A new study found a link between cheese consumption and a decrease in dementia risk. Specifically, it finds that eating at least 50 grams of high-fat cheese a day, including brie, gouda, cheddar, parmesan, gruyere, and mozzarella, is correlated to a reduced risk, as reported by Science Alert.
It’s estimated that 57 million people lived with dementia in 2021, and there are around 10 million new diagnoses every year. According to a 2019 analysis from the Global Burden of Disease, by 2050 the number of cases could reach 153 million.
Because of a lack of treatments, researchers guide their research toward things that will lower the risk of developing dementia. Diets are a key factor, but cheese has always been tricky to figure out.
Researchers, led by nutrition epidemiologist at Lund University Yufeng Du, used data from the Malmö Diet and Cancer cohort, which tracked nearly 28,000 adults in Sweden across 25 years. The participants’ gave an interview about food habits and filled out a 7-day food diary at the beginning of the study, and results were taken at the end.
They found that those who ate high-fat cheese demonstrated a statistically detectable lower risk for dementia. Roughly 10 percent of participants who ate at least 50 grams of high-fat cheese daily developed dementia, versus the 13 percent who ate less than 15 grams each day. More research is required to learn why.
“For decades, the debate over high-fat versus low-fat diets has shaped health advice, sometimes even categorizing cheese as an unhealthy food to limit,” said Emily Sonestedt, an epidemiologist at Sweden’s Lund University. “Our study found that some high-fat dairy products may actually lower the risk of dementia, challenging some long-held assumptions about fat and brain health.”
Still, the study doesn’t mean that cheese will save you from dementia. (Unfortunately.)
Ava Levinson
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