A large study has suggested a connection between eating more cream and high-fat cheese – like cheddar, Brie and Gouda – and a lower risk of developing dementia.
The findings showed that people who consumed 20g or more of high-fat cheese daily had a 13% lower risk of developing dementia than those who ate none. Additionally, the researchers said people who ate 50g or more of high-fat cream daily had a 16% lower risk of developing dementia than those who ate none, reports MedicalNewsToday.
However, they added that more research is needed to further explore whether certain high-fat dairy products offer some level of protection for the brain.
The study, published in Neurology, seems to confirm findings from other, smaller studies linking cheese consumption with better brain health as we age.
MedicalNewsToday reports that it is important to note that the study does not prove eating high fat cheese and cream lowers the risk of dementia. It only shows an association.
High-fat cheeses are those containing more than 20% fat, like cheddar, Brie and Gouda. High-fat creams contain more than 30% to 40% fat, and include whipping cream, double cream and clotted cream.
They may be shown as “full-fat” or “regular” in shops.
Emily Sonestedt, PhD, from Lund University in Sweden and one of the study researchers, said their findings challenge the idea that all high fat dairy is bad for the brain.
Michelle Routhenstein, MS RD CDCES CDN, preventive cardiology dietician at Entirely Nourished, who was not involved in the study, described the finding as “intriguing but not entirely surprising”.
“It challenges the old ‘low‑fat at all costs’ paradigm, yet aligns with growing evidence that dairy fat is often neutral or modestly protective, especially when fermented,” she said.
“Importantly, the benefit appears largely when cheese replaces processed or high fat red meats, emphasising the role of substitutions rather than suggesting that high‑fat dairy is inherently neuroprotective,” she added.
Sonestedt noted that many dementia cases involve damage to small blood vessels in the brain, meaning factors that support vascular health are also relevant for brain health.
“In our earlier work in the same Swedish cohort, we found that cheese – especially in moderate amounts – was linked to lower risk of cardiovascular disease. Large international studies, including those from the US, have shown similar results or at least neutral associations for cheese and heart health,” she added.
Since there is an overlap between vascular and brain health, it made sense for them to continue their research and examine whether cheese might also be related to dementia risk, she observed.
The researchers analysed data from 27 670 people in Sweden for the study, with an average age of 58 at the start. They were followed for an average of 25 years. During the course of the study, 3 208 people developed dementia.
Participants kept track of their food intake for a week and then answered questions about how often they had consumed certain foods over the past year, as well as how they prepared their meals.
The researchers compared those who ate 50g or more of high-fat cheese daily to those who ate less than 15g each day: 50g of cheese amounts to about two slices of cheddar or half a cup of shredded cheese.
Of the group who ate more high-fat cheese, 10% developed dementia by the end of the study, whereas in the group eating less, 13% of them developed dementia.
The researchers then adjusted for confounding factors, such as age, sex, education, and overall diet quality.
After these adjustments, they found that people who ate higher amounts of high-fat cheese had a 13% lower risk of developing dementia than those who ate less.
When they examined specific types of dementia, they found that the group that ate more high-fat cheese had a 29% lower risk of developing vascular dementia.
The study also found a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease among those who ate more high fat cheese. However, this was only among those who did not carry the APOE e4 gene, which is linked to a predisposition for Alzheimer’s disease.
Sonestedt told MNT: “Cheese is not just saturated fat. It is a fermented food with a unique combination of fats, proteins, minerals and vitamins, including vitamin K2 in some varieties. Fermentation also produces bioactive peptides that may influence vascular and metabolic pathways relevant to brain health.”
Cream consumption
The researchers also examined individuals who consumed 20g or more of high-fat cream each day – the equivalent of roughly 1.4 tablespoons or more of whipping cream.
The recommended serving size is approximately one to two tablespoons. They compared this group to those who didn’t consume any.
They then made similar adjustments as they did for the cheese, and found that those consuming high-fat cream had a 16% lower chance of developing dementia than those who ate none.
There was no association found for dementia risk and consuming:
• low-fat cheese;
• low-fat cream;
• high- and low-fat milk;
• butter; or
• fermented milk, including kefir and buttermilk.
“It’s also important to note that high-fat cheese was the type people actually ate in Sweden in the early 1990s. Low-fat cheese was much less common and eaten in smaller, irregular amounts, making it harder to study. The lack of association for low fat cheese may simply reflect limited intake data,” said Sonestedt.
She added that those who ate more high fat cheese tended to have an overall healthier profile.
