The Study
High-fat and low-fat fermented milk and cheese intake, proteomic signatures, and risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality
This study watched a bunch of people in Sweden for over 20 years and noticed that those who ate more cheese or fermented milk tended to live longer. But it didn’t make them eat it — they chose it themselves. So we can’t say cheese made them live longer, just that it was often part of their lifestyle.
Analysis score
Maximum 72 for a cohort study.
Where the score came from
Scientists studied what people ate and how long they lived, and found that certain kinds of cheese and yogurt were linked to living longer.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 560 / 100
Quality score
Groups of people are followed over time to see who develops an outcome. Strong for identifying risk factors and associations, but cannot prove causation as firmly as RCTs.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — eating moderate amounts of these fermented dairy foods was linked to a meaningful drop in death risk, even after accounting for lifestyle and health factors.
- 2People who ate more high-fat cheese (20g+) had 3% lower risk of dying; those who ate 100–200g of low-fat fermented milk daily had 12% lower risk.
- 3Proteins in their blood showed these foods may reduce inflammation.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
European Journal of Nutrition
Year
2025
Authors
Yufeng Du, Ruikun Bao, Shunming Zhang, U. Ericson, Y. Borné, Lu Qi, Emily Sonestedt
Related Content
Claims (9)
People who eat cheese have the same or lower risk of dying from any cause compared to those who eat less cheese.
People who eat cheese have lower rates of death from heart disease compared to those who do not.
Eating moderate amounts of cheese is associated with lower risk of death from any cause, but eating more than moderate amounts does not lower risk further.
It is not yet known how eating cheese might affect the risk of death.
Consumption of fermented dairy products is associated with measurable changes in blood proteins involved in immune and inflammatory pathways, and these changes are linked to lower mortality rates.
Consuming high-fat fermented milk does not show a measurable link to increased or decreased risk of death from any cause, heart disease, or cancer, even though it is fermented the same way as low-fat fermented milk, suggesting the fat content changes how it affects health.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.