Cheese

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Forwarded for Sandi:

 

Cheese

 

Very few things are sacrosanct in this day, and cheese must now be classed

among those things that have lost their halo. Cheese has been used for at

least 4,000 years, and has been widely acclaimed as a healthful food. Some

have claimed unusual hardiness and advanced old age for cheese users. Only

recently has it been learned that cheese is not the wonder food that many

had thought. There may be real dangers in its use.

 

All dairy products have become more suspect recently, from the association

of the saturated fat of milk with the elevation of the blood cholesterol, to

the transmission of many animal diseases to man through dairy products. Most

of the diseases transmitted from animals are of a minor nature, resembling

colds, flu, streptococcal sore throat, and other infections, but some

diseases are life-threatening.

 

A battle is still going on with brucellosis, a disease contracted from milk

which threatens the quality of life for many years, giving a chronic low

grade fever and below par performance to the afflicted person. Between 1883

and 1947, there were 59 epidemics caused by cheese, with 117 deaths in the

U. S. alone.

 

Now, cheese is under special attack, not because of infectious diseases

which it shares with all dairy products, but because of its basic chemistry.

Cheese is made by the action of waste products from molds and bacteria on

milk. Most foods contaminated with molds and bacteria produce such an

unpleasant flavor that few people care to eat them. Generally, an unpleasant

flavor in food heralds danger, and apparently this principle holds true for

cheese, since most children naturally reject their first taste of cheese and

must be taught to accept it.

 

Changes which occur in cheese during the fermenting and " ripening " process

include the production of a toxic alkaloid called roquefortine (as in

Roquefort dressing), a neurotoxin which can cause mice to have convulsive

seizures. All blue cheeses probably contain roquefortine. The alkaloid is

produced by the mold Penicillium roqueforti. The alkaloids are all toxic and

include such widely differing poisons as coniine, one of the major volatile

alkaloids found in the poison hemlock plant from which Socrates met his

Waterloo; to caffeine, the major alkaloid in coffee, tea, colas, and

chocolate.

 

Another class of toxic substances includes the toxic amines. Any fermented

food or beverage may contain toxic amines. They can produce changes in the

nervous system which bring on headaches, palpitations, high blood pressure,

migraines, and other known disorders which occur at a cellular level.

 

Several toxic and nontoxic amines are produced during the fermentation of

milk, tyramine being among them, the amine causing migraine headaches. The

only cheeses containing tyramine in insignificant amounts are creamed

cheese, ricotta cheese, and cottage cheese. Some other foods containing

tyramine are chocolate, herring, yeast, broad beans, chicken livers, ripened

sausages (bologna, summer sausages, salami, pepperoni, etc.), meat extracts,

and alcoholic beverages. If a human follows his natural taste he will avoid

anything that has the faintest taint of spoilage about it.

 

Milk, produced by glands that are actually modified sweat glands, is

naturally high in salt. Cheese shares in this high salt content. A high salt

intake increases one's likelihood of having high blood pressure.

 

The rennet for the curdling process in cheesemaking is commonly obtained

from the stomachs of calves. A combination of rennin and pepsin is sometimes

used, or plant enzymes derived from fungus. Pepsin is obtained principally

from fresh hog stomachs.

Many processed cheeses have preservatives, emulsifying agents, and other

chemicals added to them, that can have a harmful effect on the body. The

putrefactive process through which milk goes to produce cheese reduces the

vitamin content. Cheese is almost completely devoid of water soluble

vitamins. Losses of both vitamins and minerals occur with the loss of whey.

 

Undesirable chemicals are produced by cheesemaking that involve all three

major constituents of cheese: fats, carbohydrates, and proteins. The fat in

cheese is hydrolyzed to irritating fatty acids, butyric, caproic, caprylic

and longer carbon-chain fatty acids. The carbohydrate of milk, mainly

lactose is converted to lactic acid by putrefaction. The protein is

fermented to peptides, amines, indoles, skatole, and ammonia, several of

these being implicated in the production of cancer. The possibility of

production of nitrosamine, one of the most powerful cancer producing agents

known, is particularly disturbing. Both the nervous system and the

gastrointestinal tract are irritated by certain of these substances, causing

the individual to be irritable and cranky.

 

Of course, cheese also presents the usual drawbacks of milk such as

allergies, lactose intolerance, food sensitivities, and high calorie

content. Cheese contains a goodly quantity of the amino acid tryptophane,

which causes after-meal drowsiness and inability to concentrate.

 

Certain imported cheeses have been discovered as culprits in outbreaks of

food-borne gastroenteritis in the United States. As many as 120

disease -producing germs have been isolated per gram of cheese; that would

be 600 germs in a teaspoon of cheese! We can say from the foregoing, that

some foods generally thought to be wholesome are actually injurious to the

health.

 

Other foods that develop a specific flavor through the activity of bacteria

include sauerkraut, vinegar, pickles, butter, buttermilk, and cultured milk.

The holes in Swiss cheese come from the action of gas forming bacilli,

similar to those which form gas in the bowel.

 

For those who would like a cheese substitute, two very nice ones have been

added below. There are many other good and safe alternative cheese recipes.

Cheeses you can slice, cheeses you can dip, cheeses you can use as a spread,

cheeses you can pour as a sauce. It won't take long before you have a whole

collection of good recipes and are more than satisfied with these new,

healthier alternatives.

 

SLICING CHEESE

1 C cool water 1/3 C Emes Unflavored Gelatin*

11/4 C boiling water 2 C raw cashews or almonds

1/2 C yeast flakes I TBL salt

2 tsp onion powder 1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 C lemon juice 1/3 C pimento

 

SOAK gelatin in the I C cool water in blender while ASSEMBLING remaining

ingredients. POUR boiling water over soaked gelatin and WHIZ briefly to

dissolve. ADD cashews and LIQUEFY thoroughly. ADD remaining ingredients.

BLEND until creamy and smooth. POUR into a I quart mold (bread pan works

well), COOL slightly. COVER before refrigerating. REFRIGERATE overnight.

After firming in refrigerator, this cheese may be frozen until needed. *Do

not substitute agar flakes for gelatin.

 

MELTY CHEESE

 

11/2 C hot water 2 TBL unbleached flour

3/4 C cashews 1/4 C pimentos

3'/3 TBL sesame seeds 1/3 C Brewer's yeast flakes (opt.)

I tsp salt I TBL lemon juice

2 tsp onion powder 1/8 tsp garlic powder

 

BLEND all but lemon juice. BRING to boil while stirring constantly; BOIL for

2-3 minutes. REMOVE from heat and ADD lemon juice.