“We adjusted for these differences, but in observational research, we can never fully separate a food from the lifestyle around it. So high-fat cheese may be part of a broader healthy eating pattern in this population. More studies are needed in other settings to understand whether cheese itself plays a protective role,” she cautioned.
One of the most notable aspects of the study, she added, was that, for many years, people were advised to limit high-fat dairy, and cheese was even placed in the “foods to avoid” category in the MIND diet.
“Our findings – with other studies – suggest that high fat cheese, eaten in moderate amounts, does not appear to harm brain health.”
Limitations
Limitations included that all participants were from Sweden, meaning the results may not be the same in other populations.
Sonestedt also noted that cheese in Sweden was often eaten uncooked, whereas, in the United States, for instance, it is often eaten with meat or heated.
And in Japan…
Meanwhile, an observational study by Japanese researchers finding that the dementia risk appeared to be reduced by 1.06 percentage points in people who ate processed cheese was possibly skewed by the low cheese-eating population, said the scientists.
They said the reduction in risk was not large but was statistically significant, underscoring the potential effect of diet on long-term cognitive health.
Among the 7 914 people involved in the study, just 134 people who self-reported eating cheese developed symptoms of dementia after three years, compared with 176 who said they were not regular cheese-eaters.
People who ate cheese were thus less likely to develop dementia by 1.06 percentage points. The authors noted that this risk reduction was consistent with other research suggesting dairy products may have neuroprotective value.
The study was published in the journal Nutrients, and funded by the Meiji group, a Japanese company that sells, among other items, dairy products, including fermented and processed cheeses.
It is beyond the scope of an observational study to identify a direct causal relationship between, in this case, consumption of cheese and a reduced risk of developing dementia. The study simply reports an association between the two, reports MNT.
Small cheese-eating population
“The effect of cheese consumption on dementia risk may actually have something to do with how little cheese Japanese people eat, compared with people in the United States and other Western cultures,” said first author Seungwon Jeong, PhD, from the Department of Community Welfare, Faculty of Health Sciences, at Niimi University in Okayama, Japan.
According to current estimates, the average amount of cheese consumed per person per year in the US is of 17.4kg. It is the nation that eats the most cheese by far. Japan ranks 15th, with a per capita consumption of just 2.6kg.
“Japan has a very low baseline level of cheese consumption, so a small difference in frequency may appear more pronounced statistically in this context,” said Jeong. “We did not assess dose-response relationships, and cheese consumption in Japan is substantially lower than in Western countries.
“Therefore, even relatively small increases in consumption might be associated with meaningful differences.
“Previous studies,” Jeong noted, “have also suggested that effect sizes may vary depending on the regional context and baseline intake levels. In countries where cheese consumption is already high, similar increments may not lead to statistically significant differences.”
Routhenstein, from Entirely Nourished, said that given the far higher rate of cheese consumption in the West, “this study is intriguing but should be taken with a big grain of salt”.
“Eating a small amount of cheese once a week (in the study) was linked to a slightly lower risk of dementia but this is observational over just three years, and can’t prove cheese is doing the work. The ‘benefit’ could easily come from other factors, like a generally healthier diet, lifestyle, or socioeconomic advantages.”
She added that cheese has historically raised concerns because of its typical high sodium and high saturated fat content that can worsen blood pressure or lipid levels, both well-established dementia risk factors.
“Nonetheless, large cohort studies generally show that small amounts of cheese are not linked to cardiovascular harm or dementia risk, and some suggest potentially favourable outcomes for fermented dairy,” she said.
Health components
“Although our study was epidemiological rather than mechanistic,” said Jeong, “previous literature suggests that cheese contains vitamin K2, antioxidant components – like selenium and vitamin E – protein, and amino acids.
“These help keep blood vessels healthy, support calcium balance, and reduce inflammation, factors that may protect the brain and lower dementia risk.”
While more than 80% of the cheeses eaten by participants in the study were processed, Jeong added that less-processed, or fermented, cheeses, generally contain more bioactive peptides or probiotics, so it is possible that a higher proportion of fermented cheese intake could show a stronger association with cognitive health.
“Some epidemiological studies,” said Jeong, “have reported favourable associations between the consumption of fermented foods containing lactic acid bacteria and cognitive function.”
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
MIND diet slows cognitive decline for women, black people – US study
Higher intake of dairy fat associated with lower risk of cardiovascular disease
Dairy consumption linked to lower rates of CVD and mortality