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in collaboration with
Raphaël Gruman (nutritionist)
Increasingly present on our shelves, to the delight of vegans, dairy-free cheeses also carry risks for weight and cardiovascular health. Their composition raises questions.
Whether it is to ban a product of animal origin, or to counter a lactose allergy, more and more people are turning to plant-based alternatives to dairy products. Problem: vegetable cheeses are not necessarily healthier, and do not have the same nutritional values as classic cheeses. The oils and starch used to give them a texture similar to cheese would, in particular, be harmful to health.
In order to find the right texture to make the product appetizing, vegetable oils are regularly used in the composition of these vegetable cheeses, just like starch, a complex carbohydrate. However, as mentioned in a study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2016, starch-based foods have a high glycemic load, and are associated with greater weight gain. In the long term, it can also promote diseases such as type 2 diabetes.
The strong presence of coconut and palm vegetable oils in particular, which are very rich in saturated fatty acids, can also damage the arteries, promote the formation of thrombosis and induce a risk factor for cardiovascular accidents in the diet.
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Very poor nutritional qualities
Consulted on the subject, the dietician-nutritionist Raphaël Gruman confirms the bad marks attributed to vegetable cheese, which he does not recommend to his patients, even vegans. “Above all, we are on a processed product, stuffed with additives of all kinds to obtain the texture, color and taste of a real cheese. In addition, these cheeses are often extremely fatty. Admittedly, it is consists of vegetable fats, but vegetable cheeses are often higher in fat and calories than classic cheeses.Finally, vegetable cheese has no nutritional value like real cheese: low in protein, low in calcium and a vegetable calcium that is less well assimilated than calcium of animal origin, it does not provide the vitamins A, B2 and B12 necessary for the body either. In short, it does not provide much on a daily basis”.
So, if you don’t want to bite into a piece of Camembert, it’s better not to overdo it with vegetable cheese either. “We can also move towards natural oilseeds to have good protein intake and a little vegetable calcium” reminds the nutritionist.