Cottage cheese is back and all over TikTok. Two dietitians explain why social media’s obsessed
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You might remember cottage cheese from your childhood. Back then, it was considered “diet food”. You ate it out of the tub, with celery or spread it on crackers for a low-calorie snack. Then cottage cheese went out of fashion.
But cottage cheese is having a resurgence. In recent months, Google searches for “cottage cheese” have risen to the highest levels since 2004.
Social media influencers have been promoting its benefits on TikTok and Instagram with hashtags such as #cottagecheese, #cottagecheeseforlife, and #cottagecheeserecipe. Sales of cottage cheese around the world have skyrocketed.
Let’s see why cottage cheese is having such a moment.
What is cottage cheese?
Cottage cheese is a fresh dairy cheese product with a mild flavour and a slightly tangy taste. It is made by curdling cow’s milk, then draining the whey, leaving behind the curds. These curds are usually small and lumpy, and the texture can vary from creamy to dry, depending on the amount of whey left in the cheese.
The term “cottage cheese” is said to have originated because the cheese was generally made in cottage-type houses from leftover milk, after making butter.
Cottage cheese is cheap, costing about A$12 per kilogram in the supermarket, similar to ricotta cheese.
It’s also surprisingly simple to make at home using freely available recipes. All you need is milk, salt and a splash of vinegar.
We’re using cottage cheese in new ways
It’s difficult to know what started the latest cottage cheese trend. But the creativity of social media means people are sharing alternative ways to use cottage cheese, changing people’s views from it being boring and lacking flavour to it being versatile and healthy.
People are spreading cottage cheese on toast and using it to make dishes such as porridge, dips, salads, bread and flatbreads. They’re using it in cakes and scones, and in desserts such as mousse and ice cream.
Is cottage cheese healthy?
Compared with other cheeses, cottage cheese is low in fat and therefore energy (kilojoules or kJ). This makes it a smart choice for people looking to cut down on their daily energy intake.
For example, 100 grams of cottage cheese contains about 556kJ. The same amount of cheddar contains 1,254kJ and parmesan 1,565kJ.
Many cheeses are rich in protein but they often contain higher amounts of kilojoules due to their fat content. But cottage cheese has substantial amounts of protein with fewer kilojoules.
This makes cottage cheese an ideal option for people aiming to maximise their protein intake without eating large amounts of kilojoules.
Some 100g of cottage cheese provides 17g protein. This is about the same found in three eggs, 60g chicken breast or 320 millilitres (about 300g) full-fat yoghurt.
Cottage cheese also contains high levels of vitamin B12 (important for healthy brain function), riboflavin (supports healthy skin and eyes), phosphorus (helps build strong bones and teeth) and folate (essential for cell growth).
However, cottage cheese is lower in calcium compared with other cheeses. It contains just 89 milligrams per 100g. This compares with parmesan (948mg), haloumi (620mg) and ricotta (170mg).
You’ve convinced me. How can I use cottage cheese?
Beyond its excellent nutrition profile, the resurgence of cottage cheese is enabling people to experiment in the kitchen. Its neutral flavour and varied textures – ranging from smooth to chunky – makes it suitable for a range of dishes, from sweet to savoury.
TikTok and Instagram have some great recipes. You could start with an old faithful recipe of celery and cottage cheese, and work your way towards new options such as cottage cheese ice cream.
The healthiest recipes will be those that combine cottage cheese with wholefoods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, and lean protein sources.
For instance, you can make a cottage cheese wrap then fill it with vegetables and a lean source of protein (such as chicken or fish).
Other combinations include cottage cheese salad dressings, vegetable dips and egg salads.
Cottage cheese’s rise in popularity is well deserved. Including more cottage cheese in your diet is a smart choice for getting a high dose of protein without adding processed ingredients or too much energy. Embrace the trend and get creative in the kitchen.
Lauren Ball, Professor of Community Health and Wellbeing, The University of Queensland and Emily Burch, Accredited Practising Dietitian and Lecturer, Southern Cross University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Almonds vs Pecans – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing almonds to pecans, we picked the almonds.
Why?
