Could You Be Addicted to Cheese?

A year ago, while on a visit to St. Lawrence Market with a friend, I spoke with a lady who was giving out cheese samples.  We got to talking and she revealed that she ate an entire wedge of cheese at least once a week.  While we were walking out the market doors, my friend turned to me and said "man, that's a ton of cheese!".  After attending a recent presentation on Food Addiction given by Dr. Greenblatt, it occurs to me now that she may have been addicted to cheese.

How does that work?

All cows dairy contains a protein called casein.  Cheese made from cows milk, due to its processing, contains a high amount of this protein.  In some people, the casein is perfectly broken down via their digestive systems and it leaves their system without a problem.  However, in some people casein is only partially broken down and becomes a morphine analog in their body.  As you may recall, morphine is a narcotic derived from opium.  It also happens to be highly addictive.  Yes, if you are one of the individuals that cannot break down casein, you may actually be getting a hit from cheese, ice cream, cream cheese, sour cream and anything else made from cows milk.

This makes sense when we think about what people's comfort foods usually are: ice cream, cereal with lots of milk, grilled cheese sandwiches, pizza with lots of cheese.

As you know, I like to add silver linings to all my posts and something wonderful that I also discovered is that goat's and sheep's dairy do not seem to contain casein.  If you love your cheese but worry you could be addicted, might I suggest switching to goat's cheese?  It may just end up calming your mind as well as whittling away your waistline.