It’s a well-known fact that a healthy, balanced diet can enhance your well-being, improve your mental health and moods, and promote healthier aging. If you eat fresh and unprocessed foods, plenty of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and health-promoting fats like olive oil in moderation, your well-being gets a welcome boost.
But is cheese good for your body and brain?
In short, yes.
Cheese lovers rejoice! There’s a growing body of evidence suggesting cheese is good for your health. When paired with other elements of a balanced diet, cheese may improve your mental well-being and keep you feeling optimistic at any age.
The Science Behind Cheese and Mental Wellbeing
In recent years, the spotlight on mental health and well-being has gotten stronger, and food certainly factors into this. With so many more preservatives being added to food and allergies and intolerances on the rise, scientists are paying closer attention to what we eat and how it impacts our lives.
A recent study in the journal Nature Human Behavior in 2024 has shed more light on cheese’s potential benefits for mental and physical health.
Researchers in China conducted a large-scale genetic analysis focusing on the genetic makeup of millions of European participants. The aim was to find out whether lifestyle choices like cheese consumption could lead to improved mental well-being and healthier aging.
The study uses “Mendelian randomization,” a method of analysis that explores which factors influence human genes and can encourage or suppress specific health outcomes. It explored eight populations across Europe and discovered potential causal evidence of lifestyle factors that can enhance well-being.
The study measured well-being by satisfaction with life, mood status, levels of neuroticism, and symptoms of depression. It also explored the factors that could cause healthier aging and mental states. These included lifestyle choices like individual actions, smoking, medication use, physical activity, and the presence or absence of lifestyle diseases like cancer and diabetes.
Researchers took a sample of 33 individuals from the population study and found that those who consumed more fruit and cheese seemed to have higher scores on mental well-being indicators. The study also found that cheese consumption had a positive impact of 3.67% on the participants’ self-rated health outcomes and lifespans. In contrast, eating fruit had a positive impact of just 1.96%. This proves just how powerful cheese is for improving life satisfaction!
Cheese and Cognitive Function
Other studies have discovered that moderate cheese consumption could have other positive impacts on the brain, most notably on cognitive function.
A 2023 study of Japanese seniors found that cheese intake was “inversely associated” with a drop in cognitive function. In a nutshell, cheese consumption was linked not to cognitive decline but with an increase in cognitive function in seniors, even after adjusting for a range of other factors that could have influenced the results.
Another study suggests that eating dairy products like cheese can promote the release of dopamine (the body’s feel-good hormones) via the brain’s neural pathways, leading to feelings of pleasure and overall well-being. While foods high in saturated fat tend to be touted as poor for human health, there is also much research to suggest that moderate dairy consumption can reduce cholesterol levels and lower your risk of cardiovascular disease and premature death.
A 2022 study on cheese intake and cardiovascular diseases found that cheese consumption was inversely associated with diseases like coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, stroke, and type II diabetes, as well as biomarkers of heart disease. The researchers even suggested that cheese intake could present new opportunities for heart disease management in the future.
While this study doesn’t directly address mental health and well-being, lifestyle diseases are often included in wellness indexes. Their absence tends to lead to improved mental and physical health and healthier aging overall. This makes sense, as it’s hard to be happy, positive, and filled with vitality if you’re feeling sick.
Healthy Body, Healthy Mind
The link between physical and mental health is clear.
The healthier and more vital you feel physically, the more positive your outlook on life will be.
Cheese’s high levels of calcium, protein, and healthy fats are essential for supporting full-body health as we age. Plus, its popularity makes it an excellent choice for anyone looking to add protein and calcium to their diets to support physical health and mobility.
Cheese is a tasty way to increase your intake, and as an added benefit, you can enjoy it in so many ways. It’s tasty on its own, or you can pair it with premium seasonal and exotic fruits—think blue cheese and figs—or with vegetables. A cheesy sauce with broccoli or cauliflower is always a good option.
There’s also research that suggests that other components in cheese, like the bioactive peptides produced during fermentation, could reduce high blood pressure. This condition is linked to anxiety and depressive symptoms in people of all ages and to cognitive decline.
So, consuming cheese in moderation and enjoying its blood pressure-lowering effects could help you preserve your brain function and keep your moods balanced, even in your golden years.
Make Cheese a Part of Your Wellbeing Routine
It’s clear that recent studies on the topic show promising links between enjoying quality cheese and living a happier, healthier life.
Not only can cheese potentially boost your feelings of life satisfaction and well-being, but it may also promote better heart and brain health to ensure healthier aging over time.
The keys to success lie in the quality of the cheese you consume and how often you enjoy it. Quality cheeses crafted with natural ingredients and free-range milk are more anti-inflammatory than their mass-produced counterparts due to a higher concentration of inflammation-reducing nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids.
Keystone Farms Cheese offer a healthy, additive-free way to enjoy the health-promoting power of cheese and give your body and mind the boost it deserves. There’s never been a better reason to eat cheese, and several recent studies agree!
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