Provolone: the slice is 9 g and the table is 100 g

The first thing anyone measured here was speed, and it was measured in a different cheese. In 24 healthy adults of about 27 years with a BMI near 23, cheddar supplying 20 g of protein released branched-chain amino acids slowly and steadily, peaking around 120 minutes, in a crossover trial with blood sampling and muscle biopsies. Insulin in that same trial did not move after cheese at any time point, while milk carrying the same protein differed from baseline at 20 and 40 minutes (p < 0.0001). No trial on this page was run on provolone itself: what was measured in people here came from cheddar, from gruyere and from cheese as a class. The composition table is the part that is about provolone. Per 100 g, the USDA reference record for sliced provolone holds 16.24 g of saturated fat, which is 81 percent of the Daily Value, with 748.8 mg of calcium and 23.45 g of protein, and eight analysed samples stayed close to those figures. One slice is under a tenth of that 100 g. The US survey database records a cracker-size slice at 9 g and a cubic inch at 17 g.

The numbers, per 100 g

How much is actually in it

• US law defines provolone by make and by composition: a pasta filata or stretched curd cheese with a stringy texture, at least 45 percent milkfat by weight of the solids and no more than 45 percent moisture. — not applicable, this is a composition rule for product sold in the United States Evidence E source
  Minimum milkfat 45 percent of solids, maximum moisture 45 percent by weight
• Per 100 g sliced provolone carries 16.24 g of saturated fat, which is 81 percent of the daily value, alongside 748.8 mg of calcium at 58 percent and 23.45 g of protein, and eight analysed samples moved little around those numbers. — not applicable, USDA reference record Cheese, provolone, sliced plus eight Foundation samples (n = 3 records, 8 samples) Evidence D source
  Saturated fat 16.24 g per 100 g with samples 15.65 to 18.01, calcium 748.8 mg with samples 728 to 773, protein 23.453 g with samples 22.202 to 24.627

What a real portion looks like

• The household measures are small: the survey database records a cracker-size slice of provolone at 9 g and a cubic inch at 17 g, so one slice is under a tenth of the 100 g the composition table is built on. — not applicable, US dietary survey portion records for Cheese, Provolone (n = 2 measures) Evidence D source
  1 cracker-size slice 9 g, 1 cubic inch 17 g

What your body absorbs

• The cheese matrix slows protein delivery: in 24 adults, cheddar giving 20 g of protein released branched-chain amino acids more slowly and more steadily than the same protein as milk, peaking around 120 minutes. — 24 healthy adults, 12 men and 12 women, about 27 years old with BMI about 23, crossover with blood and muscle biopsies (n = 24) Evidence B source
  Slower and more sustained branched-chain amino acid appearance peaking at about 120 min, modest mTORC1 signalling, lower insulinogenic response than milk
• The same trial shows where the difference sits: milk spiked insulin 20 minutes after eating, while cheddar carrying the same amount of protein did not move insulin at any time point. — 24 healthy adults, insulin, glucose and free fatty acids measured across the postabsorptive period after each product (n = 24) Evidence B source
  Milk different from baseline and from cheese at 20 and 40 min (p < 0.0001), no significant insulin change after cheese at any time point

What cooking and storage change

• Ripening is where the tyramine in aged cheese comes from: across 14 studies tyramine and histamine were the amines most often present at high concentration, and controlled ripening with selected probiotics cut total biogenic amines by up to 80 percent. — not applicable, 14 laboratory studies of cheese ripening published between 2010 and 2024 (n = 14 studies) Evidence D source
  Up to 80 percent reduction in total biogenic amines with Lactobacillus acidophilus plus Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, best at pH 5.0 to 5.4, ripening near 15 C and maturation of 3 to 4 months

What it does to your health

• In the largest pooling to date, 29 cohorts with 1.3 million people, each extra 10 g of cheese a day went with 4 percent higher risk of Parkinson disease, and high dairy intake with 26 percent higher risk. — 29 prospective cohort studies with 1,307,337 participants, dose-response analysis of food group intake against incident Parkinson disease (n = 1,307,337) Evidence C source
  4 percent higher risk per 10 g cheese per day, dairy OR 1.26 (95% CI 1.12 to 1.41) highest against lowest, legumes and nuts the only group with reduced risk OR 0.71 (95% CI 0.62 to 0.81)

