Is Cheddar Cheese Good Or Bad For Weight Loss?

This article has been Fact-Checked by Kendall Kennedy MS, RD, RYT

Many people focus on fruits and vegetables when trying to lose weight but there are other foods. Find out whether cheddar cheese is good for weight loss.

Cheddar cheese is relatively high in calories but does contain nice amounts of protein, vitamins, and minerals. Additionally, many of the calories come from fats that are relatively filling.

In turn, it is fair to say that cheddar cheese is not the worst food when losing weight but that it is generally a bit fattening.

It can still be worth implementing some amounts of cheddar cheese for its taste or nutrients. That being said, there are better cheeses for weight loss too.

This article will also go over the specific nutrition details of cheddar cheese, how you can eat it when trying to lose weight, and how it compares to other types of cheese for weight loss.

Calories in cheddar cheese

When figuring out whether a food like cheddar cheese is good for weight loss or not you want to take a quick look at the total number of calories.

This number does not tell you all the important details but it does give you some useful information.

Cheddar cheese contains around 403 calories per 100 grams (1).

This is a relatively high number of calories compared to other foods which is generally not good when trying to lose weight.

5.4 of the calories above come from carbohydrates (1.3 g per 100 grams).

That means cheddar cheese is keto-friendly and good for other low-carb weight loss diets.

In terms of total calories, cheddar cheese does not look that good for weight loss. Even so, what sources these calories come from will still influence your results a lot.

Micronutrients in cheddar cheese

The first thing to look at is the amount of micronutrients in cheddar cheese.

Micronutrients are a group of nutrients your body absolutely needs to survive and thrive. Micronutrients include vitamins and minerals. These are involved in basically every aspect of your health, including weight loss.

100 grams of cheddar cheese provides you with approximately (1):

• Calcium: 72% of the DV (Daily Value)
• Phosphorus: 51% of the DV
• Sodium: 26% of the DV
• Riboflavin: 22% of the DV
• Zinc: 21% of the DV
• Selenium: 20% of the DV
• Vitamin A: 20% of the DV
• Vitamin B12: 14% of the DV

And some other vitamins and minerals in less significant amounts. That’s a good amount of vitamins and minerals per 100 grams compared to a lot of other foods.

If you combine cheddar cheese with a healthy and varied diet you are on your way to hitting your daily vitamin and mineral goals.

Protein in cheddar cheese for weight loss

Another part of food that can help you on your weight loss journey is the amount of protein in it.

Cheddar cheese contains about 24.9 grams of protein per 100 grams (1). To compare, there are about 25.4 grams in 100 grams in salmon (2). 1 slice of cheddar cheese (28 g) is 113 calories.

Cheddar cheese is a great source of protein per 100 grams compared to most foods. That being said, if you look at the cheeses highest in protein, there are a few cheeses even higher in protein. It all depends on what you compare with.

Protein is considered to be the most filling of the 3 macronutrients. Hunger and cravings can be a big pitfall for people trying to lose weight, so avoiding this is a big plus.

Eating enough protein will also help you prevent muscle loss. Since muscle helps you burn extra calories throughout the day this is a big plus for protein and cheddar cheese for weight loss.

Do keep in mind that overdoing it with protein isn’t good either.

Does cheddar cheese make you lose or gain weight?

Cheddar cheese is high in calories but many of these come from proteins and fats which have their advantages when trying to lose weight.

A big question is whether cheddar cheese will make you feel full enough to eat less of foods that are less helpful for weight loss.

If this is the case, cheddar cheese will likely make you lose weight.

Additionally, even though there are better protein sources for weight loss, you could argue for eating more cheddar cheese if you struggle to eat enough protein when trying to lose weight.

Consuming enough vitamins and minerals can also be important for losing weight and health.

Even so, it is still fair to say that cheddar cheese will often not resolve hunger and protein needs to compensate for the high number of calories.

In simpler words, cheddar cheese will often have a fattening effect.

That being said, you can still consider adding some cheddar cheese to your diet for its valuable nutrients and filling effects.

Eating one somewhat more suboptimal food in small amounts is usually not the end of your weight loss journey.

Different ways to eat cheddar cheese

You can eat cheddar cheese in different ways, some combinations are better than others when it comes to losing weight.

Some healthy ways to eat cheddar cheese are on its own, as a snack, in an omelet, in soup, or with other healthy ingredients in for example a salad.

If you want to lose weight you mainly want to avoid cheddar cheese in combination with dishes like pasta, popcorn and pizza.

Cheddar cheese vs cheese alternatives for weight loss

Now you know how good cheddar cheese is for weight loss. But how does it compare to other cheese alternatives? Find out how good cheddar cheese is for weight loss vs swiss cheese, mozzarella cheese, cottage cheese, and parmesan cheese.

The exact nutritional values will vary slightly from brand to brand but by looking at these examples you get a better view of how these cheeses compare.

Cheddar cheese vs swiss cheese

The first comparison is between cheddar cheese and swiss cheese. Swiss cheese contains 380 calories per 100 grams vs the 403 calories per 100 grams of cheddar cheese (3).

At the same time swiss cheese is higher in protein per 100 grams, 21.6 grams. These 2 cheeses are similar when it comes to their vitamin and minerals contents.

Swiss cheese will be slightly better than cheddar cheese for weight loss.

Cheddar cheese vs mozzarella cheese

Next there is cheddar cheese vs mozzarella cheese. Mozzarella cheese contains a lot fewer calories per 100 grams, 280 calories (4).

Even then mozzarella cheese is still higher in protein. 27.5 grams vs 24.9 grams of protein per 100 grams. Cheddar cheese has slightly more vitamins and minerals.

Mozzarella cheese is better for weight loss than cheddar cheese.

Cheddar cheese vs cottage cheese

Cottage cheese is a very popular cheese for weight loss.

First of all, cottage cheese is a lot lower in calories per 100 grams than cheddar cheese. Cottage cheese contains about 98 calories vs cheddar cheese with 403 calories per 100 grams (5).

Cheddar cheese does have more protein per 100 grams. Cottage cheese has about 11.1 grams of protein per 100 grams, cheddar cheese about 24.9 grams. Cheddar cheese does contain higher amounts of vitamins and minerals.

All in all, cottage cheese will likely be better for weight loss than cheddar cheese.

Cheddar cheese vs parmesan cheese

Lastly cheddar cheese vs parmesan cheese. Parmesan cheese has about the same amount of calories as cheddar cheese, 392 calories per 100 grams (6).

Parmesan cheese has a lot more protein than parmesan cheese, 35.8 grams per 100 grams. Parmesan cheese also has more vitamins and minerals.

The relatively big difference in protein will make parmesan cheese likely better for weight loss than cheddar cheese.

Chart of cheddar cheese vs cheese alternatives

There are some interesting differences in nutritional content that will most likely matter when it comes to weight loss.

The amount of vitamins and minerals in the foods does matter for weight loss and health but you can’t simplify that in one number. You can check out the numbers for cheddar cheese (1), swiss cheese (3), mozzarella cheese (4), cottage cheese (5), and parmesan cheese (6) to compare.