In terms of macros, almonds have more protein, carbs, and fiber, as well as the lower glycemic index. A strong start for almonds here, though pecans have more fat (and the healthy blend of fats is quite comparable from one nut to the other).
In the category of vitamins, almonds have more of vitamins B2, B3, B9, E, and choline, while pecans have more of vitamins A, B1, B5, B6, and K. Numerically that’s a tie, though the biggest margins of difference are for vitamins A and E, respectively, and we might want to prioritize almonds’ extra vitamin E, over pecans’ extra vitamin A, given that vitamin A is more easily found in large quantities in many foods, whereas vitamin E is not quite so abundant generally. So in short, either a tie or a slight win for almonds here.
When it comes to minerals, both contain a lot of goodness, but almonds have more calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and selenium, while pecans have more copper, manganese, and zinc. A clear win for almonds, though as we say, pecans are also great for this, just not as great as almonds.
As a side-note, both of these nuts have been found to have anticancer properties against breast cancer cell lines. In all likelihood this means they help against other cancers too, but breast cancer is what the extant research has been for.
So, naturally, enjoy either or both (in fact, both is ideal). But if you want to choose one for nutritional density, it’s almonds.
Want to learn more?
You might like to read:
Why You Should Diversify Your Nuts
Take care!
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Unfuck Your Brain – by Dr. Faith Harper
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This book takes a trauma-informed care approach, which is relatively novel in the mental health field and it’s quickly becoming the industry standard because of its effectiveness.
The basic premise of trauma-informed care is that you had a bad experience (possibly even more than one—what a thought!) and that things that remind you of that will tend to prompt reactivity from you in a way that probably isn’t healthy. By identifying each part of that process, we can then interrupt it, much like we might with CBT (the main difference being that CBT, for all its effectiveness, tends to assume that the things that are bothering you are not true, while TIC acknowledges that they might well be, and that especially historically, they probably were).
A word of warning: if something that triggers a trauma-based reactivity response in you is people swearing, then this book will either cure you by exposure therapy or leave you a nervous wreck, because it’s not just the title; Dr. Harper barely gets through a sentence without swearing. It’s a lot, even by this (European) reviewer’s standards (we’re a lot more relaxed about swearing over here, than people tend to be in America).
On the other hand, something that Dr. Harper excels at is actually explaining stuff very well. So while it sometimes seems like she’s “trying too hard” style-wise in terms of being “not like other therapists”, in her defence she’s nevertheless a very good writer; she knows her stuff, and knows how to communicate it clearly.
Bottom line: if you don’t mind a writer who swears more than 99% of soldiers, then this book is an excellent how-to guide for self-administered trauma-informed care.
Click here to check out Unfuck Your Brain, and indeed unfuck it!
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Behavioral Activation Against Depression & Anxiety
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Behavioral Activation Against Depression & Anxiety
Psychologists do love making fancy new names for things.
You thought you were merely “eating your breakfast”, but now it’s “Happiness-Oriented Basic Behavioral Intervention Therapy (HOBBIT)” or something.
This one’s quite simple, so we’ll keep it short for today, but it is one more tool for your toolbox:
What is Behavioral Activation?
Behavioral Activation is about improving our mood (something we can’t directly choose) by changing our behavior (something we usually can directly choose).
An oversimplified (and insufficient, as we will explain, but we’ll use this one to get us started) example would be “whistle a happy tune and you will be happy”.
Behavioral Activation is not a silver bullet
Or if it is, then it’s the kind you have to keep shooting, because one shot is not enough. However, this becomes easier than you might think, because Behavioral Activation works by…
Creating a Positive Feedback Loop
A lot of internal problems in depression and anxiety are created by the fact that necessary and otherwise desirable activities are being written off by the brain as:
- Pointless (depression)
- Dangerous (anxiety)
The inaction that results from these aversions creates a negative feedback loop as one’s life gradually declines (as does one’s energy, and interest in life), or as the outside world seems more and more unwelcoming/scary.
Instead, Behavioral Activation plans activities (usually with the help of a therapist, as depressed/anxious people are not the most inclined to plan activities) that will be:
- attainable
- rewarding
The first part is important, because the maximum of what is “attainable” to a depressed/anxious person can often be quite a small thing. So, small goals are ideal at first.
