To some people, cheese means cheddar, Swiss, or American. To others, it's goat, Gorgonzola, or Gruyere. To still others, it's pizza, nachos, or cheeseburgers.

No matter how you slice (or melt) it, cheese is a staple in American cuisine. Consumption took off in the 1960s‑- thanks, in large part, to the likes of McDonald's, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell. It's never looked back.

As a result, cheese has become one of the leading suppliers of saturated fat (along with red meat) to the average American's diet. And finding lower-fat, no-lower-flavor varieties is even tougher than it was in the 1990s. Tougher, but not impossible.

• Cheddar
• Swiss
• Feta and Ripened Goat Cheese
• String Cheese
• Mozzarella
• Shredded Cheeses
• Edam, Gouda and Monterey Jack
• Parmesan and Romano
• American
• Print-and-go chart

The problem with cheese starts with Elsie.

Roughly two-thirds of the fat in milk, butter, cheese, or any other dairy product is saturated. That's the kind that clogs arteries. So just one ounce of a typical cheese like cheddar, Colby, Monterey Jack, or Muenster has about nine grams of fat, five or six of them saturated. That's at least a quarter of a day's worth of saturated fat in every slice, one-inch cube, or quarter-cup shredded.