Cheese enhances better memory, prevents obesity, diabetes

There are many sources of protein for healthy growth and development. Just as protein can be gotten from milk, beans, chicken, etc., cheese consumption, which is a cheaper source of protein, can also ward off certain diseases apart from enhancing brain development in children, writes Seye Adeniyi.

GOD said: “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.” But many of us do not know what to eat and some of us who know what to eat do not know how to prepare or cook them and the right quantity as well as appropriate time to eat such food.

Also, there are some foods which should not be eaten too often because of our health, while there are some which must be present on our table everytime. Likewise, there are some which are needed for proper functioning of certain vital organs in the body and one of such categories of food is protein. We can get good amount of protein needed by our body in foods like fish, meat and leguminous foods like beans. However, many of us depend on foods like milk and chicken for our supply of protein.

Children, especially growing infants, depend so much on milk for rapid growth and development and that is why every nursing mother must make sure that her baby is well breast fed for at least the first six months to one year of life. This will help the baby to develop strong body immunities against infectious diseases, amongst other important reasons and benefits.
Apart from milk and other proteinous foods which we must regularly give to children for their total well-being, parents are also advised to make sure that their children are treated to the regular consumption of cheese, a food that is rich in protein, but which many people are not aware of. Apart from the fact that cheese is very cheap and commonly available, regular consumption of it has also been linked to the prevention of certain childhood diseases. It also prevents obesity and diabetes in both children and adults.

Even nutritionists and dieticians who spoke with Your Health on the many benefits of regular consumption of cheese attested to the fact that this animal- milk by-product should form part of children’s diet, especially after weaning, while adults should also make this highly rich and cheap proteinous food their delight and favourite. One nutritionist who encouraged Nigerians to regularly eat cheese is Tunde Ajobo, a dietician at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State.

Though he buttressed his assertion and advice with many nutritional facts on why cheese should be part of our regular diets, he however cautioned that only hygienically prepared cheese should be eaten, adding that since animal milk used in preparing cheese, it is prone to attacks from micro-organism. Cheese should be purchased from sellers that are hygienic and who have better storage facilities in order to prevent gastro-intestinal infections which occur if cheese is poorly handled or processed.

On why he issued out the warning, the dietician explained that some cheese makers are in the habit of using Alum-potash commonly referred to as Kanun among the Yoruba to prepare cheese, especially when cunning the animal milk, a production practice he outrightly condemned.

Ajobo stated that people should be informed that cheese is highly proteinous and that it contains vitamin A (retinol), which is required for good sight in children.

Cheese can also be easily got from the Hausa-Fulani, the bororos as well as among the Yoruba who called it wara. Wara as cheese is better called for easy description from the Yoruba or Nono in Hausa, is said to help the skin to maintain its smoothness and softness.

Cheese consumption is also needed for the mucous membranes lining the nose, throat and bronchial tubes, as well as to enhance proper digestion. It also helps the bladder, kidney and pelvic organs to perform their duties efficiently and effectively.

For children with rough skin, bad sight and whose eyebrows are thin and whose hair looks very brittle, they can benefit and correct these defects by regularly consuming cheese.

Also children who are having weak bones can also benefit from cheese as its regular consumption can facilitate sturdy, strong bones that will enhance proper movement.

The dietician however emphasised that there is no single food that can work or benefit the body in isolation. He encouraged parents to make sure that they combine foods together and do away with the belief that it is only one type of food that will improve the nutritional status of their children and make them healthy.

“There should be adequate amount of carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables, fat, minerals as well as good amounts of protein in a meal before anybody, including growing children, can benefit from such a meal. There are some components in carbohydrate foods that are neeeded by protein, fats, vitamins, etc as co-factors before what is beneficial in protein can be conveyed to the body organs for good growth and development and before a food can be said to adequate for it to contribute to good health”, he explained.

Meanwhile, scientists and nutritionists in Germany have corroborated Ajobo’s position in a recent report. The scientist in their latest study on cheese corroborated the ascertion that cheese is highly nutritionious, advising parents to make sure that it is regularly given to growing children, especially school children for better memory, intelligence quotients (IQ) as well as for good academic performance and better sight .

Cheese, according to these scientists, has been found to be the ideal meal for children to start the day, and it is even better than cereals or eggs, or other traditional meals or food.

Cheese, especially if combined with foods like ham, the scientists said, has significant impact on memory, work rate and attention levels in school children if taken as breakfast before going to school.

The scientists’ analysis was based on the glycaemic load (GL) of the different breakfast which measures the rate at which carbohydrates release glucose into the blood streams.

Sugary foods such as cornflakes with two spoonfuls of sugar, accompanied by a waffle and maple syrup for example, had a high glycaemic load (GL) and led to a slump in children’s performance by late morning.

Scrambled egg, bread and jam, accompanied by a yoghurt, the study revealed, had a medium glycaemic laod (GL) score while ham and cheese, accompanied by a low fat spread on wholegrain bread, scored best with a low glycaemic laod (GL).

David Benton, a professor of psychology at the Swansea University in Wales, led the research on cheese consumption and its effect on memory of school children. He carried out the test on children between the ages of six and seven.

“Its due to the glucose release of the breakfast into the bloodstream. The slower the release, the better the pupils peformed, cheese consumption also gives pupils better memory. It should also be emphasised that the same principles apply to adults as well,” he said.

Professor Benton’s team studied pupils who attended a breakfast club for four weeks, eating breakfasts that had high, medium and low glycaemic load (GL) but the same number of calories.

After breakfast, hidden cameras filmed the pupils as they got on with reading, writing and arithmetic. The study found that pupils who ate the high glycaemic load breakfast were prone to be disruptive, concentrated less on their work and were much more fidgety than those who had the low glycaemic load breakfast like cheese.

Professor Benton and the other researchers who did the study however concluded by saying that a low glyceamic load breakfast like cheese helped in curbing obesity and diabetes by discouraging snacking.

Children, it was further advised, should be given more of cheese rather than allowing them to be eating junks, refined foods or snacks, which often stimulate obesity and aggravates diabetes in adults.