The second part is important, because there needs to be some way of jump-starting a healthier dopamine cycle. It also has to feel rewarding during/after doing it, not next year, so short term plans are ideal at first.
So, what behavior should we do?
That depends on you. Behavioral Activation calls for keeping track of our activities (bullet-journaling is fine, and there are apps* that can help you, too) and corresponding moods.
*This writer uses the pragmatic Daylio for its nice statistical analyses of bullet-journaling data-points, and the very cute Finch for more keyword-oriented insights and suggestions. Whatever works for you, works for you, though! It could even be paper and pen.
Sometimes the very thought of an activity fills us with dread, but the actual execution of it brings us relief. Bullet-journaling can track that sort of thing, and inform decisions about “what we should do” going forwards.
Want a ready-made brainstorm to jump-start your creativity?
Here’s list of activities suggested by TherapistAid (a resource hub for therapists)
Want to know more?
You might like:
- How To Use Behavioral Activation (guide for end users)
- Treatment Guide: Behavioral Activation (guide for clinicians)
Take care!
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Exercises for Sciatica Pain Relief
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Jessica Valant is a physiotherapist and Pilates teacher, and today she’s going to demonstrate some exercise that relieve (and also correct the cause of) sciatica pain.
Back to good health
You will need a large strap for one of these exercises; a Pilates strap is great, but you can also use a towel. The exercises are:
Pelvic Rocking Exercise:
- Lie on your back, feet flat, knees bent.
- Gently rock your pelvis forwards and backwards (50% effort, no glute squeezing).
Leg Stretch with Strap:
- Straighten your left leg and loop the strap around the ball of your right foot.
- Gently straighten and bend your right leg while holding the strap.
- Perform a “nerve glide” by flexing and pointing your foot (not a stretch, just gentle movement).
- Repeat on the left leg.
Piriformis Stretch:
- Bend your right knee and place your left ankle over it (figure-four position).
- For a deeper stretch, hold your right thigh and pull your legs inwards.
Lower Back Release:
- Let your legs fall gently to one side after stretching each leg, opening the lower back.
Back Extension:
- Lie on your belly, placing your elbows down, palms flat.
- Optional: push up slightly into a back bend if it feels comfortable.
Seated Stretching:
- Finish by sitting cross-legged or on a chair.
- Inhale while raising your arms up, exhale while lowering them down, then reach sideways with your arms to stretch.
- Perform gentle neck stretches by tilting your ear to your shoulder on each side.
She recommends doing these exercises daily for at least a few weeks, though you should start to see improvement in your symptoms immediately. Nothing here should cause a problem or make things worse, but if it does, stop immediately and consult a local physiotherapist for more personalized advice.
For more on all of this, plus visual demonstrations, enjoy:
Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!
Want to learn more?
You might also like to read:
6 Ways To Look After Your Back
Take care!
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Alzheimer’s Sex Differences May Not Be What They Appear
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Alzheimer’s Sex Differences May Not Be What They Appear
Women get Alzheimer’s at nearly twice the rate than men do, and deteriorate more rapidly after onset, too.
So… Why?
There are many potential things to look at, but four stand out for quick analysis:
- Chromosomes: women usually have XX chromosomes, to men’s usual XY. There are outliers to both groups, people with non-standard combinations of chromosomes, but not commonly enough to throw out the stats.
- Hormones: women usually have high estrogen and low testosterone, compared to men. Again there are outliers and this is a huge oversimplification that doesn’t even look at other sex hormones, but broadly speaking (which sounds vague, but is actually what is represented in epidemiological studies), it will be so.
- Anatomy: humans have some obvious sexual dimorphism (again, there are outliers, but again, not enough to throw out the stats); this seems least likely to be relevant (Alzheimer’s is probably not stored in the breasts, for examples), though average body composition (per muscle:fat ratio) could admittedly be a factor.
- Social/lifestyle: once again, #NotAllWomen etc, but broadly speaking, women and men often tend towards different social roles in some ways, and as we know, of course lifestyle can play a part in disease pathogenesis.
As a quick aside before we continue, if you’re curious about those outliers, then a wiki-walk into the fascinating world of intersex conditions, for example, could start here. But by and large, this won’t affect most people.
