Cottage cheese in a diet – a review

Abstract

Purpose Cottage is a protein-rich food which is commonly consumed by people targeting weight reduction and athletes willing to eat whole-food instead of protein supplements. Yet out of common knowledge, the scientific community lacks solid evidences of the effect of the inclusion of cottage cheese in a diet. The purpose of this paper is to assess the evidences from scientific literature of the impact of inclusion of cottage cheese in a diet. Design/methodology/approach PubMed and Web of Science were searched for scientific literature dealing with “cottage cheese” and “diet.” There was no restriction regarding the type article type, date nor journal it is published in. References found to during the analysis of the articles extracted from database were also included. Studies search, screening and eligibility analysis were led in parallel by two independent reviewers. Findings This survey shows that cottage cheese is a good source of calcium (with 83 mg/100 g) – but not low fat cottage cheese because of its low vitamin S content (p < 0.001) –, a source of probiotic (1 serving providing the recommended dietary intake), a source of high quality proteins, reduces postprandial blood glucose level – healthy and type II diabetes subjects – (p < 0.05), is not linked to increased cardiovascular diseases nor cancer risks (p < 0.05). Originality/value Based on the findings reported in this review, the inclusion of cottage cheese in a diet can be advised for: women to build up calcium storage to fight osteoporosis; more generally calcium/vitamin D deficient subjects; athletes willing to increase their high-quality proteins intake through whole food consumption; dieters looking for low energy, high protein, high satiety food; untreated type II diabetes patients by reducing postprandial glucose level.