High-Fat Dairy Linked to Lower Dementia Risk in New Research

A recent study from Sweden has found a potential link between high-fat dairy consumption and a reduced risk of dementia. Researchers analyzed data from the Malmö Diet and Cancer cohort, which involved 27,670 participants aged between 45 and 73, and followed them for an average of 25 years after enrollment.

The research team conducted interviews, collected food diaries, and administered questionnaires to assess daily dairy consumption. They categorized dairy products into high-fat and low-fat groups, defining high-fat cheese as containing more than 20% fat and high-fat cream as containing more than 30% fat.

Among the findings, individuals who consumed at least 20 grams of high-fat cream daily had a 16% lower risk of all-cause dementia compared to those who did not consume high-fat dairy. The study primarily focused on all-cause dementia, but also explored Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD) separately.

Over the follow-up period, 3,208 participants developed dementia. Those who consumed high-fat cheese demonstrated a significantly lower likelihood of developing dementia. Emily Sonestedt, an associate professor of nutritional epidemiology at Lund University, expressed surprise at the findings but acknowledged the potential implications for vascular dementia.

“Many dementia cases involve damage to small blood vessels in the brain. Our previous research and several international studies have indicated neutral or slightly protective associations between cheese and cardiovascular disease,” said Sonestedt.

Further analysis revealed that individuals consuming a minimum of 50 grams of high-fat cheese daily exhibited a lower risk of all-cause dementia and vascular dementia compared to those consuming less than 15 grams. In contrast, high butter intake was associated with a higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease, with a clear link identified among those not carrying the APOE ε4 genetic variant, which is associated with Alzheimer’s risk.

Despite these promising results, experts caution that the study’s observational nature limits the ability to draw definitive causal conclusions. Factors such as age, sex, education, physical activity, and overall diet quality were taken into account, but the researchers noted that unmeasured variables could still influence outcomes.

The study’s design also limits generalization beyond Sweden, where traditional dairy consumption may differ significantly from other countries. “The study was conducted in Sweden, where people mainly eat hard, fermented cheeses, so the results may not apply directly to countries with very different cheese types and eating patterns,” Sonestedt explained.

Dietary data was gathered only once, creating uncertainty about changes over time. Additionally, cases of dementia diagnosed after 2014 were not validated in detail, and baseline cognitive status was unavailable, which may have led to missed diagnoses.

The findings contribute to the ongoing exploration of dietary impacts on cognitive health and were published in the journal Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. While the results hint at a potential relationship between high-fat dairy and lower dementia risk, further research is necessary to clarify the mechanisms involved and the applicability of the findings across different populations.