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I grabbed a glass of wine, sauntered past all of the elected officials and CEOs that turned up at last night’s cocktail party, and headed over to the appetizers table to scope it out.   Displayed was a beautiful housemade Brie cooked with a layer of fruit berries inside, surrounded by slices of crispy Italian bread, along with a raspberry jam accompaniment.  What did I eat?

None of it!  Brie is just gorgeous on cocktail tables.  It is a creamy cheese that gets its famous name from the region in France where it originates.  However, Brie is not your ordinary cheese.  It is extremely high in fat and sodium when compared to every other type of cheese out there.

While a taste or sliver of most any food is perfectly fine, Brie has the added challenge of some major portion control obstacles.  Its creamy texture, presentation and manner for serving a typical “wedge” makes it difficult to control.

The saturated fat found in a wedge of Brie cheese is more than any human needs to consume in a day.  And the sodium is just CRAZY for such a smooth and creamy looking wolf in sheep’s clothing.

1 wedge has 428 calories, 35 grams of fat (22 of which are saturated!).  Yikes.

Another problem:  Because of its creamy texture, Brie is typically served with white refined flour bread or crackers as a base.  It’s empty additional calories that won’t fill me up, so I took a pass.

If I didn’t have an ounce of Skinny class, I could have picked off the pretty fruit garnish on top of the Brie, but I refrained myself.  Speaking of ounces, just 1 ounce of Brie has close to 100 calories, 10 grams of fat (half of which are saturated), but I’ve yet to set anyone eat a drop of it the size of a sugar cube.

If you can sliver it on the side of plate, Brie does contain potassium, calcium and protein like all cheeses.  Pair it with fresh fruit, not the white bread or sugary preserves.

What did I choose to eat?

My best Skinny picks were several slivers of hard cheese for protein, along with these beautiful asparagus and fresh chopped vegetables.  I skipped the fatty Ranch dressing (..get out of the “dip mentality” on everything, people), and I added some sweet fruit berries.