{"id":22281,"date":"2023-01-07T19:00:01","date_gmt":"2023-01-07T18:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sciencefocus.com\/?p=132491"},"modified":"2023-01-07T20:35:14","modified_gmt":"2023-01-07T19:35:14","slug":"the-matrix-effect-the-surprising-science-of-how-cheese-impacts-your-heart-health","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/rss_feed\/the-matrix-effect-the-surprising-science-of-how-cheese-impacts-your-heart-health\/","title":{"rendered":"The matrix effect: The surprising science of how cheese impacts your heart health"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"rssexcerpt\"><\/p><p class=\"rssauthor\">By Dr Emma Davies\n                \t\t<\/p><p class=\"rssbyline\">Published: Saturday, 07 January 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p><hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/><?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\" standalone=\"yes\"?>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><body> <p>Cheese is packed with healthy protein and calcium but is also high in saturated fat and salt. According to the British Heart Foundation, a 30g portion of Cheddar can contain more salt than a packet of crisps.<\/p>\n<p>High levels of saturated fat generally drive up <a href=\"&quot;https:\/\/www.sciencefocus.com\/the-human-body\/how-can-i-control-my-cholesterol\/&quot;\">cholesterol<\/a> and increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. However, there is growing evidence that cheese has a \u2018matrix effect\u2019 that protects us somewhat from the adverse effects of saturated fat.<\/p>\n<p>Most cheeses are prepared using an enzyme called chymosin to coagulate milk. Some fresh cheeses, like cottage cheese, are made using acid. Others, such as paneer, use a combination of heat and acid. How the cheese has been made will affect how your body digests it.<\/p>\n<p>A Canadian study in 2017 on 43 healthy volunteers showed that <a href=\"\/\/academic.oup.com\/ajcn\/article\/106\/6\/1358\/4823184&quot;\" target=\"&quot;_blank&quot;\" rel=\"&quot;noopener&quot; noopener noreferrer\">fat from cream cheese was more rapidly digested<\/a> and absorbed than from Cheddar. The researchers suggested that the small fat droplets in the cream cheese may be more accessible to the body\u2019s fat-digesting enzymes.<\/p>\n<p>In 2018, a separate study run by a team at University College Dublin found that <a href=\"\/\/www.isrctn.com\/ISRCTN13406789&quot;\" target=\"&quot;_blank&quot;\" rel=\"&quot;noopener&quot; noopener noreferrer\">consuming cheese gave rise to significantly lower cholesterol levels<\/a> than when its components were eaten separately as butter, protein and calcium. So let the matrix effect be your excuse to indulge.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read More:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul><li><a href=\"&quot;https:\/\/www.sciencefocus.com\/science\/why-is-cheese-so-addictive\/&quot;\">Why is cheese so addictive?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"&quot;https:\/\/www.sciencefocus.com\/science\/does-cheese-give-you-nightmares-2\/&quot;\">Does cheese give you nightmares?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"&quot;https:\/\/www.sciencefocus.com\/science\/why-does-leftover-pizza-taste-so-good\/&quot;\">Why does leftover pizza taste so good?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"&quot;https:\/\/www.sciencefocus.com\/science\/does-eating-blue-cheese-contribute-to-antibiotic-resistance\/&quot;\">Does eating blue cheese contribute to antibiotic resistance?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Asked by: Agnes Cunningham, Fife<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>To submit your questions email us at questions@sciencefocus.com (don\u2019t forget to include your name and location)<\/em><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Dr Emma Davies Published: Saturday, 07 January 2023 at 12:00 am Cheese is packed with healthy protein and calcium but is also high in saturated fat and salt. According to the British Heart Foundation, a 30g portion of Cheddar can contain more salt than a packet of crisps. High levels of saturated fat generally [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":22282,"template":"","categories":[30],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/01\/the-matrix-effect-the-surprising-science-of-how-cheese-impacts-your-heart-health.png",1200,511,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/01\/the-matrix-effect-the-surprising-science-of-how-cheese-impacts-your-heart-health-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/01\/the-matrix-effect-the-surprising-science-of-how-cheese-impacts-your-heart-health-300x128.png",300,128,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/01\/the-matrix-effect-the-surprising-science-of-how-cheese-impacts-your-heart-health-768x327.png",768,327,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/01\/the-matrix-effect-the-surprising-science-of-how-cheese-impacts-your-heart-health-1024x436.png",800,341,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/01\/the-matrix-effect-the-surprising-science-of-how-cheese-impacts-your-heart-health.png",1200,511,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/01\/the-matrix-effect-the-surprising-science-of-how-cheese-impacts-your-heart-health.png",1200,511,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Dr Emma Davies Published: Saturday, 07 January 2023 at 12:00 am Cheese is packed with healthy protein and calcium but is also high in saturated fat and salt. According to the British Heart Foundation, a 30g portion of Cheddar can contain more salt than a packet of crisps. High levels of saturated fat generally&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/22281"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}