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Cottage Cheese While Pregnant: Essential Benefits & Possible Risks

Cottage cheese while pregnant

Pregnant women should eat dairy products regularly to keep up with the recommended calcium intake. 

However, when it comes to cheese, many women worry. This is because certain cheeses aren’t safe to eat when pregnant.

We get asked often if eating cottage cheese while pregnant is good for a mom-to-be.

Today, we will discuss why cottage cheese is great to include in your pregnancy meal plan

Read on to find out about the nutritional benefits and if there are any risks you should know about. 

We’ll also discuss making cottage cheese more appetizing if you don’t enjoy it. Read on for more.

The Nourished Bump - Pregnancy Nutrition Course

Cottage Cheese While Pregnant

If you’re pregnant, you may be looking for cheeses that are safe to eat. 

Pasteurized cottage cheese is a good option. Many nutrients are needed for a healthy pregnancy that you can get from cottage cheese. 

Let’s quickly examine the nutritional value of 100 grams of 2% cottage cheese.

  • Calories- 84
  • Carbohydrates- 4.3 g
  • Fiber- 0
  • Fat- 2.3 g
  • Calcium- 111 mg
  • Protein- 11 g
  • Sodium- 321 mg
  • Sugar- 4.1 g

Many pregnant women try to reduce their sugar intake. Cottage cheese does have some sugar that occurs naturally. 

When choosing cottage cheese to eat during pregnancy, it’s important to consider the ingredients because some brands add refined sugars.

Can I Eat Cottage Cheese While Pregnant?

Is cottage cheese safe to eat while pregnant? 

As long as you don’t have a dairy aversion, cottage cheese is an excellent addition to your pregnancy diet.

Cottage cheese contains many ingredients that are important for fetal development. 

Since calcium is a key nutrient for a healthy pregnancy, cottage cheese is highly recommended for pregnant women.

During pregnancy, consuming three servings of dairy foods or beverages per day is recommended. 

If cottage cheese is your dairy product of choice, you can safely eat up to 3 cups per day.

Choosing The Best Cottage Cheese For Pregnancy

Cottage cheese is a soft cheese with a mild flavor. It has a bumpy texture that’s different from cream cheese spreads. 

There are many different types of cottage cheese available on the market. During pregnancy, it’s important to choose the right one.

As mentioned above, you should only eat pasteurized cottage cheese. 

Raw milk cheese can contain pathogens and harmful bacteria affecting your unborn baby. This isn’t the only thing you should look for when choosing a good cottage cheese for pregnancy.

  • Fresh is always best
  • Choose non-fat or low-fat
  • Avoid cheeses with added preservatives

Cottage cheese while pregnant

Benefits of Cottage Cheese During Pregnancy

Eating cottage cheese has many benefits for pregnant women. Cottage cheese should be one of your first choices if you’re looking for healthy and low-fat dairy food. 

Let’s take a look at some reasons why pregnant women can benefit from eating cottage cheese regularly.

1. Loaded With Vitamins

During pregnancy, you should eat foods that naturally contain vitamins to support your baby. Cottage cheese contains several B vitamins and small amounts of other vitamins needed for a healthy pregnancy. 

These are the vitamins that can be found in cottage cheese.

  • Vitamin B12
  • Vitamin B6
  • Vitamin B1
  • Vitamin B3
  • Vitamin B5
  • Vitamin B9
  • Vitamin A
  • Vitamin D
  • Vitamin E

2. Essential Nutrients For Pregnancy

As mentioned above, cottage cheese is an excellent source of calcium. However, it’s also packed with other great ingredients. This includes folate, protein, zinc, and choline.

You don’t have to eat a lot of cottage cheese to get a good boost of nutrients. Just half a cup of low-fat cottage cheese can provide you with the following:

  • 5% of your daily recommended value of calcium
  • 4% daily value of folate
  • 3% daily value of carbohydrates
  • Less than 5% daily value of choline
  • 14% daily value of protein

3. Reduce The Risk Of Diseases

Choosing healthy dairy options during pregnancy could help reduce your risk of certain diseases and health complications. 

Pregnant women who eat cottage cheese regularly along with a healthy diet are less likely to suffer from:

  • Obesity
  • Type-2 diabetes
  • Gestational diabetes
  • Preeclampsia
  • Hypertension
  • High blood pressure
  • Coronary heart disease
  • Cardiovascular disease

4. Healthy Fetal Development

The main reason you should add cottage cheese to your pregnancy diet is for your unborn baby. There are many associations between healthy fetal development when the expectant mother consumes the recommended amount of low-fat dairy products regularly.

