Overview: A Simple Habit With Potential Brain Benefits
Could a modest weekly portion of cheese help preserve cognitive health in aging populations? A recent Japanese cohort study suggests that it might. Published in Nutrients, the study followed community-dwelling adults aged 65 and over to examine whether eating cheese at least once per week is associated with a lower risk of developing dementia over three years.
What the Study Found
Researchers analyzed data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES) 2019 survey linked to long-term care insurance records up to 2022. After careful matching to account for age, sex, education, income, health status, instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), and memory complaints, the analysis compared 3,957 cheese consumers with an equal number of non-consumers.
The results showed that dementia developed in 3.4% of cheese consumers versus 4.5% of non-consumers over the three-year period. This translated to a reduced hazard of dementia for cheese eaters, with a 24% lower risk in the primary model. When adjustments for broader dietary patterns (fruit, vegetables, meat, or fish intake) were added, the association remained significant but slightly attenuated, at about a 21% reduced risk.
What Might Be Driving the Benefit
Cheese contains a mix of potentially neuroprotective compounds, including vitamin K2, bioactive peptides, polyamines, antioxidants, and probiotics. The study notes that fermented dairy products and certain nutrients may support vascular and neural health, offering a plausible mechanism for observed protective effects on cognition. In this Japanese cohort, most cheese consumption was processed cheese, which may have different nutrient profiles than aged or fermented varieties. Still, the observed association persisted even after accounting for other dietary factors.
Clinical Relevance and Absolute Benefit
Although the relative risk reduction appears modest, the absolute difference in dementia cases was about 1.06 percentage points (roughly 10.6 fewer cases per 1,000 individuals) over three years. In a country like Japan, where cheese intake is relatively low, such population-level effects could still be meaningful for public health planning and aging care strategies.
Strengths and Limitations
The study’s strengths include its large, population-based design and the use of propensity score matching to reduce confounding. Dementia was tracked via long-term care insurance certifications, allowing for a consistent outcome measure over time. However, there are important caveats. Dietary data were collected only at one time point, leaving possible changes in eating habits unaccounted for. The analysis could not capture exact portion sizes or differentiate all cheese types beyond a predominance of processed cheese. Also, dementia diagnoses relied on administrative records rather than clinical evaluations, which may affect precision.
Context and Takeaway
These findings add to a growing body of literature exploring how diet influences cognitive aging. While the data suggest an association between weekly cheese consumption and lower dementia risk among older Japanese adults, they do not prove causation. Further research is needed to identify optimal cheese types, amounts, and the biological mechanisms behind any protective effect. Given the global rise in dementia and the ongoing search for accessible prevention strategies, this study offers a thought-provoking piece of the larger nutritional puzzle.
Practical Implications
For individuals, the study hints that occasional cheese could fit within a balanced diet aimed at brain health, especially if part of an overall dietary pattern rich in fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins. For policymakers and health professionals, these results underscore the potential importance of dietary guidance that includes dairy as part of a diverse, nutrient-rich diet for aging populations. As always, moderation and personal health considerations should guide any dietary change.
