Research suggests that cheese has a positive effect on heart, gut and cognitive health, and may protect against type 2 diabetes.
For years cheese has been demonised and we've been told to limit our intake — the thinking was that it contains large amounts of saturated fat, which is associated with an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
Researchers in Japan analysed the diets of more than 1,500 over-65s - those who reported eating cheese regularly scored better in cognitive tests and had a lower risk of dementia, compared with those who didn't consume it at all. As James Goodwin, a professor in the physiology of ageing at Loughborough University, explains, these gut microbes stimulate the immune cells that send messages via nerves to the brain.
One group received this in the form of 120g of mature cheddar. Another in a combination of butter and reduced-fat cheddar while a third group was given it in the form of separate components that mimic cheese . 'There seems to be something special about the cheese matrix.' The theory that calcium reduces fat absorption was supported by a follow-up study led by Dr Feeney and published in the European Journal of Nutrition earlier this year.
'There's a theory that you get a lot of good things from cheese, such as beneficial microbes and nutrients, but also that maybe the cheese itself inhibits the uptake of its unhealthier elements,' he says. But while some experts are focused on the matrix of cheese, others suggest that one of the components, the saturated fat that comes from dairy, may in itself be beneficial and even protect against type 2 diabetes.
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