Nutrition for Cheese

Calories, Protein, Vitamins and More


image of cheese source

Cheese Nutrition Summary

One cup of cheese (112 grams or 0.2 lb) contains 430 calories and 26.4 grams of protein. Cheese consist of 41% water, 24% protein, 32% fat, and less than 1% of carbohydrates.

Cheese is an excellent source of many nutrients, including protein, Vitamin A, calcium, riboflavin and Vitamin B12. It also contains significant amounts of zinc, phosphorus and selenium.

In one cup of cheese:

  • Calories: 430
  • Protein: 26.4 g
  • Fat: 36 g, (Saturated: 18 g)
  • Cholesterol: 106.4 mg
  • Sodium: 679.8 mg
There is no significant amounts of sugar or dietary fiber in cheese.

See the Cheese Nutrition Chart for complete recommended daily values.
The specific nutritional values from USDA is for: Cheese, Mexican blend.

Calories in Cheese

Cheese has 430 calories per cup or 384 calories for every 100 grams. Most of its calories are from fat and protein.

75% of calories in cheese are from fat and 25% of calories are from protein.

Calories from Fat

The majority, or 75% of the calories in Cheese are from fat. Cheese is high in total fat, with 36 grams or 56% of recommended daily values per cup. Most of the fat in cheese are saturated and it contains a high amount of saturated fat, about 100% of recommended daily values.

Cheese contains 106.4 mg of cholesterol and no trans-fat.

  • Total fat: 36 g
  • Cholesterol: 106.4 mg
  • Saturated fat: 18 g
  • Monounsaturated fat: 8.8 g
  • Polyunsaturated fat: 1 g
There is no significant amounts of trans fat in cheese.

Omega-3 and Omega-6 in Cheese

Cheese is a source of healthy omega-3 fatty acids, containing a total of 0.37 grams for every cup. It contains significant amounts of alpha linoleic acid. [2]

  • alpha linoleic acid: 0.37 g
Also a good source of omega-6 fatty acids, every cup of cheese contains a total of 0.6 grams of omega-6. In addition, a large portion of the omega-6 in cheese comes from linolenic acid - the only essential omega-6 fatty acid. [2]

  • linoleic acid: 0.6 g
The omega-6 to omega-3 ratio in cheese is 1.6: 1.

Calories Similar to Cheese

Some other dairy or egg products with similar calories to cheese by weight:


Protein in Cheese

An excellent source of protein, a single cup of Cheese contains 53% of recommended daily values or 26.4 grams of protein. In addition, cheese is also a source of complete protein, meaning it abundantly contains all 9 essential amino acids.

  • Protein: 26.36 g
  • Tryptophan: 0.4 g
  • Threonine: 0.97 g
  • Isoleucine: 1.52 g
  • Leucine: 2.43 g
  • Lysine: 1.85 g
  • Methionine: 0.67 g
  • Phenylalanine: 1.34 g
  • Valine: 1.69 g
  • Histidine: 0.82 g

Protein Similar to Cheese

Some other dairy or egg products with similar amounts of protein to cheese by weight:

Vitamins and Minerals in Cheese

An good source of many nutrients, cheese contains abundant amounts of Vitamin A, calcium, riboflavin and Vitamin B12. In fact, a single cup of cheese contains 74% of recommended daily values or 738.1 milligrams of calcium. Also an excellent source of Vitamin A, a single cup of cheese contains 28% of recommended daily values or 194.9 ug of Vitamin A.

Vitamins in cheese (1 cup):
  • Vitamin a: 194.9 ug
  • Riboflavin: 0.4 mg
  • Niacin: 0.1 mg
  • Vitamin b6: 0.1 mg
  • Vitamin e: 0.3 mg
  • Folate: 14.6 ug
  • Vitamin b12: 1.4 ug
  • Vitamin k: 2.8 ug
Minerals in cheese (1 cup):
  • Calcium: 738.1 mg
  • Potassium: 95.2 mg
  • Iron: 0.7 mg
  • Magnesium: 28 mg
  • Zinc: 3.4 mg
  • Selenium: 16.8 ug
  • Phosphorus: 490.6 mg
  • Choline: 17.6 mg
There is no significant amounts of copper, manganese, thiamin, pantothenic acid or vitamin c in cheese.

Flavonoids and Carotenoids in Cheese [3]

Cheese contains a couple of healthy phytonutrients and antioxidants, specifically carotenoid beta-carotene. In one cup of cheese:

  • beta-carotene: 63 ug

Cheese Nutrition Chart

Cheese:

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Nutrition calculations are from Harvard Medical's nutrient guidelines [1] and USDA's food central database (2019) [2].
We calculated values from 2000 kCal daily recommended diet.

Cheese in Cooking

Cheese is in the top 10% of most popular ingredients for recipes. Most recipes call for 4 or 8 slices of cheese.

Friends and Relatives of Cheese

Foods commonly cooked with cheese: Other similar relatives:


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