Gouda News: Eating More High Fat Cheese May Surprisingly Lower Your Risk of Dementia

It seems not all high-fat dairy products have the same effect and low-fat isn't always better.

Fatty cheese is a guilty pleasure for millions of people. But while these fats are unhealthy for you in several ways, when it comes to your brain, they may actually do some good. A massive new study from Lund University tracked 27,000 people over 25 years. Ultimately, surprisingly, it found that high-fat cheese and heavy cream were associated with a lower risk of dementia.

The Cheese Paradox

The study, published in Neurology, used data from the dietary habits of men and women in Malmö, Sweden, starting in the early 1990s. The researchers got granular, separating people by the type of milk they drank (skimmed vs whole) and the type of cheese they ate.

About 3,200 participants were diagnosed with dementia during the study. People who ate the most high-fat cheese (50 grams or more per day, or two thick slices) had a reduced risk of developing dementia from any cause compared to those who ate the least. Specifically, high-fat cheese lovers saw a 29% lower risk of vascular dementia, a condition caused by reduced blood flow to the brain.

Heavy cream also showed a protective effect. People who consumed high-fat cream daily had a 16% lower risk of all-cause dementia compared to those who avoided it. But here is the kicker: the low-fat versions didn’t help. Skim milk, low-fat cheese, and low-fat yogurt showed no protective association with dementia risk. It seems the magic isn’t in the dairy proteins, it’s in the fat.

But why would fatty cheese protect the aging brain?

Not Just Calories

The answer likely lies in the “food matrix.”

We used to judge food solely by its nutrient label — good fats, bad fats, carbs, proteins. But scientists increasingly realize that the physical structure of food affects how our bodies metabolize it. Cheese has a lot of saturated fats, which pose a serious health risk in the long term. But it’s also a complex fermented matrix containing protein, minerals, and bioactive compounds like Vitamin K2.

Recent clinical trials have shown that regular-fat cheese doesn’t ruin blood lipid profiles the way butter might. In fact, the study found that while cheese and cream were protective, high butter consumption was actually associated with a slightly higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease, unless the person already had a very high-quality diet.

This suggests that the fermentation process in cheese might be key, potentially influencing the gut microbiota in ways that benefit the brain.

But there’s an important caveat to the study. The study looked at a specific genetic risk factor called APOE ε4, a gene variant that significantly increases the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

The study found that the protective link between high-fat cheese and Alzheimer’s disease was strong among people without this risk gene. However, for the carriers of APOE ε4, the cheese benefit for Alzheimer’s wasn’t statistically significant.

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This gives a genetic twist to the study, suggesting that there likely isn’t a one-size-fits-all recommended diet.

What Does This Mean for You?

We need to make the regular correlation-not-causation observation. This is an observational study, proving a link, but without establishing a cause-effect relationship. It’s possible that people who eat a lot of cheese eat more expensive, better-quality cheeses, or have better healthcare or more active physical activity. Researchers tried to compensate for these factors, noting that even when considering all this (and more), the conclusion still stands, but the compensation is never perfect.

For you and me, this suggests that in moderation, high-quality fat cheese could be a part of a healthy diet, and could have a protective role against dementia.

Dementia is projected to triple globally by 2050. We currently lack a cure, which makes prevention our most powerful tool. Diet is one of the few things we can control, though researchers note that other factors like education and avoiding alcohol and smoking are even more important.

Ultimately, this research adds to a growing pile of evidence that the “low-fat is always better” era is over. Our brains are fatty organs, and they require specific nutrients to maintain their integrity over decades. While we shouldn’t start chugging heavy cream by the pint, this study gives us permission to enjoy the full-fat richness of traditional foods.

The study was published in Neurology.