“Everything you see, I owe to spaghetti.”

Sofia Loren

Toxic diet culture has poisoned our minds.

The fight for skinny is over and none of us won; whatever shape your body is in, shame and guilt won’t be fixing it. Cheese has been villainised by some who believe there is just one way to live, and we don’t think that’s fair. (On us, or the cheese)

Luckily for all of us, society’s relationship with food is changing, it’s slowing down and moving towards mindful eating. Nowadays there is diversity when it comes to what is considered healthy.

Starvation and exclusion diets are out, mindful eating is in.

At Zandam we are all about the slow food movement and being in the present with what is on your plate. In any case, you can’t rush cheese – there’s no cheat code when it comes to the ageing process of a perfect Zandam Pecorino.

We have always appreciated our Italian cheese for its delicious taste and last year we spoke about why cheese is an important part of your meal, but now we want to take the shame out of that slice of pizza and bite of tiramisu. Once and for all!

It’s not fattening, it’s “nutrient-dense”.

There is no denying that cheese has more basic calories than cucumber, but remember – salads don’t win scrums, and simply enjoying something nutrient-dense isn’t automatically bad.

Take back the power on your plate.

Once we stop calling certain food groups “bad” we take away the shame of enjoying them, and they lose their forbidden pull. When we do this we break the toxic train of thought that has caused so much pain over the past decades.

Giving a certain food group so much power over you isn’t the way to go. Indulge in that piece of cheese, chew it, taste it, eat it, and move on.

Eat more cheese

We are not just saying this to sell more cheese. (Zandam Italian Cheese sells itself, thank you very much.) The science is out and we now know that repeated attempts at losing weight through starvation or exclusion dieting can lead to more weight gain in the long run. When you ignore your body’s natural hunger cues, you forget how to self-regulate and this can lead to binge eating and an unhealthy relationship with food for the rest of your life.

“You become more at risk of emotional eating, eating out of boredom, and are more vulnerable to environmental cues that tell you to eat more than your body wants,” says Dr Sandra Aamodt, PhD.

Eating is essential to survival. So it is stressful to diet. This means that you are creating higher levels of the stress hormone Cortisol, which then leads to the buildup of visceral fat (never great). So dieting is actually bad for your health

If we remove the shame and, instead, talk about responsibility and mindfulness, the conversation changes. According to the Centre for Mindful Eating, Mindful Eating is

• Allowing yourself to become aware of the positive and nurturing opportunities that are available through food selection and preparation by respecting your inner wisdom.
• Using all your senses in choosing to eat food that is both satisfying to you and nourishing to your body.
• Acknowledging responses to food (likes, dislikes or neutral) without judgment.
• Becoming aware of physical hunger and satiety cues to guide your decisions to begin and end eating.

Over the years, we have learnt so much from making our Authentic Italian Cheese. We understand the importance of sourcing the very best raw ingredients, treating them with respect, and creating a beautifully balanced final product. Just like we have to take all these factors into account to create the perfect, pleasingly plump Zandam Burrata, you have to find that balance between cucumber and cheese to create your own pleasingly plump bits…

Sources:

On the dangers of diet culture:

https://www.nbcnews.com/better/health/what-happens-your-brain-when-you-go-diet-ncna802626

On the practice of mindful eating:

https://www.thecenterformindfuleating.org/

Some recipes that showcase mindful eating and eating with all your senses:

https://www.zandamcheese.co.za/mozzarella-di-bufala-and-shrimp-pasta-sadies-bubble-of-yum/

https://www.zandamcheese.co.za/olive-swiss-chard-and-zandam-ricotta-tart/