Regarding the Cottage Cheese Diet as a general rule, it is important to remember that eating only one type of food or mostly one type of food is not a wise and sound way to lose weight. There are lots of diets out there claiming miracle foods, but for the most part, those diets are probably trying to tap into the wallets of folks who happen to love whatever particular supposedly “amazing” food is being touted.

For peanut butter lovers, there is the Amazing Peanut Butter Diet. For lemonade lovers, there is the Lemonade diet. For meat lovers, there is the Atkins Diet. For sweet lovers, there is The Cookie Diet. The list goes on and on…

And now, some folks are claiming the miraculous “cottage cheese diet” is the best thing in the world for losing weight; one beauty pageant contestant springs to mind immediately! (Though for many the terms ‘beauty pageant’ and ‘credulity’ are unlikely to appear related!) Regardless of what the source of the cottage cheese claims says, eating one kind of food most of the time is not the way to go.
I mean who wants to constantly eat only grapefruit or drink solely lemonade? And just how boring is cottage cheese the fifteenth time you spoon it in? (Or even the third time!) I ask you does that seem any way to live and enjoy the abundance God gave us? I think not.

All that being said, though, the cottage cheese diet does have some merits in a way.  It is fair to suggest that as far as many products off the supermarket shelves go cottage cheese is relatively “good” for you, in that it can be low or VERY low in fat and is a source of protein. Naturally even the dairy industry is now claiming that dairy products really can help people lose weight.  So, incorporating dairy into your diet, including cottage cheese, may well be OK…if you are NOT dairy intolerant. Of course there are numerous sources that suggest that you should simply remove all dairy products from your diet altogether for various equally apparently sound reasons – so we need to keep a balanced view over these matters.

But if you like cottage cheese and want to try the cottage cheese diet in the short term to gauge its effects then here are a few pointers: firstly a ‘typical’ serving of ’standard’ cottage cheese has only about 160 calories. This particular brand is made using 1% milk. That is not a lot of calories. My little jar also explains to me that my cottage cheese has twenty-eight (28) grams of protein. That’s a lot of protein relative to size of portion, and proteinaceous foods should arguably be regularly available in the diet (although this is also not the ’simple’ matter many partially informed ‘diet sources’ would have us believe!).

Doctors and dietary experts are fond of suggesting saying you should eat “lean protein?” Well, 160 calories and 28 grams of protein sounds like a lean source protein

Given its mild and rather bland flavor cottage cheese is certainly versatile. You can top it with some berries or peaches for a quick dessert or afternoon snack. That is obviously better than raiding the office vending machine for a chocolate bar. A cottage cheese diet could also suggest that you put a spoonful atop some fresh or lightly cooked greens and veggies for a little added protein with your garden salad.

You can also experiment with jazzing up your milk curds (for that is what cottage cheese actually is precipitated out of the milk then with the bulk of the liquid portion – the whey – removed or squeezed out). Do you love apple pie use cottage cheese instead of succumbing to fat-rich cream? Why not throw a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg in your cottage cheese for a healthier spiced version?  Do you enjoy fruit smoothies – cottage cheese can give a creamy effect without adding the fat of cream or milk? Just try throwing some strawberries, a banana, a dash of water or milk, and some cottage cheese in your blender. You will get a creamy consistency to your drink, and it will be absolutely delicious.

Finding interesting ways to add healthy items into your daily eating is the best way to get great nutrition, and the best way to employ the cottage cheese diet of all is by using it to replace higher-fat and higher-calorie foods with cottage cheese once in a while – not by solely eating the bland cheese in place of all else.

Phil