Cheese is a guilty pleasure. It's gooey. It's fatty. It's delicious. It just has to be bad for you, right? Wrong. A large body of research suggests that cheese's reputation as a fattening, heart-damaging food is undeserved. When it comes to weight, cheese isneutral at worst, and possibly even good for you - foods like potatoes, processed meats and refined grains were associated with weight gain over time, while yoghurt, fruit and nuts were associated with weight loss. Cheese was right in the middle: cheese is fermented, meaning it has live bacterial cultures. That could have a positive effect on the gut microbiome, which appears to play a role in weight regulation. The fermentation process also creates vitamin K2, or menaquinone, which experimental studies have linked to improved insulin function. Insulin regulates blood sugar levels, hunger, calorie expenditure, and fat storage.
Other high-fat foods, like avocados, have lately enjoyed a reputational rehabilitation. Cheese, not so much. One reason may be the fact that cheese contains not just a lot of fat but a lot of saturated fat, linked to higher blood cholesterol and rates of cardiovascular disease. But here, too, the science says cheese doesn't deserve its stigma. While cheese does have high saturated fat, that doesn't appear to correlate with a higher risk of heart disease. Saturated fat from meat was associated with higher rates of cardiovascular disease, but saturated fat from dairy was associated with lower rates. A 2020 study also found that cheese protected against age-related cognitive decline. (Via wired.com)
On Sunday John from Warkworth joined tens of thousands travelling at 3km/h for six and a half hours to reach our quiz master. "Three questions from our tired but resolute police officer. 1. Where are you going? A. Auckland. 2. How many of you in the car? A. Five. Neither required verification beyond question 2 producing a cursory glance into our car by the officer...it seemed ludicrous to queue for 6.5 hours for this outcome."
Promo hits wrong note
Petrus van der Schaaf felt someone at TVNZ could have checked what ads were running during the breaks when the Chamberlain documentary aired on Sunday night. The first line during one of the breaks was, "Every dog has its day."
