkshire in England.
– Emmental: This hard Swiss cheese is a delight to bite into on its own or to grate in pasta. And in addition it contains only 0.5 g of salt for 100 g of cheese.
– Mozzarella: this classic of Italian gastronomy is a delight on pizzas or in caprese with tomatoes.
– The cream cheese (Philadelphia type) that we love to spread or that we use in cheese-cakes contains only 1 g of salt per 100 g.
– Cottage cheese made from curd also contains little salt compared to other cheeses.
Lovers of Italian cheeses can rejoice because ricotta and Parmesan are also “tolerable” cheeses for their salt content.
Do not remove cheese from your diet
Even though the cheese is a relatively caloric food and rich in salt, it should not be removed from your diet, the key is to choose it well. Because cheese is also a food rich in calcium and potassium which, thanks to its appetite suppressant effect, helps control calorie intake throughout the day. In addition, it would allow fight diabetes.
To choose the right cheese, it is important to know how to read the labels. Salt (sea or rock) is sodium chloride. Sodium content is most often mentioned on the labels of packaged foods. To get the salt content, multiply this number by 2.4. Thus a product which contains 500 mg of sodium (per 100g), provides 1.2 g of salt.
