Cheese, and dairy is definitely a staller for me. In fact, even in my lowFAT days, I found skim milk and cottage cheese were problematic.
I've been thinking about the problem with dairy for a long time now. Just what is it that could be causing the problem?? Is it the carbs ?? Is it the fat ??? Is it the salt in cheese ?? Is it the binding effect it has on the bowel??? ....
For the record, I have scoured the web and the public library for information ... and haven't come up with any solid answers -- yet. But I have come up with some theories.
First, think of the hormones in milk. I'm not talking artificially added hormones. I'm talking about organic hormones that are found naturally in milk. Think about it ... big, lactating, ovulating cows = estrogen, progesterone, lactoferrin, etc ...... When I was a teenager, drinking milk made my acne worse, and the dr. told me it was the hormones in milk. It stands to reason those same hormones may be screwing up my weight loss efforts. And it seems to be that most lowcarbers experiencing the cheese/dairy stall problems are women. Hmmmm....
Second, I've pretty much ruled out the carbs in cheese as being a stall problem ... Unless of course a person isn't counting the carbs in cheese/cream, or assumes that dairy products are zero carb foods that can be eaten freely like meat or chicken. Most serious lowcarbers are taking the carbs into consideration in the daily total. Lactose is no better or no worse than any other sugar, unless of course you are lactose intolerant. It just doesn't stand to reason that 3 carbs' worth of lactose are any different from 3 carbs' worth of fructose or glucose from vegetables.
Third, the main protein in milk is casein. Casein is what gets separated out in the cheese-making process, and becomes the curds which are made into cheese. Casein is the protein most likely to cause milk allergy. Many food allergies go undetected, because the symptoms are very subtle. But frequent symptoms can be bloating; fluid retention; puffy face, hands and feet; constipation; weight gain --- likely due to the fluid retention. It's possible then, that some of us might have a mild allergy to the casein in cow's milk ..... I don't seem to have a problem with butter, because it's pure fat, there is no protein. I've also been using goat and sheep milk cheeses (sparingly) ... the casein protein from these mammals is smaller, much closer to human milk than cow milk. I certainly don't have the digestive gas and constipation effect as with regular cheese.
Interesting to note ... the better quality lowcarb shakes made from purified, filtered isolated whey protein contain NO casein. In fact, you're not supposed to add any milk or cream or other dairy to the whey protein, because the casein in the cream will bind with the whey protein, and prevent it from being absorbed. I usually just add water to mine, and some flax meal, a dot of vanilla or other flavour and use a blender to make it nice and creamy.
Ok, these are just my theories and ruminations, and hardly scientific. Definitely not double-blind, placebo controlled. But a little more than 2 cents worth, I hope...
Doreen