Planning your Thanksgiving menu? These 5 cheeses are among the healthiest, according to dietitians

Cheese please!As we prepare for Thanksgiving, our national day of gratitude and gluttony, plenty of people are cooking up menus packed with dairy goodness — but how do we whey the health scales in our favor?Some cheeses are better for you than others, and picking the right ones can mean getting a tasty meal while also loading up on protein, vitamins, and good bacteria.Many dietitians say that cheese — and any food people enjoy — shouldn’t be off-limits.“We tend to view food as either good or bad for us,” Lisa Young, a registered dietitian at New York University and the author of “Finally Full, Finally Slim,” previously told The Post.However, she said, such thinking isn’t necessarily useful — or, well, healthy.Young notes that cheese “provides protein [and] calcium, so there is definitely a place in the diet for it,” specifying that aged cheeses help to aid digestion and boost immunity.Those who consume cheese and full-fat dairy have also been found to lower their likelihood of developing diabetes or hypertension.

A 2020 study — which surveyed more than 145,000 people in 21 countries — found consuming two daily servings of dairy of any kind reduced the risk posed by either condition by 11% to 24%.Research also suggests eating cheese can lead to a longer, richer life.Un-brie-lievable.

Read on to learn more about the healthiest cheeses to add to your holiday spread.Cottage cheese is a mild, fresh, soft cheese that has recently experienced a renaissance, popping up on TikTok and being enthusiastically adopted by Gen Z as a dairy staple.It’s an easy substitute for ricotta, making it an excellent pick for lightening up lasagnas or crafting a high-protein cheesecake.

And healthy cooking fans love it because it’s low in fat and high in protein, a combo that preserves muscle mass, keeps you satiated throughout the day, and increases metabolism through the thermic effect of food (TEF).This means the body burns more calories digesting pr...