Experts question study linking whole-fat dairy to better brain health
A new study of Swedish adults found that people who ate more high-fat cheese and cream may have a lower risk of dementia, but experts quoted in a Dec. 18 CNN story have doubts about the results.
“Their finding for cheese was at the margin of statistical significance, and they looked at multiple foods, so this might be just due to chance,” said Walter Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Other experts quoted in the story raised additional objections to the study. For example, it captured most of its participants’ dietary habits only once over the 25-year study period. In addition, the benefits of high-fat cheese were most evident when it replaced red and processed meat in participants’ meals—suggesting that the cheese may not be beneficial in and of itself, but simply less harmful than meat.
Based on this study, Willett said, “I’m not running out to buy a block of cheese.”
Read the CNN story: Does high-fat dairy prevent dementia? Not so fast, experts say
