Study: Full-Fat Cheese Offers Health Benefits

Most people assume high-fat foods are bad for their health. After all, conventional wisdom should lead you to believe that a high-fat diet leads to obesity, diabetes and other diseases. According to a recent study, however, consuming full-fat cheese could offer some surprising health benefits.

Researchers from the Department of Nutrition at the University of Copenhagen conducted a study to determine the link between full-fat cheese and cholesterol levels. For the study, researchers recruited 139 men and women and split them into the three groups: one group consumed reduced-fat cheese, the second group consumed regular-fat cheese, and the third group did not consume any cheese.

Participants from this study were asked to consume the cheese for their respective group over a 12-week period. At the end of the 12-week period, participants who consumed either the regular-fat or reduced-fat cheese saw no significant changes to their blood pressure, insulin, weight or glucose levels. With that said, researchers discovered that participants who consumed the regular-fat cheese experienced higher levels of HDL cholesterol -- the "good" variety of cholesterol. 

Current dietary guidelines for Americans recommend minimizing saturated fat, including the fat in cheese, to reduce the risk of adverse diseases like diabetes, obesity, stroke and heart disease. But this study suggests that saturated fat -- at least the fat in cheese -- does not lead to these diseases. On the contrary, researchers discovered that participants who consumed the regular-fat cheese had lower levels of HDL cholesterol, which could in turn improve their heart health while reducing the risk of disease.

"A high daily intake of regular-fat cheese for 12 wk did not alter LDL cholesterol or MetS risk factors differently than an equal intake of reduced-fat cheese or an isocaloric amount of carbohydrate-rich foods," concluded the study's authors.

Like most things in life, though, it's important to consume full-fat cheese in moderation. If you consume too much, it would likely negate all of the otherwise positive health benefits. The bottom line is that full-fat cheese can be healthy, even more so than reduced fat cheese. But it should be only one part of a balanced diet.

This study was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.