CHEESE MAY HELP YOU LIVE LONGER
Cheese lovers, rejoice: The dairy guilty pleasure may help you live longer
It’s time to bust out the Brie, people. Chomping on cheese and yogurt may well help you live longer, researchers at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2018 reported recently.
Contrary to popular belief, dairy products like cheese and yogurt do not pose a risk to heart health. In fact, researchers found that those who ate cheese had an 8 percent lower total mortality risk, and those who ate any dairy had a 2 percent lower total mortality risk.
The new research, which was presented at the European Society of Cardiology, found that current recommendations to limit consumption of high-fat dairy products should be reassessed.
In fact, the wide-ranging study, which looked at survey results from 24,474 U.S. adults over six years, found that there was “no association” with cheese or yogurt and cardiovascular problems. Heck, the dairy products actually seemed to be protective, except for whole milk.
“The consumption of dairy products has long been thought to increase the risk of death, particularly from coronary heart
disease, cerebrovascular disease and cancer, because of dairy’s relatively high levels of saturated fat,” the researchers announced. “Yet evidence for any such link, especially among U.S. adults, is inconsistent.”
Led by cholesterol expert Maciej Banach of the Medical University of Lodz in Poland, the researchers scoured data from studies of 636,726 people over 15 years. What they learned is that dairy has its ups and downs.
The difference between dairy products that are more or less healthy may have to do with the way protein and fat molecules are arranged in cheeses and unprocessed cream. The protective shield for fat molecules is better preserved in foods like cheese and buttermilk. In the homogenized milk we buy at the store, the globules have been shrunk.
Drinking milk, unfortunately, seems to increase the risk of coronary heart disease by 4 percent, according to the study, but that doesn’t diminish the joy of the fact that cheese may actually be good for you.
Pass the Swiss, if you please.