Want to maintain a healthy brain into the golden years? Just say cheese.
Well, you’ll have to do more than say it. You’ll have to eat it.
A study in the journal Nutrients found a correlation between regular cheese consumption and stronger cognitive health in a population of older adults. Scientists acknowledge they don’t really know why.
Researchers analyzed data from more than 1,500 [fifteen hundred] volunteers in Tokyo who were 65 or older. Participants were asked about their dietary habits, especially their affinity for cheese.
They also took cognitive tests focused on memory, attention, orientation, language and visual-spatial skills.
The cheese-eaters in the group scored higher on the cognitive tests than those who took their burgers sans fromage.
The study noted that a larger study is needed to understand any causal relationship. But the results are nonetheless intriguing.
It’s not a secret, of course, that diet plays an outsized role in good health, and those benefits are thought to extend to the brain. And previous work has indicated dairy products could play a role in better brain health. But results have been inconsistent.
Cheese has been part of the human diet for up to 10,000 years, or about the time humans first domesticated milk-producing animals. The National Historic Cheesemaking Center in Wisconsin notes evidence of cheesemaking can even be found in ancient Egyptian tombs.
By the time of Julius Caesar 2,000 years ago, hundreds of varieties were traded across the empire.
In short, people have loved cheese since time immemorial. Now, we might have another reason to grab a slice.