The following appeared in the July 2009 issue of Alok Holistic Health e-newsletter (alokhealth.com) by Zohar Zemach Wilson.

"My whole family is lactose intolerant and when we take pictures we can't say cheese." - Jay London

"How can anyone govern a nation that has two hundred and forty-six different kinds of cheese?" - Charles De Gaulle

Dearest reader

A friend of mine who has returned from a visit to Switzerland, brought back with him lots of fatty Swiss cheeses. He told me that he was very surprised to find out that the Swiss eat lots of fatty cheese, yet they remain skinny. He offered me some cheese, but since I'm not a big fan of dairy products, I declined.

Few days later I went away for the weekend. I [hung] a hammock in a forest, near a small pool of fresh water. During most of the weekend I watched and listened to nutrition lectures on the Integrative Nutrition iPod.

In one of the lectures, Dr. Andrew Weil, MD was asked about his favorite food. To my surprise he said that he loves fatty Swiss cheese since most Swiss cows graze freely on high quality mountain grass. Whereas cheese from cows fed with industrial grains hardly has any of the nutritionally important Omega 3 fatty acid (ratio of 20:1 between Omega 6 and Omega 3), cheese from grass-fed cows has lots of Omega 3 (ratio of 1:1 between Omega 6 and Omega 3). Additionally, many of the Swiss fatty cheeses are from milk that hasn't been pasteurized, a process that destroys the quality of the milk.

The next time I met my friend, I shared with him my cheese findings and told him that now I'll be happy to taste some of his Swiss Cheese. My friend rubbed his belly and smiled, making me understand that no cheese remained.