Does melting cheese change the healthy quality of cheese? Is a melted cheese sandwich as healthy as a fresh cheese sandwich?
Melted cheese is just as nutritious as unmelted cheese. Current evidence shows that while heating cheese changes its structure, this doesn't impact it's nutritional quality or digestibility.
Last updated 15/03/2024
When you heat up cheese, it undergoes changes that make it softer and easier to melt.
These changes happen because heat removes the moisture and fat inside the cheese. The protein in the cheese also gets affected by the heat, which changes its structure and texture. However, these changes don't seem to change the nutritional quality of melted cheese or make it harder to digest.[1]
There haven't been many studies on how cooking cheese affects our health.[2] So, we need more good research to confirm that melted cheese is just as healthy as fresh cheese. But whether you eat melted cheese or fresh cheese, you're still getting important nutrients like calcium, protein, iodine, and vitamins A, B12, and K2. In fact, all types of cheese are a nutritious food and play an important role in a healthy diet, according to the Australian Dietary Guidelines.[3]
References
[1] Pastorino AJ, Dave RI, Oberg CJ, McMahon DJ. Temperature effect on structure-opacity relationships of nonfat mozzarella cheese. Journal of Dairy Science. 2002;85(9):2106-2113.
[2] Feeney EL, Lamichhane P and Sheehan JJ. The cheese matrix: Understanding the impact of cheese structure on aspects of cardiovascular health – A food science and a human nutrition perspective. International Journal of Dairy Technology. 2021;74(4):656-670.
[3] National Health and Medical Research Council. Australian Dietary Guidelines, Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia; 2013.
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