Milk, yogurt, cheese and other dairy foods: composition, varieties, processing, storage and quality.
Aging does not magically add protein or fat to cheese; it removes water. That is why aged cheeses can exceed 350–400 calories and 25 grams of protein per 100 grams while many fresh cheeses land around 170–250 calories and 12–18 grams protein.
A small serving of cheese can fit into a daily diet, but type and portion matter. The American Heart Association recommends two to three dairy servings per day and favors fat-free or low-fat options. About 1.5 oz of hard cheese counts as a dairy serving; full-fat hard cheeses can provide useful protein and calcium while also concentrating saturated fat and sodium.
For most people who tolerate dairy, eating yogurt every day can fit a healthy pattern. The useful comparison is not yogurt versus no yogurt, but plain versus heavily sweetened products, protein content, fat level, serving size and how the rest of the diet is structured.
Cottage cheese and Greek yogurt are both high-protein dairy foods and are quite close: each often provides around 10–12 grams of protein per 100 grams. The bigger difference is sodium, with cottage cheese often several times higher. Calories depend on fat level, and typical serving size can change total protein more than the small per-100-gram gap.
Plain Greek yogurt usually contains about twice as much protein as conventional plain yogurt, roughly 8–10 grams versus 3–5 grams per 100 grams. But “Greek” does not automatically mean more fat or less sugar: those depend on milkfat level, processing and whether sweeteners were added.
Parmesan dominates per 100 grams because it is so concentrated, but most people do not eat it in the same portion as a fresh cheese. Once serving size enters the picture, the ranking tells a different story.