Why Gouda is likely the most nutrient dense type of cheese you can buy even if you buy supermarket brands made with conventional milk.
If I was forced to choose a single cheese to eat for the rest of my life that would best maintain my health, it would be Gouda cheese.
Is Gouda my favorite healthy cheese?
Not really.
While I certainly like Gouda cheese and don’t mind eating it, my taste buds consistently rank several other cheeses quite a bit higher on the enjoyment scale such as Brie which I craved during pregnancy.
Why Gouda cheese then?
Gouda and the X Factor
You might be shocked to learn, as I was, that Gouda cheese is higher than most liver, grassfed butter, and even pastured egg yolks in the critical nutrient Vitamin K2.
This is the nutrient identified by Dr. Weston A. Price as the elusive “Activator X”.
Vitamin K2 along with the other fat soluble activators A and D are synergistically responsible for the vibrant health and extremely high resistance to aging and degenerative disease as experienced by Traditional Cultures and as described in Dr. Price’s groundbreaking book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration.
Vitamin K2 is extremely difficult to get sufficient quantities of in the diet. This is the case even if one consumes grassfed meats and dairy on a regular basis.
The reason is the worrisome depletion of our soils which grassfed farmers are valiantly turning the tide on, but which will still take several decades if not even a century or two to reverse on a widespread basis.
On top of this, many families are currently struggling to afford any grassfed meat and dairy at all.
An inflationary economy requires creative and practical solutions for the food budget. This ensures that this critical and elusive nutrient is in the diet in sufficient quantities.
This helps secure freedom from tooth decay and high immunity. Such vigilance prevents degenerative diseases like osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, periodontal disease, cancer, and diabetes among many others.
K2 is also the vanity vitamin as it is known to prevent facial wrinkles. K2 deficiency can be written all over your face…quite literally!
Synergy with No Toxicity
Vitamin K2 has no known toxicity even at high intake levels.
However, it is most effective when consumed in the presence of the other fat soluble activators Vitamin A and D.
Therefore, getting Vitamin K2 from food is always the best way to go if at all possible.
Gouda Cheese Top 3 for Most Elusive Nutrient
This is where Gouda cheese comes in.
You see, the food that is highest in Vitamin K2 is natto, which is very difficult to find and even more difficult to consume due to its very horrible taste and texture. If you are game, you can usually find it at Asian specialty stores. Look for it in the freezer section.
Natto contains about 1,103 mcg of K2 per 3.5 ounce portion. This is more than any other food by a large margin. Note that it is best to source organic natto due to toxicity issues from GMO soybeans.
The second highest food in Vitamin K2 is goose fat particularly from the liver which has 369 mcg per 3 1/2 ounce portion.
While highly delicious and wonderful to eat, goose liver pate is very hard to find in most places. It is also a very high end, gourmet food which makes the price out of reach for most.
Rounding out the top 3 foods highest in Vitamin K2 is none other than the humble Gouda cheese. It boasts 75 mcg per 3 1/2 ounce serving! This compares to pastured egg yolks and butter, which each have about 15 mcg of K2 per 3 1/2 ounce portion.
Grassfed or Organic Not Required
Here’s the really excellent news…
Gouda cheese is extremely high in Vitamin K2 even if the milk it’s made from was not grassfed.
This is due to the bacterial cultures used to ferment milk into Gouda cheese. Bacteria produce a special type of Vitamin K2 (MK-7) which according to current research is as effective as the animal form of Vitamin K2 (MK-4) at preserving human health when combined in the diet with the other fat soluble activators A and D.
Of course, grassfed Gouda cheese would be best as Gouda made from this highest quality raw milk would be high not only in MK-7 but also MK-4, the animal form of K2.
For some, however, supermarket Gouda cheese is all they can find or afford!
In other words, Gouda cheese is high in Vitamin K2 regardless of how the milk was produced. Gouda even if made from the milk of the average grainfed, conventionally raised cow, is still very much worth it to buy from a nutritional standpoint!
