The best time to eat cottage cheese is at dinner. It supports weight loss, promotes satiety, prevents late-night cravings, and helps sleep better at night.
Actually, cottage cheese is low in calories, fat, and carbs, while it’s high in protein. Hence, it can be consumed at any time of the day. However, when it comes to weight loss, the timing of a snack with cottage cheese can play a crucial role in regulating appetite!
At breakfast
Certainly, a great time to eat cottage cheese is at breakfast because it can reduce total energy intake.
Protein in cottage cheese can keep us full for hours. Cottage cheese has about 12 grams of protein per 100g, while a tablespoon has almost 2 grams of protein.[1]
In fact, protein, fiber, and water promote satiety.[2]
Therefore, you could eat a breakfast with cottage cheese and whole-grain bread, which is particularly high in fiber, in order to have a fullness feeling for hours.
Moreover, you can add avocado and nuts to make the most filling breakfast or brunch. Avocado is packed with protein, fiber, and omega-3s, which are necessary for increased basal metabolism!
As a healthy snack between meals
Also, one of the best times to eat cottage cheese for weight loss is between meals. Eat cottage cheese with fiber-rich foods to reduce appetite with only a few calories.
A healthy snack with cottage cheese can prevent overeating and cravings for fattening foods.
At dinner
Maybe the best time to eat cottage cheese for weight loss is at dinner. It helps prevent blood sugar spikes and late-night cravings for fattening food.
Cottage cheese can control the total postprandial glucose response of a dinner, as:
- it’s particularly low in sugar. It has only 2.7 grams of sugar per 100g! A tablespoon has less than 0.5 gram of sugar!
- the protein in cottage cheese slows down the absorption of glucose.
Furthermore, it’s a great time to eat cottage cheese before bed because it has a slow-digesting protein. It provides a steady stream of amino acids to the muscle mass throughout the night. This is particularly beneficial if you do resistance exercise for muscle growth.
Also, protein in cottage cheese prevents muscle breakdown. When we follow a hypocaloric diet for weight loss, we lose both fat and muscle mass. Consuming high amounts of protein is key for preserving muscle mass.
However, we should eat cottage cheese at least 2 hours before bed. Otherwise, it can cause digestion disorders or affect sleep quality.
Actually, small amounts of most cheeses before bed support a good night’s sleep.
How to eat cottage cheese?
However, cottage cheese has a poor nutritional value. It isn’t particularly high in vitamins and minerals. For instance, a tablespoon has about 10 mg of calcium. This dose is 1% of the Daily Value!
Calcium supports weight loss and helps burn belly fat, as it regulates fat metabolism! There is no need to consume cheese or other dairy to get adequate amounts of calcium, though. Actually, there are many plant-based foods high in calcium.
For instance, arugula, cabbage, beet, turnip, mustard, and chicory greens are only a few calcium-rich veggies. You could add them to your favorite cottage cheese salad!
As a rule of thumb, you can eat 2 tablespoons of cottage cheese before bed. Much higher amounts can affect sleep quality.
You can eat cottage cheese with whole wheat crackers. It’s a great, filling, late-night snack for weight loss.
After exercise
Moreover, cottage cheese is a great ingredient for a post-workout meal. It can provide muscle mass with all essential amino acids for hours, as it’s a slow-digesting protein.
But, you better avoid consuming cottage cheese right after a workout. The first post-workout snack should be high in simple carbs that replenish muscle glycogen stores and easily digested protein.
