For many years, low-fat foods have been promoted as the safer choice for health.
In particular, low-fat dairy products have been recommended to reduce the risk of lifestyle-related diseases.
At the same time, interest is growing in how diet affects the brain and the risk of dementia.
Dietary guidelines
According to international and Nordic dietary guidelines, the intake of saturated fat should be limited.
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These recommendations are based on large population studies aimed at reducing the risk of, among other things, cardiovascular diseases.
Dietary research, however, is often complex. People do not eat individual foods in isolation, and diet is closely linked to education, income, and lifestyle.
A long-term study
A Swedish study, published in the journal Neurology, contributes new data to the debate.
In the study, researchers followed 27,670 adults over 25 years. During this period, 3,208 participants developed dementia.
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The researchers accounted for several uncertainties, including by excluding individuals who already had dementia at the start of the study and by analyzing the results without those who became ill early on.
Participants were also divided according to their genetic risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Who had a higher chance?
Among people without a genetic risk, a higher intake of full-fat cheese was associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
A higher intake of full-fat cream was associated with a lower overall risk of dementia.
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These associations were not observed among genetically predisposed individuals and did not apply to other dairy products.
At the same time, people with higher intake levels often had higher levels of education and fewer lifestyle-related diseases.
According to the researchers, this suggests that the results are more closely related to overall lifestyle than to cheese itself acting as a protective factor.
Sources: Science Daily, and Neurology.
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