Cheese is a popular addition to most dishes. Universally, the dairy product is loved with over 2,000 different varieties of cheese out there. However, there are some people who steer away from cheese for health or other reasons.

The average American eats about 34 pounds of cheese per year. However, around 10 percent of our population abstains from cheese; including on pizza, sandwiches, mac and cheese, grilled cheese, nachos, quesadillas and way more. Some people refuse to eat cheese due to being lactose intolerant, however, others choose willingly to stay away. There are a variety of different reasons, but one main one is subconscious.

Scientifically, cheese is made when the milk proteins inside it break down. This can lead to a moldy odor, if not actual mold within the cheese. As a species, we have learned to stay away from moldy food because it generally has gone bad and is not safe to eat.

Another reason some stay away from cheese is health. Overall, cheese is not the healthiest product and is an easy thing to take out of a meal to make it healthier. From McDonald’s, a cheeseburger has 300 calories with 12 grams of total fat and 33 grams of total carbs. The exact same burger without the cheese is 250 calories with 8 grams of total fat and 33 grams of total carbs. It may seem like a small difference but it’s such an easy thing to take off that those who try to eat healthier often do.

Diving deeper into the health side, consumed on a daily basis, cheese can increase the risk of bladder, prostate, breast, testicular and colon cancers. It can also disrupt digestive patterns – leading to bloating, constipation or diarrhea.

Some cows have been treated with hormones, which many people don’t want to willingly put in their body. About one-quarter of American cheese comes from cows that have been treated with Bovine Growth Hormone, or BGH, which can cause early growth spurts in children (think a six year old girl starting puberty early).

The dairy industry is also notorious for cruel practices with cows. Some consumers steer clear of dairy so as to not support the dairy industry and further the industry’s resources to continue the abuse. Practices such as forced impregnation and then killing the calf or leaving the calf to starve to death is a common practice, as well as drugging the cows, with a hormone such as BGH described above, in order to force the cows to produce four times the amount of milk than natural.

Other people just don’t like cheese. They don’t like the taste or how it makes them feel or that they can save a couple cents by forgoing the cheese.

Cheese can be a delicious add-on to most meals and can hold a great source of protein, calcium and healthy fats. However, alternatives include cheeses made from nuts such as cashew cheese, hummus or even stinky tofu. There is a whole world of alternatives to dairy cheese that are out there waiting to be discovered.