Safety, limits and interactions

• The cheese reaction is measured in tyramine, not in cheese: a challenge of about 400 mg of tyramine eaten as aged cheeses produced no clinically significant blood pressure change in 12 healthy men on a 6 mg per 24 hour selegiline patch. — 12 healthy adult male volunteers, tyramine challenge after 13 consecutive days of transdermal selegiline at pharmacokinetic steady state (n = 12) Evidence B source
  No clinically significant change in cardiovascular vital signs and no pressor response or hypertensive crisis during patch treatment
• The drug on the list is not always an antidepressant: two patients on isoniazid developed paroxysmal hypertension after eating gruyere cheese, and it did not return under the same conditions once the drug was stopped. — two adult men treated with isoniazid, rechallenged under the same dietary conditions after treatment was interrupted (n = 2) Evidence C source
  Paroxysmal hypertension after cheese while on isoniazid, absent after the drug was stopped, with one vasomotor reaction resembling the tyramine reaction seen under monoamine oxidase inhibitors

What people believe that the data does not support

• Europe has not authorised a single health claim for cheese: of 12 cheese entries in the EU register all 12 are non-authorised, including the claim that dairy foods promote dental health in children. — not applicable, EU register of nutrition and health claims, snapshot of 2026-09-21 holding 2330 claims (n = 12 cheese entries, 0 authorised) Evidence E source
  Claim POL-HC-6306 listed as Non-authorised

What is still unknown

• A second meta-analysis published the same year found no significant association between cheese and Parkinson disease, so the 4 percent per 10 g figure is not settled science but the reading of one pooling out of two. — nine observational studies, eight cohorts with 634,327 participants and 4285 incident cases plus one case-control study of 617 individuals (n = 634,327 in cohorts) Evidence C source
  No significant association for cheese, while total dairy carried RR 1.211 (95% CI 1.071 to 1.37) and milk RR 1.13 (95% CI 1.079 to 1.20)

The bottom line

US law defines provolone by make and by composition: a pasta filata or stretched curd cheese with a stringy texture, at least 45 percent milkfat by weight of the solids and no more than 45 percent moisture. Ripening is where the tyramine in aged cheese comes from. Across 14 laboratory studies of cheese ripening published between 2010 and 2024, tyramine and histamine were the amines most often present at high concentration, and controlled ripening with selected probiotic strains cut total biogenic amines by up to 80 percent in those laboratory conditions. The old warning about cheese and antidepressants is measured in tyramine rather than in cheese. In 12 healthy men at steady state on a 6 mg per 24 hour selegiline patch, a challenge of about 400 mg of tyramine eaten as aged cheeses produced no clinically significant change in blood pressure or in other cardiovascular measures. That is twelve men, one drug at one dose delivered through the skin, and it does not clear aged cheese for anyone taking a monoamine oxidase inhibitor by mouth. The drug that did produce one was isoniazid. Two men taking it developed paroxysmal hypertension after eating gruyere, and the reaction was absent when they ate the same way after the drug had been stopped. Two patients is a case report, so if you take a monoamine oxidase inhibitor or isoniazid, aged cheese is a question for whoever prescribes it. Europe has authorised no health claim for cheese at all. All 12 cheese entries in the EU register are listed as non-authorised in a snapshot of 2026-09-21 covering 2330 claims, including the claim that dairy foods promote dental health in children. Parkinson disease is the unsettled question. A pooling of 29 prospective cohorts with 1,307,337 people put each extra 10 g of cheese a day at 4 percent higher risk, with dairy at OR 1.26 (95% CI 1.12 to 1.41) for highest against lowest intake. A second meta-analysis published the same year, nine observational studies with 634,327 people in the cohorts and 4285 cases, found no significant association for cheese. Both are observational, so both describe associations rather than effects, and those two readings are what the evidence currently is.

