Can someone point me to a reference that discusses the oxidation of
cholesterol as a consequence of aging cheese? I have looked but can't
find any. Thanks a  lot.

David

-----Original Message-----
From: Raw Food Diet Support List [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Wes Peterson
Sent: Wednesday, May 28, 2003 7:05 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: raw cheese: good or bad?


On Mon, 26 May 2003 11:40:26 -0700, Frank Kuan <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

>do all 22 enzymes survive the 60 day fermentation
>process from raw milk to raw cheese?
>
>-fk


I just thought I'd comment about that "60 day fermentation process",
more commonly referred to simply as "aging". I read that aging cheese
for that length of time results in the cholesterol in it becoming
oxidized. Oxidized cholesterol is not good for cardiovascular health
(and other aspects of health). The original studies that found dietary
cholesterol to be "bad" were using oxidized cholesterol.

Also, I once emailed a raw cheese vendor and asked them if the cheese
was truly raw (unheated). They told me it wasn't, and was heated to
fairly significant temperatures for a period of time. So, many of those
commonly available "raw" cheeses are not truly raw.

If you experience excess mucus in relation to eating the cheese, that's
not an uncommon experience. That, coupled with the body odor, and who
knows what else is going on "beneath the surface" may help you in
answering your own original question, which was, "raw cheese: good or
bad?".

Wes