https://theconversation.com/vegan-cheese-what-you-should-know-184764
"For many people who go vegan, one of the hardest things to give up is cheese.
Fortunately, thanks to the increasing popularity of veganism, food
manufacturers have begun producing a greater variety of vegan cheeses – with
some success in replicating everything people love most about cheese, including
its texture and taste. However, not all vegan cheeses are equal – and many have
little nutritional value.
People who buy vegan cheese may expect it to be as nutritious as dairy cheese.
But because many manufacturers are focused on making the cheese taste, look and
even melt like dairy cheese, this is rarely the case. The main ingredients in
many vegan cheeses are starch and vegetable oils – usually coconut oil, or
sometimes palm oil.
Starch and oil may give vegan cheeses their texture, but they are of little
nutritional value. For instance, when we eat starch, it is broken down in our
gut into sugar. Over time, too much starch could potentially lead to weight
gain or diseases such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
The vegetable oils in vegan cheese are even worse. Coconut oil is composed
almost entirely of saturated fats. Some types of saturated fat raise blood
levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol, which can increase the risk of heart disease.
This is the case with lauric acid, the main type of saturated fat in coconut
oil. Despite some claims online that coconut is healthy, lauric acid
significantly increases the levels of LDL cholesterol. It also increases the
risk of coronary heart disease. Because of the high levels of coconut oil in
some vegan cheeses, even a modest-sized portion (30g) is around a third of a
person’s total recommended daily allowance for saturated fat.
Palm oil, found in some vegan cheeses, fares little better as an alternative
ingredient. About half of the fat in palm oil is saturated fat – mostly a type
of saturated fat called palmitic acid. Like lauric acid, this also increases
the risk of coronary heart disease. And although some manufacturers claim to
use “sustainable” palm oil, it’s uncertain how sustainable these products
actually are."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
