Emerging benefits of cheese for healthy aging

For thousands of years, people of all ages, across various cultures, have eaten cheese for its great taste and versatility in food products. It is also well recognized that cheese contains essential nutrients like protein, minerals, and vitamins while containing very little, if any, lactose. While researchers have extensively explored the flavor, texture and functional properties of cheese (like melt, stretch and sliceability), new research is now showing potential health benefits to eating cheese, especially for people as they age.

It is important to understand that cheese is more than just a package of nutrients. The cheese structure or “matrix” is complex and during human digestion the properties of this cheese matrix can impact how nutrients and other bioactive (meaning having an effect on the body) components are released and absorbed. Recent meta-analyses (reviews of various clinical studies) have refuted the hypothesis that the types of fats in cheese have any (negative) association with cardiovascular diseases. Unfortunately, policymakers seem reluctant to accept this growing consensus about dairy fats.

Exciting new research is looking at a different kind of impact from eating complex fermented foods, like cheese. During fermentation and aging, the protein and fat in cheese are broken down, or converted, into a vast array of compounds and metabolites. Some of these compounds have been reported to benefit cognitive health. For example, in one study from Kyoto University in Japan, researchers gave Camembert cheese to mice and found it improved their cognitive skills and connected that to a specific type of fatty acid derived compound (amide) produced during cheese ripening. Another recent study from Japan found that in a group of older people (>65 years), lower cheese consumption was associated with lower cognitive functions. Fermented foods like cheese generate thousands of small metabolites, some of which may even cross the gut/brain barrier.

John Lucey, Ph.D., is the Owen R. Fennema Professor in Food Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Dairy Research.

Consumption of fermented dairy products, including cheese, have been associated with improved sleep quality, likely due to the tryptophan in dairy proteins (which is a precursor for serotonin). Serotonin levels in the brain have been associated with depression, mood and stress. Fermented dairy products have been explored for their production of key protein-derived metabolites that could potentially pass the blood-brain barrier, such as 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA).

One’s gut microbiome may also be positively impacted by cheese consumption as cheese is a rich source of bacteria, including a number of potential probiotics. Our gut microbiome is likely altering the levels of key metabolites and thereby impacting our health and wellness.

Since an important part of healthy aging is fighting sarcopenia, or the loss of muscle mass, researchers are also discovering that cheese consumption can help maintain or even improve muscle strength and mass in older populations. Cheese has high proportions of proteins and many cheeses have more than 25% protein content.

It’s encouraging to learn regular consumption of cheese can help ward off sarcopenia. Perhaps, then, new cheese products could help benefit aging populations as well. Researchers are looking at fortifying cheese with additional compounds like bioactive peptides or other nutritional materials like milkfat globule membrane or whey phospholipid protein concentrate (WPPC).

In the case of bioactive peptides, several have positive physiological properties like the ability to lower blood pressure. It might be possible to add/fortify these specific bioactive peptides to levels in cheese that could result in a positive impact on reducing hypertension.

The good news is that cheese consumption continues to rise. Overall per capita consumption of dairy is increasing in the U.S., and cheese is mostly driving that increase. From 2013 to 2023, per-capita cheese consumption increased by 6.8 pounds.

There is a lot of exciting research on cheese as it relates to nutrition and health benefits, especially for aging populations. More research is needed to understand the mechanisms and preclinical and clinical studies are necessary to clearly demonstrate benefits. It appears there are several health benefits of consuming cheese, even as we age — even more reason for enjoying delicious, nutritious cheese. DF