Which one torments you the most? Polly-O string cheese? The Cheddar Lovers Cheeseburger from Wendy’s? The Stuffed-Crust Pizza from Pizza Hut? All of them? You’re not alone. Cheese is one of the hardest habits to regulate day to day. What keeps most vegetarians from going whole-hog vegan? Not eggs. It’s the cheese. The salty, fatty goodness that makes you salivate should you get even a tiny whiff. It’s just so good, many will say. Well, there’s more to the story. You may, in fact, be hooked, so to speak.
It turns out there’s a reason behind our cravings. Cheese contains casein. It also contains casein fragments called casomorphins, a casein-derived morphine-like compound. Basically, dairy protein has opiate molecules built in. When consumed, these fragments attach to the same brain receptors that heroin and other narcotics attach to.
"These opiates attach to the same brain receptors that heroin and morphine attach to. They are not strong enough to get you arrested, but they are just strong enough to keep you coming back for more, even while your thighs are expanding before your very eyes." - Dr. Neal Barnard, author of The Cheese Trap
Some researchers believe this occurs as a way to ensure babies (humans, cows, etc.) continue to nurse during infancy, which helps the survival of the species. That helps explain why we look so happy when nursing and also why it feels so good to eat cheese. For perspective, a cup of milk contains 7.7 grams of protein, 80% of which is casein. When converted to cheddar, for example, the protein content multiplies 7-fold, to 56 grams. It’s the most concentrated form of casein in any food in the grocery store. Basically, if milk is cocaine, then cheese is crack.
Our brain's ‘reward center’ releases dopamine when we eat salty foods like cheese in order to encourage us to eat more of it (many addictive drugs increase dopamine activity). Dopamine makes our bodies become attracted to whatever produced it, including cheese. Which is why so many people crave it, talk about it, and why even animal-loving vegetarians have a hard time giving it up.
Companies that sell cheese are well aware of these stats, and leverage our addiction to their benefit. Back in ‘00, at a presentation by Dairy Management Inc. (collects approximately $140 million each year from dairy companies to promote dairy products), they suggested that the key to increasing demand was to ‘trigger’ cheese cravings. The presenter broke cheese consumers into two categories: enhancers, those who sprinkle cheese on pasta, salad, etc. from time to time (not worth targeting), and cravers, people who LOVE cheese and will consume it whenever possible. This meant working with Fast Food companies to promote more cheese heavy products on their menus (Cheddar-Lovers sound familiar? Stuffed Crust pizza too!).
Why am I telling you all of this? Well, no one wants to tell someone else that they might have a problem. And there’s no cheese-anonymous support group to run to. Given the prevalence of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease in America, something has to give. If you have some vices in your life, you might want to add cheese to the list. And like the others, it’s something you should probably avoid to lead a long healthy life.