Is High-Fat Cheese Good for Brain Health? Study Suggests Possible Link to Lower Dementia Risk

New Delhi: Although cheese is often criticised for its high saturated fat and sodium content, which are linked to elevated cholesterol and blood pressure, a new study suggests that certain high-fat dairy products may be associated with a reduced risk of dementia.

The study, published in the journal *Neurology*, indicates that consuming high-fat dairy items such as cheddar, Brie, and Gouda cheese, along with whipping cream, double cream, and clotted cream, may be linked to better brain health. These findings challenge long-standing assumptions that dietary fat is uniformly harmful to cognitive function.

However, researchers from Lund University in Sweden cautioned that the study establishes an association, not a cause-and-effect relationship. “The study does not prove that eating high-fat cheese and high-fat cream lowers the risk of dementia; it only shows an association,” they clarified.

The research analysed data from 27,670 Swedish adults, with an average age of 58 at the beginning of the study. Participants were followed for approximately 25 years, during which 3,208 individuals developed dementia.

The findings revealed that participants who consumed higher amounts of high-fat cheese had a 13 per cent lower risk of developing dementia compared to those who ate less. More notably, the risk of vascular dementia was 29 per cent lower among higher consumers of high-fat cheese.

A reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease was also observed, but only in individuals who did not carry the APOE e4 gene variant, which is a known genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s.

Similarly, participants who consumed high-fat cream on a daily basis showed a 16 per cent lower risk of developing dementia compared to those who did not consume it at all.

In contrast, the study found no significant association between dementia risk and the intake of low-fat cheese, low-fat cream, milk (both high- and low-fat), butter, or fermented dairy products such as yogurt, kefir, and buttermilk.

“These findings suggest that when it comes to brain health, not all dairy products have the same effects,” said Emily Sonestedt of Lund University. “While higher consumption of high-fat cheese and cream was linked to a lower risk of dementia, other dairy products and low-fat alternatives did not show similar associations.”

The researchers emphasised the need for further studies to better understand the mechanisms behind these findings and to confirm the results.

—With inputs from IANS