What Are the Saltiest Cheeses?

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A few weeks ago I asked people on Facebook what nutrition questions they want answered. This time, I got a question that surprised me: "What cheeses are the saltiest?" Random, I thought! Yet once I dived into writing this post, I realized it's a really good question; Americans eat way too much sodium, and cheese is a high-sodium culprit. If you're trying to lower the amount of sodium in your diet, knowing which cheeses are less salty than others could help you out. More generally, you can minimize the sodium load of your diet by cutting down on restaurant meals and processed foods — the two biggest sources of sodium in our diets — and cooking more meals at home using fresh, whole ingredients.

Here are some of your favorite cheeses ranked from most to least salty. To put these numbers in perspective, a teaspoon of salt is 2,400 mg of sodium, and the recommended daily limit of sodium for most people is 2,300 mg/day.

Sodium per 1-oz. slice of cheese:
American, 468 mg
Parmesan, 390 mg
Swiss cheese (processed), 388 mg
Blue cheese, 325 mg
Feta, 260 mg
Provolone, 248 mg
Gouda, 232 mg
Gruyere, 202 mg
Mozzarella, 178 mg
Munster, 178 mg
Brie, 178 mg
Cheddar, 174 mg
Monterey Jack, 150 mg
Cream cheese, 103 mg
Emmental (true Swiss cheese), 20 mg

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