Recent scientific publications from the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) nutrients The journal suggests that there may be a correlation between regular consumption of cheese and improved cognitive health in older adults.
For many years, the relationship between dietary habits and their effects on physical health has been firmly established. However, the area of cognitive health and its relationship to food intake remains an area of active research. Dairy products, particularly milk and cheese, have been studied under the microscope in the past, and although some studies have suggested they may have protective effects on the brain, the evidence has been inconsistent.
As the global prevalence of cognitive disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, continues to skyrocket, pinpointing dietary and lifestyle factors that can reduce risk is paramount. This recent study builds on the premise of previous research that suggested a beneficial association between cheese intake and cognitive acumen.
The research team analyzed data from 1,516 participants aged 65 and older, collected from participants in the biennial annual survey of older adults. These people, all based in Tokyo, Japan, underwent a detailed assessment of their dietary patterns, with a particular focus on cheese intake.
We then measured their cognitive abilities using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), a 30-point test of cognitive function that is widely used among older adults. This includes testing orientation, attention, memory, language, and visual-spatial skills. For the scope of this study, his MMSE score below 23 was classified as indicative of cognitive decline.
Rigorous data analysis, which took into account variables such as age, physical activity, and overall dietary habits, found that participants who included cheese in their diets were less likely to score below 23 on the MMSE. I did.
Further analysis of the data also revealed that people who consistently consumed cheese had a more diverse diet. Still, this dietary diversity does not attenuate the observed correlation between cheese intake and cognitive performance.
However, despite these results, it should be mentioned that this study has certain limitations. The cross-sectional nature of the study precludes causal inferences and means that data were collected at singular points in time. Reliance on participant-reported cheese consumption could introduce potential recall bias. Furthermore, although the MMSE is a well-regarded assessment tool, the cutoff scores adopted in this study as markers of cognitive decline may differ from the conventions of other studies.
“This study was an analysis of cross-sectional data from community-dwelling elderly people in Japan, and the results showed that cheese intake was inversely associated with decline in cognitive function, even after adjusting for multiple confounding factors. “Future large-scale longitudinal analyzes are needed to elucidate causal relationships,” the researchers concluded.
the study, “Inverse correlation between cheese intake and cognitive decline in Japanese community-dwelling elderly based on a cross-sectional study” was written by a team of researchers led by Hunkyung Kim from Gaon Research Center in South Korea.
