Is cottage cheese bad for cholesterol?

Nothing in the trials suggests it is, but cottage cheese itself has barely been tested. The firmest evidence is about hard cheese. A 2023 meta-analysis of 7 randomized trials found that about 4.8 oz (135 g) of hard or semi-hard cheese a day, for at least 14 days, lowered LDL cholesterol by 7.3 mg/dL (95% CI 4.6 to 10; metric: 0.19 mmol/L, 0.12 to 0.27) compared with about 1.8 oz (52 g) of butter. We found no trial that fed people cottage cheese for weeks and measured their LDL.

Unsettled. Every long trial behind this answer used hard cheese or mixed dairy. The one trial that served cottage cheese followed people for a few hours after a single snack. Applying the cheese results to cottage cheese is a reasonable guess. It is still a guess.

What the trials found

Cheese against butter

The 2023 review found total cholesterol fell by 9.3 mg/dL (0.24 mmol/L) and HDL cholesterol by 1.5 mg/dL (0.04 mmol/L) alongside the LDL drop. The reviewers judged every trial to have some concerns about bias. A 2015 meta-analysis of 5 trials in healthy adults, eating about 5.1 oz (145 g) of cheese a day, found LDL 6.5% lower than with butter, 8.5 mg/dL (95% CI 5.4 to 11; metric: 0.22 mmol/L, 0.14 to 0.29). HDL was 3.9% lower and triglycerides did not change.

The comparison matters. In the same 2015 review, ordinary cheese raised total or LDL cholesterol against tofu or fat-modified cheese, as the fat balance of those diets predicted. The review found too few trials to compare cheese with other foods.

Full fat against reduced fat

In a 12-week randomized trial of 164 adults with at least two metabolic syndrome risk factors, 2.8 oz (80 g) of regular-fat cheese per 10 MJ of food did not change LDL cholesterol differently from reduced-fat cheese or from a bread and jam diet. Of the 164, 139 finished, and the cheese was hard cheese. In a 12-week trial of 72 adults with metabolic syndrome, 3.3 servings a day of full-fat or low-fat milk, yogurt and cheese had no effect on fasting total, LDL or HDL cholesterol or triglycerides, against a diet low in dairy. That result comes from the 66 people who followed the protocol, and lipids were an exploratory outcome.

The one trial with cottage cheese

In a randomized crossover trial of 30 healthy adults, a cottage cheese snack and an omelette matched for energy (1346 kJ), protein (26 g) and fat (21 g) produced similar blood glucose, triglyceride and cholesterol profiles afterward. Blood was taken in a subgroup of 10. A single snack says nothing about LDL over months.

Cottage cheese in a population survey

In a survey of 3,078 French adults aged 35 to 64, people who ate more low-fat dairy, a group that counted milk, yogurt and cottage cheese together, had lower LDL cholesterol. That is an association in a single snapshot. It cannot show that cottage cheese lowered anything, and it cannot separate cottage cheese from milk and yogurt.

For the rest of what cottage cheese offers, see the cottage cheese page. For fat in the diet as a whole, see our dietary fat and cholesterol review.

Who should be careful

Not for everyone. For people limiting salt, sodium is the number to watch in cottage cheese. In 10 USDA samples of full-fat cottage cheese, sodium averaged 349.8 mg per 3.5 oz (100 g) and ranged from 276.5 to 412.0 mg. If you are limiting salt, the label is worth reading, because brands differ.

The same samples held about 18 mg of cholesterol and 2.6 g of saturated fat per 3.5 oz (100 g). The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2025-2030 say saturated fat should in general stay at or below 10% of daily calories. Cottage cheese counts toward that limit like any other dairy food.

What expert bodies say

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2025-2030 say that when eating dairy, people should include full-fat dairy with no added sugars, at 3 servings a day on a 2,000 calories diet. That is a change from the previous edition, which favored low-fat dairy. The same guidelines keep saturated fat at or below 10% of calories. We found no guideline that addresses cottage cheese and cholesterol directly.

How we searched

What would change this answer

• A randomized trial of cottage cheese, full-fat against low-fat, eaten daily for several weeks with fasting LDL measured. We found none, finished or registered.
• A trial comparing cottage cheese with the foods people actually swap it for, such as yogurt, meat or plant protein, since the comparison decides the result.
• Cohort data that report cottage cheese on its own, separate from milk and yogurt.

Sources

1. ev-ccch-01 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials · n = 7 RCTs pooled (10 articles in review)
   Pooled analyses of 7 RCTs showed a reduction in fasting total cholesterol, LDL-C and HDL-C concentrations after ≥14 d mean daily intake of 135 g cheese (weighted mean difference [WMD]: -0.24 mmol/L; 95% confidence interval (CI): -0.34, -0.15; I2 = 59.8%, WMD: -0.19 mmol/L; 95% CI: -0.27, -0.12; I2 = 42.8%, and WMD: -0.04 mmol/L; 95% CI: -0.08, -0.00; I2 = 58.6%, respectively) relative to ∼52 g/d butter.
   