Other hard cheeses would also be high in Vitamin K2, but Gouda is the highest of them all. Perhaps this is a reason why cheese is the most stolen item in the world!
Sources
Vitamin K2 and the Calcium Paradox, by Dr. Kate Rheaume-Bleue ND
I’m getting myself some gouda today! http://t.co/laGoKslA
I’m with you…gouda isn’t my favorite, but I’ve put much less palatable things in my mouth for the sake of my health. Up until pretty recently, I didn’t give much thought to the nutrient differences between various cheeses. Gouda is now on my ‘must try again’ list.
Great post!
I love Gouda. We bring lots back from Holland every time we go and we always have some in the fridge.
I suggest you reword this statement: “You see, the food that is highest in Vitamin K2 is natto, which is very difficult to find and even more difficult to consume due to it’s very horrible taste and texture.”
Natto is NOT horrible! I actually like the taste. I’ve introduced it to several friends and they liked it, too.
Have you tried it? I love natto with brown or white rice, soy sauce or fermented fish sauce, and raw egg yolk. Oh, and some Japanese pickles or kimchi. YUM!
Maybe you could say that many people aren’t used to the taste or texture. I don’t think it’s fair to say that it’s horrible, as if that were a statement of fact. An acquired taste, sure, but not categorically horrible.
And FYI there is a typo: “it’s very horrible” should be “its very horrible”.
I can’t even bear the smell of natto let alone the taste. You are the first person I know who actually likes it! LOL.
Thanks for noticing the typ-o. I wrote this post at 6am so was still a bit bleary eyed 🙂
Okay, I have to admit I’m a freak as well who actually enjoys it. I make my own sauce, which helps a lot. Try Red Boat Fish Sauce and a little mustard. Yum.
Sarah, how did you like the rest of the Vit K2 book?
Growing up in the tropics where natto grows – the old folks would always have a fermented bottle of the stuff to add to food.
In fact the colour is so beautifully vibrant, that unbeknowing to most of us, it is a top secret additive to many world-known sauces – HP tomato sauce being one of them.
Also my old Nannie who is a brilliant cook says when added to soups and stews, sauces etc it gives great flavour and now we know – provides great nutrients.
I will try some from the Asian store.
Thanks for reminding me.
Oops!
Sorry folks. If natto is fermented soybeans then I am talking about something completely different – “anatto”.
Sorry again.
There’s a sushi restaurant near me that sells natto maki rolls and I swear my fiance and I are the only ones who ever order them! We sat at the sushi bar one night and the owner came out and pointed at me and said, “YOU ordered natto??” When I said yes he looked amazed! He was so impressed he gave me several shots of Sake free!
The cheese itself isn’t pasteurized. The milk is pasteurized and then re-cultured. It is this culturing that leads to the production of K2 by the bacteria that are used.
How interesting, Sarah. Thank you. I’ll be keeping my eye out for gouda.
Can’t afford raw grass-fed cheese? Then buy gouda: The Nutrient Dense Cheese of Choice http://t.co/L0efr9L6
Oh, and the Kerrygold cheese is from grass-fed cows…I didn’t read all the comments, but thought I’d mention that in case no one else had yet. 🙂
Everyone in our family adores cheese, and we eat a great deal of it every week. I usually buy 4-6 8 ounce packages a week, and most of what I buy is Kerrygold Cheese. Kerrygold has a Gouda – Blarney Castle, which finds its way into our refrigerator pretty often. I also buy their other cheeses and try to have a variety of them around. This last week, I bought a cow gouda from the cheese counter at the health food store too, and it’s delicious. Thanks for pointing this out though, what a great way to get some or more K2 in our diets!
Gouda: The Nutrient Dense Cheese of Choice – The Healthy Home Economist http://t.co/QQrN1GkO
#wapf #realfood #activatorX
How do I add up my mcg Vit k per day amount? Is there a known quantity of Vit K for butter oil and for a pastured egg? Can you refer me to a Vit k food source list? Thank you!