Cooked/processed and aged cheese is the more digestible form of dairy because bacteria have already worked on it; it is fattier, softer, less allergenic and less stimulating to the immune system than milk, yogurt and casein-rich fresh products.

Original statement

تبعد بقى عن كل ممنوعاتي اللبن والزبادي والكاسينات والحاجات دي انا عايز اخد منها الشكل الاكثر هضما او قابليه للهضم فبناخد الجبن المطبوخه عشان خلاص البكتيريا اشتغلت عليها مره وطرت وهي فاتي اكتر وبتسيح في المايكروويف ففيزيكالي هتبقى انعم واطرى وارحم لهضمك واقل اقل تحسسيه واقل اثاره لجهازك المناعي

verbatim according to source. Translation by the project; the Arabic wording is authoritative.

Translation

Cooked/processed and aged cheese is the more digestible form of dairy because bacteria have already worked on it; it is fattier, softer, less allergenic and less stimulating to the immune system than milk, yogurt and casein-rich fresh products.

Origin

Source status

Video transcript (own words)

Attribution

Elawady (machine transcript)

Video

Dr Diaa Al Awady د ضياء العوضي is live! اصل الأمراض في فهم الاعراض✌️✌️✌️ (Open source)

Published

5 September 2025

Timestamp

1:54:53 (location in the original video’s automatic YouTube caption track; confirms where the words occur, not who speaks)

Attribution uncertainty

Archive transcript (YouTube CC or AI-generated); no timestamps; wording may contain transcription errors; spoken live-stream language, context partly conversational.

Claimed mechanism

Bacterial pre-digestion (fermentation/ripening) and cooking make cheese easier to digest and less immunogenic; fresh casein-rich products are 'not digested'.

Claimed health effect

Fewer digestive problems and less immune activation with cooked/aged cheese.

Population concerned

Followers of the system.

Geographic restriction by Elawady

none found

Diverging source versions

Scientific assessment

Potentially true – Some evidence points in favour of the statement, but it is not sufficient for a clear judgement.

Certainty of evidence: low – Further research is likely to change the assessment considerably.

1. What was claimed?

Bacteria-processed, cooked or aged cheese is easier to digest and less immunogenic than milk, yogurt and fresh white/cottage cheese.

2. What is demonstrably correct?

Ripening and fermentation reduce lactose: all tested PDO cheeses except one were below 10 mg/kg, including short-ripened ones (20-35 days); the authors identify the starter culture, rather than ageing time, as the main factor (I-DRY-13). For people with lactose malabsorption (common worldwide, I-DRY-14), aged hard cheeses and butter are better tolerated than milk. So the digestive part has a real basis for this subgroup.

3. What is wrong or exaggerated?

Yogurt is also made by bacteria ('the bacteria already worked on it'), yet it is forbidden - the rationale contradicts the classification; most lactose-intolerant people tolerate yogurt with live cultures (I-DRY-14). Cream, which some sources allow, is not low in lactose (cooking cream 3.9 g/100 g vs plain yogurt 2.6 g and Greek yogurt 0.5 g; I-DRY-14), and processed cheese, fresh cheeses and cream were not tested in I-DRY-13. The claim of lower allergenicity or immune stimulation is unsupported: neither lactose study examined it, and casein, the main allergen and the source of A1 BCM-7, is concentrated in cheese. Cottage cheese being 'not digested' has no evidence base; casein is digested by normal gastric and pancreatic proteases (general physiology).

4. What remains unclear?

Lactose content of Egyptian processed and 'romi' cheeses; individual tolerance.

5. Which studies support it?

I-DRY-13 (lactose near zero in tested ripened PDO cheeses only; no data on allergenicity, immune effects, processed cheese or cream); I-DRY-14 (lactose intolerance management; low lactose in hard cheese and butter).

