Melty and mouthwatering, cheese can be a delicious part of a healthy diet when eaten in moderation. Yet, if your goal is to lose weight, you may find that indulging in your favorite cheeses can throw your progress off track—especially if you choose the wrong types. As a general rule of thumb, the best diet-friendly dairy will be minimally processed, low in sodium, and made with very few ingredients.
According to Janine Bowring, ND, a naturopathic doctor and medical content creator, it should also have a high protein-to-fat ratio—meaning more protein and less saturated fat. “[This] is going to be satiating and help you for that weight loss,” she said in a recent TikTok post.
The Cleveland Clinic suggests that if you generally stick to a diet that’s low in saturated fat, you can eat between two and three ounces of high-quality, low-fat cheese per day without harming your health. But, with so many types of cheese out there—from havarti to halloumi—it begs the question: Which types are best for your health and weight loss? Bowring says she has the answer and recently offered a handful of recommendations.
RELATED: 10 Signs You’re Eating Too Much Cheese, According to Doctors.
1. Mozzarella
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Mozzarella cheese sometimes gets a bad rap in the health world since it’s commonly found smothering pizzas or deep-fried into mozzarella sticks. Yet at under 80 calories per ounce, Bowring says it’s actually among the best cheeses for weight loss.
“The protein ratio to fat is about one to one—a great cheese if you’re trying to lose weight,” she shares in her TikTok post.
2. Cottage cheese
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Next, Bowring endorses cottage cheese as a diet-friendly dairy option. “A one-cup serving of cottage cheese is only about 185 calories, five grams of fat, and 23 grams of protein, so a high ratio of that protein to fat,” she says.
Jennie Stanford, MD, FAAFP, DipABOM, an obesity medicine physician and medical contributor for Drugwatch, agrees that since cottage cheese is low in calories and high in protein, this makes it an ideal food for weight loss.
“As a bonus, cottage cheese takes on a very creamy texture when it is blended, so it can be added to dishes in which creaminess is desired without using full-fat cream or heavy cheeses,” she tells Best Life.
RELATED: 7 Healthy Fats to Eat for Weight Loss, Dietitians Say.
3. Goat cheese
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Some studies suggest that goat cheese can help promote feelings of fullness and satiety, helping to prevent food cravings after eating. In fact, a 2017 study published in the journal Nutrients compared the effects of goat-based dairy products to cow-based dairy products and found that eating goat cheese had a greater influence on appetite-related hormones and lowered one’s desire to eat again afterward compared with meals that included cow-based dairy.
“Our results suggest a slightly higher satiating effect of goat dairy when compared to cow dairy products, and pointed to a potential association of GLP-1 and triglyceride levels,” the study authors write.
Bowring adds that goat cheese “tends to be much easier to digest compared to other cheeses, so [it’s] great for weight loss.”
4. Ricotta cheese
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Finally, Bowring says that ricotta cheese is another excellent dietary addition since it’s rich in whey protein and contains fewer than 50 calories per ounce.
“Ricotta cheese is naturally lower in fat than some other cheeses, and it is also very creamy, which helps a little bit go a long way. For weight loss, it may be a helpful alternative to other types of cheese,” agrees Stanford.