A small amount of swiss cheese can be good for weight loss if the filling effects are enough to help you eat less of fattening foods. However, it is also possible to eat too much swiss cheese and gain weight.
While individual Swiss cheeses can vary in details, they are generally high in calories, high in protein, and high in vitamins and minerals.
If eating Swiss cheese reduces your hunger enough to consume less of more fattening foods, it will be good for weight loss.
Additionally, consuming enough protein is important for preserving or building muscle and in turn, staying at a healthy weight.
However, due to the high number of calories in it, there are many foods that are better than Swiss cheese for weight loss.
Even within the same food category, there are better cheeses for weight loss.
Calories in Swiss cheese
100 grams of Swiss cheese contain around 393 calories (1). Only 1.44 grams come from carbohydrates so Swiss cheese is keto-friendly.
You may also want to know that one 21-gram slice of Swiss cheese contains around 82.5 calories.
These are relatively high amounts of calories which is generally not that helpful when trying to lose weight.
One of the first things to look at when figuring out whether Swiss cheese is good for weight loss is the number of calories in it.
This detail does not say everything but it does give some helpful information.
You still want to look at where all the calories in the energy-dense Swiss cheese come from but this is not the greatest start for this food.
Protein in Swiss cheese for weight loss
Before going into why this is, Swiss cheese contains around 27 grams of protein per 100 grams (1).
If you want something to compare this with, salmon contains around 22.1 grams of protein per 100 grams (2).
In foods like Swiss cheese that have considerable amounts of it, the protein content will influence how effective it is for weight loss too.
While there are cheeses even higher in protein, it should become clear that Swiss cheese is relatively high in protein which is helpful for weight loss.
The first reason for this is that protein is great for helping you feel fuller.
Since many people struggle with hunger and cravings, this can be a big benefit.
Secondly, eating enough protein can help you preserve and build muscle.
Muscle helps you burn more energy throughout the day so this is again a plus point for Swiss cheese.
Lastly, it generally takes your body more energy to process a calorie from protein than a calorie from other macronutrients.
In short, Swiss cheese contains a lot of protein which tends to be helpful when trying to lose weight.
Vitamins and minerals in Swiss cheese
100 grams of Swiss cheese provides you with some of the following vitamins and minerals (1):
- Calcium: 89% of the DV (Daily Value)
- Phosphorus: 57% of the DV
- Vitamin B12: 50% of the DV
- Selenium: 43% of the DV
- Zinc: 29% of the DV
And some other vitamins and minerals in smaller amounts.
While it is typically not the most essential, it can be helpful to look at the vitamins and minerals in Swiss cheese when trying to lose weight too.
These are smaller nutrients that influence the things going on inside your body in a variety of ways.
It is hard to put into exact numbers how much these vitamins and minerals will help your weight loss journey.
However, it is generally smart to consume enough of these. Even if it is just to stay healthy.
In turn, consuming at least some Swiss cheese or nutrient-dense alternatives can be a good idea.
Does Swiss cheese make you lose or gain weight?
A small amount of swiss cheese can make you lose weight if it fills you up enough to consume less of fattening foods. However, swiss cheese can still make you gain weight too if you eat too much.
By now you know that Swiss cheese contains a lot of calories but that many of these come from protein (and fats which are relatively filling too).
There is a chance that eating more Swiss cheese will satisfy your hunger and help you avoid eating foods that are more fattening.
In this case, Swiss cheese would be good for weight loss.
The extra protein can also be very valuable if you don’t consume enough of it in other ways.
That being said, because there are so many calories in Swiss cheese, it is also easy to eat it in fattening quantities.
In simpler words, Swiss cheese will often be considered fattening but could still be a good choice in some situations due to its filling effect.
There are definitely also many foods that are worse for weight loss too.
Is Swiss cheese good for a diet?
Swiss cheese is generally not that good for a diet unless you really need its protein, filling effect, or micronutrients.
How many calories are there in two slices of Swiss cheese?
There are about 165 calories in two 21-gram slices of Swiss cheese.