So… Which parts matter?
Back in 2018, Dr. Maria Teresa Ferretti et al. kicked up some rocks in this regard, looking not just at genes (as much research has focussed on) or amyloid-β (again, well-studied) but also at phenotypes and metabolic and social factors—bearing in mind that all three of those are heavily influenced by hormones. Noting, for example, that (we’ll quote directly here):
- Men and women with Alzheimer disease (AD) exhibit different cognitive and psychiatric symptoms, and women show faster cognitive decline after diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or AD dementia.
- Brain atrophy rates and patterns differ along the AD continuum between the sexes; in MCI, brain atrophy is faster in women than in men.
- The prevalence and effects of cerebrovascular, metabolic and socio-economic risk factors for AD are different between men and women.
See: Sex differences in Alzheimer disease—the gateway to precision medicine
So, have scientists controlled for each of those factors?
Mostly not! But they have found clues, anyway, while noting the limitations of the previous way of conducting studies. For example:
❝Women are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease and experience faster cognitive decline compared to their male counterparts. These sex differences should be accounted for when designing medications and conducting clinical trials❞
~ Dr. Feixiong Cheng
Read: Research finds sex differences in immune response and metabolism drive Alzheimer’s disease
Did you spot the clue?
It was “differences in immune response and metabolism”. These things are both influenced by (not outright regulated by, but strongly influenced by) sex hormones.
❝As [hormonal] sex influences both the immune system and metabolic process, our study aimed to identify how all of these individual factors influence one another to contribute to Alzheimer’s disease❞
~ Dr. Justin Lathia
Ignoring for a moment progesterone’s role in metabolism, estrogen is an immunostimulant and testosterone is an immunosuppressant. These thus both also have an effect in inflammation, which yes, includes neuroinflammation.
But wait a minute, shouldn’t that mean that women are more protected, not less?
It should! Except… Alzheimer’s is an age-related disease, and in the age-bracket that generally gets Alzheimer’s (again, there are outliers), menopause has been done and dusted for quite a while.
Which means, and this is critical: post-menopausal women not on HRT are essentially left without the immune boost usually directed by estrogen, while men of the same age will be ticking over with their physiology that (unlike that of the aforementioned women) was already adapted to function with negligible estrogen.
Specifically:
❝The metabolic consequences of estrogen decline during menopause accelerate neuropathology in women❞
~ Dr. Rasha Saleh
Critical idea to take away from all this:
Alzheimer’s research is going to be misleading if it doesn’t take into account sex differences, and not just that, but also specifically age-relevant sex differences—because that can flip the narrative. If we don’t take age into account, we could be left thinking estrogen is to blame, when in fact, it appears to be the opposite.
In the meantime, if you’re a woman of a certain age, you might talk with a doctor about whether HRT could be beneficial for you, if you haven’t already:
❝Women at genetic risk for AD (carrying at least one APOE e4 allele) seem to be particularly benefiting from MHT❞
(MHT = Menopausal Hormone Therapy; also commonly called HRT, which is the umbrella term for Hormone Replacement Therapies in general)
~ Dr. Herman Depypere
Source study: Menopause hormone therapy significantly alters pathophysiological biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease
Pop-sci press release version: HRT could ward off Alzheimer’s among at-risk women
Take care!
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Gravitas – by Caroline Goyder
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A no-nonsense guide to (more than!) public speaking that isn’t just “tell jokes in your speech and imagine the audience naked”.
Because this isn’t just about speech-writing or speech delivery, so much as giving you important life skills. The kind that weren’t taught in school, but that nevertheless make a huge impact on success… whether you’re giving a presentation or hosting a party or negotiating a deal or just attending a social event. Or making a phonecall, even.
Whereas a lot of books of this kind treat “the audience” as a nebulous and purely responsive passive crowd of extras, Goyder does better. People are individuals, even if they’re all facing the same way for a moment. She works with that! She also teaches how to deal with not just hecklers, but also simply those people who sap your confidence and find fault with you and anything you do or say.b
Bottom line is: if you for whatever reason communicate with people, and would like them to think better of you, this is the book for you.
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