6. Which studies contradict it?

I-DRY-19 (dairy pro-inflammatory only in milk-allergic subjects; fermented products anti-inflammatory overall); I-DRY-04 (A1 casein effects relate to the protein, present in cheese); I-DRY-14 (yogurt generally tolerated; cream contains substantial lactose).

7. What applies to Germany and Europe?

Aged cheeses are commonly advised for lactose-intolerant people in Europe (I-DRY-13/14 are Italian).

8. What is known about Egypt?

Egyptian 'romi' cheese is a ripened hard cheese and is plausibly low in lactose (not measured here); Egyptian processed cheeses were not examined.

9. What practical conclusion is appropriate?

For lactose-intolerant individuals, aged hard cheese can be a practical dairy choice; this does not make yogurt or white cheese harmful for people who tolerate them.

Assessment details

Rationale for certainty of evidence

The lactose part is supported: ripened cheeses contain little or no lactose (I-DRY-13) and lactose malabsorption is common worldwide (I-DRY-14). The immunological part (less allergenic) is not supported by evidence we found; milk protein allergy persists with cheese. The argument is internally inconsistent because yogurt is also bacterially fermented.

Source quality

Elawady's own words (machine transcript); explanation is brief and informal.

Regional transferability

Lactose malabsorption is more common in the Middle East than in northern Europe (I-DRY-14 cites ~70% limited lactase expression worldwide; region-specific figures from a retracted meta-analysis were not used).

Individual exceptions

Lactose-intolerant people often tolerate aged hard cheese; people with milk-protein allergy do not tolerate cheese either.

Regional scope of the claim

general (biological/medical)

Last reviewed

25 October 2026 provisional

In plain language

Aged cheeses like cheddar or parmesan contain almost no milk sugar (lactose), so people who cannot digest lactose often tolerate them well. In that sense Dr. Elawady's point has some basis. But yogurt is also made with bacteria, and it is forbidden in the system, which contradicts his own explanation. Cheese is concentrated milk protein, so it is not less allergenic for people with a milk-protein allergy. Fresh cheeses are digested normally by healthy people.

Studies on this claim

Regional context

Germany / EU

Aged cheeses are commonly advised for lactose-intolerant people in Europe (I-DRY-13/14 are Italian).

Egypt

Egyptian 'romi' cheese is a ripened hard cheese and is plausibly low in lactose (not measured here); Egyptian processed cheeses were not examined.

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• Dioxins, PCBs and PFAS in eggs and other animal foods
• Aflatoxin M1 in milk and dairy products
• Import controls and the meaning of RASFF notifications for Egyptian products

What applies in my country?

General scientific assessment

Potentially true Aged cheese is easier for lactose-intolerant people, but the rationale does not explain why fermented yogurt is forbidden or why cheese should be less allergenic.

The following areas of food safety are relevant to this statement:

• Veterinary medicines and antibiotics
• Hormonal growth promoters
• Contaminants (heavy metals, PFAS, PCBs, dioxins, nitrate)
• Mycotoxins (mould toxins)
• Controls, imports, recalls, labelling

Dairy

Limits: legal rules describe what is allowed, not what every single food contains. Measurement data come from samples and are meaningful only together with their method details.

Country of residence or purchase Compare with another country

References

1. Lactose Residual Content in PDO Cheeses: Novel Inclusions for Consumers with Lactose Intolerance.. Facioni MS et al.. Foods 2021 · PMID 34574346 · DOI 10.3390/foods10092236
2. Dairy products and inflammation: A review of the clinical evidence.. Bordoni A et al.. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 2017 · PMID 26287637 · DOI 10.1080/10408398.2014.967385
3. Milk A1 β-casein and health-related outcomes in humans: a systematic review.. Küllenberg de Gaudry D et al.. Nutr Rev 2019 · PMID 30722004 · DOI 10.1093/nutrit/nuy063
4. Nutritional management of lactose intolerance: the importance of diet and food labelling.. Facioni MS et al.. J Transl Med 2020 · PMID 32590986 · DOI 10.1186/s12967-020-02429-2