The Study
Dairy matrix effects: response to consumption of dairy fat differs when eaten within the cheese matrix-a randomized controlled trial.
This study gave different people different ways to eat the same amount of dairy fat—some ate cheese, others ate butter with powder—and found that cheese made cholesterol levels go down a bit more. It doesn't prove cheese is healthier overall, just that how you eat the fat matters in this one case.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Scientists gave people the same amount of dairy fat—but in different forms—to see if how it’s packaged matters for cholesterol.
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 564 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1The difference is small but statistically significant—cheese lowered LDL by about 0.46 mmol/L more than butter+supplements, which could matter for heart health over time.
- 2People who ate 40g of dairy fat in full-fat cheese had lower cholesterol (5.23 mmol/L total, 2.97 mmol/L LDL) than those who ate the same fat in butter plus supplements (5.57 and 3.43 mmol/L).
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
The American journal of clinical nutrition
Year
2018
Authors
E. Feeney, R. Barron, Victoria A. Dible, Z. Hamilton, Yvonne Power, L. Tanner, C. Flynn, P. Bouchier, T. Beresford, N. Noronha, E. Gibney
Related Content
Claims (6)
Eating cheese in moderate amounts is linked to health benefits, but eating more than that does not lead to greater benefits.
Eating about 40 grams of dairy fat each day for six weeks does not change body weight, blood sugar levels, or insulin levels in overweight adults over 50.
In overweight adults aged 50 and older, eating 40 grams of dairy fat from cheese for six weeks lowers total cholesterol by 0.34 mmol/L and LDL cholesterol by 0.46 mmol/L more than eating the same amount of dairy fat from butter with calcium supplements.
When people consume the same amount of dairy fat, cholesterol levels rise more when the fat comes from cheese than when it comes from butter with added calcium and casein, showing that the physical structure of the food affects cholesterol metabolism.
Eating cheese lowers cholesterol, but consuming the same fats and proteins from cheese as separate supplements does not lower cholesterol, meaning the physical structure of cheese itself is required for this effect.
Consuming dairy fat in the form of full-fat cheese does not raise total or LDL cholesterol more than consuming the same amount of dairy fat from reduced-fat cheese plus butter, indicating that the physical structure of cheese influences how dairy fat affects blood cholesterol levels.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.