Calcium supports bone and teeth development, muscle formation, and hormone functioning. It has also been linked to keeping a healthy birth weight and reducing the risk of preterm birth.

5. Supports Healthy Pregnancy Weight Gain

On average, women can expect to gain 25 to 35 lbs during pregnancy. It’s important to gain weight at a healthy rate. 

If you gain too much weight too soon, you can be at risk of gestational diabetes

On the other hand, many complications can arise if you don’t gain enough weight to support your baby’s growth.

Cottage cheese is an excellent food choice for supporting a healthy pregnancy weight gain. This is because it contains leucine, responsible for fat cell formation and breaking down fats.

Are There Risks Of Consuming Cottage Cheese While Pregnant?

Generally, cottage cheese is safe to eat if you’re pregnant. However, you should only eat the recommended amount. 

Regularly eating too much cottage cheese can put you at risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and kidney problems.

If you have food aversions to dairy products, you may experience digestion issues from consuming cottage cheese.

Cottage cheese while pregnant

How To Enjoy Cottage Cheese While Pregnant

Cottage cheese can be eaten as is. But, if you don’t enjoy this type of cheese, you may wonder how to include it in your diet. 

Unlike other soft cheeses, this type of cheese has a mild flavor. This allows you to mix it with other foods to create something you enjoy eating.

1. Enjoy A Sweet Dish

You can treat cottage cheese similarly to yogurt. 

A classic way of enjoying this creamy cheese is by adding fresh fruit. However, you can add more than just fruit to create a healthy and tasty dessert. 

Other toppings include honey, granola, cinnamon, shaved milk chocolate, or crushed nuts.

2. Add To Pasta

Do any of your favorite pasta recipes call for ricotta cheese? If so, replace it with cottage cheese. 

You can use cottage cheese to substitute soft cheese in a recipe, not just pasta. You can also make a creamier pasta sauce by adding cottage cheese.

3. Make A Dip

Do you enjoy homemade dips when you eat raw vegetables, chips, or crackers? You can substitute the yogurt or sour cream in your favorite dip recipe for cottage cheese. 

Here is a tasty dip recipe you can make with cottage cheese.

  • 1 cup cottage cheese
  • 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon fresh dill
  • Pinch of salt and pepper to taste

Mix all of the ingredients and keep chilled.

4. Mashed Potatoes

If you want cottage cheese but can’t get past the taste or texture, mashed potatoes are an excellent option. 

Next time you make a batch of mashed potatoes, substitute the milk for cottage cheese. Your potatoes will be smooth, creamy, and delicious.

The Nourished Bump - Pregnancy Nutrition Course

What Other Cheese Are Safe During Pregnancy?

Not all cheese is bad for pregnant women. Most cheese is good to eat during pregnancy. 

The main thing you need to focus on is if the cheese is made from pasteurized milk. If it is, then it’s usually safe to eat.

There is some speculation that soft cheeses aren’t safe during pregnancy. This doesn’t apply to every type of soft cheese, though. 

Along with cottage cheese, it’s safe to enjoy cream cheese, mozzarella, and paneer.

All types of hard cheeses are safe for pregnant women. This includes cheddar, parmesan, gouda, provolone, and romano.

Even hard cheeses that aren’t made from pasteurized milk are generally safe to eat because of their lack of moisture. This makes it difficult for bacteria to grow.

Which Cheeses Should Be Avoided During Pregnancy?

The list of cheeses you can’t eat while pregnant is smaller than those you can eat. Unpasteurized soft cheeses, like soft blue cheese, should be avoided because there is a risk of them containing e coli or listeria. 

This can lead to food poisoning and other problems. The types of cheeses to avoid during pregnancy include:

  • Blue cheeses
  • Queso fresco & queso blanco
  • Brie
  • Camembert
  • Feta
  • Mexican soft cheeses
  • Farm fresh cheeses
  • Raw milk cheeses

Final Words

Cottage cheese is a safe and healthy food option for pregnant women. It’s low in fat and an excellent source of calcium and protein. 

Including cottage cheese and other low-fat dairy foods in your pregnancy could help support fetal development and healthy birth weight.

Do you enjoy cottage cheese? Let us know your favorite way to eat it in the comments below.

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