How Different Are the Milks?
One of the most important things to remember about the nutritional quality of cheese is that it is a concentrated form of milk. Milk contains water, sugar, protein, fat, vitamins, and minerals, and when cheese is made, most of the water and sugar are drained off, leaving a concentrated block of protein, fat, vitamins, and minerals. Think of it as a small energy bar.
The nutritional composition of cheese, that is, the percentages of protein, fat, vitamins, and minerals, depends partly on what type of milk is used, and partly on how the cheese is made. Before you think about nutrition and cheese-making methodology, take a look at the concentrations of protein, fat, and vitamins in different cow, goat, and sheep milks.
Protein
Sheep's milk has the highest concentration of protein, about 5 to 6 percent, and delivers the most protein per ounce of cheese. Goat's milk comes in next, around 3 to 3.5 percent, followed by cow's milk, which is about 3 to 4 percent protein.
Fat
Sheep's milk, at 6 percent, also has the highest concentration of fat, followed by cow's milk at 3 to 5 percent, and then goat's milk at 3 to 4 percent. Interestingly, different breeds of sheep, cows, and goats have significantly different levels of fat in their milk.
Jersey cows, for instance, have more fat than Holstein cows, and Nubian goats have the most milkfat of all the goats, followed by La Mancha goats. Many cheese makers combine the milks of several breeds for their cheeses to take advantage of the different concentrations of fats.
One cup of whole cow's milk has 8 grams of fat, 2 percent milk has 4.7 grams, 1 percent milk has 2.6 grams, and skim milk has no fat at all. Even if you drink 1 cup of whole milk, you are getting less fat than if you ate an ounce of almonds.
Vitamins
The recommended adult allowance of calcium is 1,000 milligrams per day. Take a look at the calcium provided by 1.5 ounces of the following cheeses: feta, 210 mg; mozzarella, 215 mg; blue, 225 mg; Muenster, 305 mg; provolone, 321 mg; Swiss, 336 mg; and Parmigiano-Reggiano, 450 mg.
As with protein and fat, the highest concentrations of vitamins are found in sheep's-milk cheese, followed by goat's milk, and then cow's milk.