   Who: adults in randomized controlled trials of isoenergetic substitution of hard or semi-hard cheese with other dairy products
   Effect: LDL-C WMD -7.3 mg/dL (95% CI -10 to -4.6; metric: -0.19 mmol/L, -0.27 to -0.12); total cholesterol -9.3 mg/dL (-0.24 mmol/L); HDL-C -1.5 mg/dL (-0.04 mmol/L); all RCTs some concerns for bias
   Certainty: Hard cheeses, not cottage cheese; comparison with butter, not with no cheese.
   Adv Nutr, 2023 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
2. ev-ccch-02 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials · n = 12 RCTs in review; 5 pooled
   Compared with butter intake, cheese intake (weighted mean difference: 145.0 g/d) reduced low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) by 6.5% (-0.22 mmol/l; 95%CI: -0.29 to -0.14) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) by 3.9% (-0.05 mmol/l; 95%CI: -0.09 to -0.02) but had no effect on triglycerides.
   
   Who: healthy adults in randomized controlled trials comparing hard cheese with butter
   Effect: LDL-C -6.5% (-8.5 mg/dL (-0.22 mmol/L); 95% CI -0.29 to -0.14); HDL-C -3.9%; no effect on triglycerides; mean cheese 145 g/d
   Certainty: Hard cheeses; compared with tofu or cheese with modified fat, ordinary cheese raised LDL.
   Nutr Rev, 2015 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
3. ev-ccch-03 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials · n = 12 RCTs
   Compared with intake of tofu or fat-modified cheese, cheese intake increased total cholesterol or LDL-C, as was expected on the basis of the P/S ratio of the diets.
   
   Who: healthy adults in randomized controlled trials of cheese versus other foods
   Effect: cheese vs tofu or fat-modified cheese: higher total cholesterol or LDL-C; insufficient data for other comparisons
   Certainty: The effect depends on what the cheese is replaced with.
   Nutr Rev, 2015 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
4. ev-ccch-04 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · randomized parallel controlled trial · n = 164 randomized; 139 completed
   The primary outcome, LDL cholesterol, was not significantly different between the REG and RED diets or between the REG and CHO diets.
   
   Who: adults with at least 2 metabolic syndrome risk factors; regular-fat cheese, reduced-fat cheese or carbohydrate control at 80 g cheese per 10 MJ
   Effect: LDL cholesterol not significantly different between regular-fat and reduced-fat cheese or carbohydrate control
   Certainty: Hard cheese; transferred to cottage cheese only as context.
   Am J Clin Nutr, 2016 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
5. ev-ccch-05 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · randomized controlled trial · n = 72 randomized; 66 per protocol
   In the per-protocol analysis (n = 66), there was no intervention effect on fasting serum total, LDL, and HDL cholesterol; triglycerides; free fatty acids; or cholesterol content in 38 isolated plasma lipoprotein fractions (P > 0.1 for all variables in repeated-measures ANOVA).
   
   Who: adults with metabolic syndrome; limited dairy, or 3.3 servings/d of low-fat or full-fat milk, yogurt and cheese for 12 weeks
   Effect: no intervention effect on total, LDL or HDL cholesterol or triglycerides (P > 0.1)
   Certainty: Lipids are an exploratory endpoint.
   Am J Clin Nutr, 2021 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
6. ev-ccch-06 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · randomized crossover trial · n = 30 (blood in 10)
   In contrast, glucose, triglycerides and cholesterol displayed similar profiles after the snack.
   
   Who: healthy volunteers; snack of cottage cheese or omelette, each 1346 kJ, 26 g protein, 21 g lipids; blood sampled in a subgroup of 10
   Effect: similar postprandial glucose, triglyceride and cholesterol profiles
   Certainty: A single meal, postprandial; not about long-term effect on LDL.
   Appetite, 2015 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
7. ev-ccch-07 · Observational data · cross-sectional population survey · n = 3078
   Intake of low-fat dairy products was inversely associated with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), but no significant independent relationship was found with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) or triglycerides.
   
   Who: adults aged 35-64 years in three French areas; low-fat dairy = milk, yogurts and cottage cheese
   Effect: low-fat dairy inversely associated with LDL-C; no significant relationship with HDL-C or triglycerides
   Certainty: Cottage cheese in the group together with milk and yogurts; observational.
   Eur J Prev Cardiol, 2014 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
8. ev-ccch-08 · Position of an expert body · reference dataset · n = —
   Cottage cheese, full fat, large or small curd: Cholesterol 18.0 MG, range 16.0-21.6 (median 17.75), 10 samples; Fatty acids, total saturated 2.601 G, range 2.41-2.9 (median 2.575), 10 samples; Sodium, Na 349.8 MG, range 276.5-412.0 (median 356.5), 10 samples
   
   Who: USDA Foundation Foods samples of Cottage cheese, full fat, large or small curd (10 samples)
   Effect: cholesterol 18.0 mg (16.0-21.6); saturated fat 2.60 g (2.41-2.90); sodium 349.8 mg (276.5-412.0) per 3.5 oz (100 g)
   Certainty: Sodium varies between samples; important for a salt-restricted diet.
   USDA FoodData Central, Foundation Foods, release 2026-04-30, Cottage cheese, full fat, large or small curd · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the dataset
9. ev-ccch-09 · Position of an expert body · national dietary guideline · n = —
   When consuming dairy, include full-fat dairy with no added sugars.
   
   Who: general US population
   Effect: recommends including full-fat dairy without added sugars; 3 dairy servings/day at 2,000 calories
   Certainty: A change of position versus DGA 2020-2025 (which favored low-fat).
   Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030 (HHS, USDA), January 2026 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the section
10. ev-ccch-10 · Position of an expert body · national dietary guideline · n = —
    In general, saturated fat consumption should not exceed 10% of total daily calories.
    
    Who: general US population
    Effect: saturated fat no more than 10% of total daily calories
    Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030 (HHS, USDA), January 2026 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the section