Sources

1. prov-daily-r4-09 · Code of Federal Regulations, standard of identity
   Provolone, a pasta filata or stretched curd-type cheese, is the food prepared by the procedure set forth in paragraph (a)(3) of this section, or by any other method which produces a finished cheese having the same physical and chemical properties. It has a stringy texture. The minimum milkfat content is 45 percent by weight of the solids, as determined by the methods described in § 133.5 and the maximum moisture content is 45 percent by weight.
   21 CFR 133.181, Provolone cheese · checked 2026-09-24
2. prov-daily-r4-10 · food composition dataset, Foundation Foods record and sample ranges
   Cheese, provolone, sliced (FDC 2647440, Foundation, Dairy and Egg Products): saturated fat 16.24 g per 100 g = 81% DV, across 3 records 11.3-17.078, Foundation samples 15.65-18.01 n=8; calcium 748.8 mg = 58% DV, across 3 records 748.8-756, Foundation samples 728-773 n=8; protein 23.453 g = 47% DV, Foundation samples 22.202-24.627
   USDA FoodData Central, Foundation Foods, FDC 2647440 · checked 2026-09-24
3. prov-daily-r4-11 · FNDDS portion dataset
   Cheese, Provolone (FDC 2705733, FNDDS, WWEIA category Cheese): 1 cracker-size slice 9 g; 1 cubic inch 17 g
   USDA FNDDS, Cheese, Provolone, FDC 2705733 · checked 2026-09-24
4. prov-daily-r4-01 · randomised crossover trial in healthy adults
   We found that cheese ingestion had a slower yet more sustained branched-chain amino acid circulation appearance over the postprandial period peaking at ~120 min.
   Nutrients, 2021 · checked 2026-09-24
5. prov-daily-r4-02 · randomised crossover trial in healthy adults
   Milk induced a rapid spike in insulin 20 min after ingestion (2-Way ANOVA: Time*Product Interaction, p < 0.0001; Sidak’s multiple comparisons test, Milk different from baseline and from cheese at 20 and 40 min, p < 0.0001) while cheese consumption did not significantly change insulin at any time point (Figure 2A).
   Nutrients, 2021 · checked 2026-09-24
6. prov-daily-r4-03 · systematic review of laboratory food-technology studies
   Among the identified biogenic amines, tyramine and histamine were most frequently reported at high concentrations. The combination of Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum demonstrated the highest efficacy, achieving up to 80% reduction in total biogenic amine levels.
   J Food Prot, 2026 · checked 2026-09-24
7. prov-daily-r4-06 · dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies
   Linear dose-response analysis showed a 5%-7% increased risk for every 100-g/day dairy and low-fat dairy intake, 4% increased risk per 10-g cheese/day, and 13% increased risk per 1 cup milk/day.
   Nutr Rev, 2026 · checked 2026-09-24
8. prov-daily-r4-04 · randomised controlled tyramine challenge trial in healthy men
   The present study was conducted to determine the effect of the STS 6 mg/24 hour on cardiovascular safety following the ingestion of approximately 400 mg of tyramine consumed as a component of aged cheeses.
   CNS Spectr, 2007 · checked 2026-09-24
9. prov-daily-r4-05 · case report in two patients
   Paroxystic hypertension was observed in two patients receiving isoniazide treatment, after they had ingested gruyere cheese. It is highly probable that isoniazide was responsible, as hypertension did not reoccur under the same conditions after interrupting treatment.
   Ann Med Interne (Paris), 1980 · checked 2026-09-24
10. prov-daily-r4-08 · EU health claim register entry, regulatory decision
    POL-HC-6306 Dairy products (milk and cheese) Dairy foods (milk and cheese) promote dental health in children. -/- Non-authorised
    EU Register on nutrition and health claims, claim POL-HC-6306, snapshot 2026-09-21 · checked 2026-09-24
11. prov-daily-r4-07 · meta-analysis of observational studies
    No significant associations were found for yogurt/fermented milk, cheese, butter, or ice cream.
    Public Health, 2026 · checked 2026-09-24