The Study
Cheese and Healthy Diet: Associations With Incident Cardio-Metabolic Diseases and All-Cause Mortality in the General Population
This study watched what people ate over time and saw that those who ate healthier diets overall were less likely to get diabetes or die young. But it didn’t make people change their diets — so we can’t say cheese or any food directly caused the difference. It just shows a pattern.
Analysis score
Maximum 72 for a cohort study.
Where the score came from
Scientists looked at whether eating cheese helps or hurts your health over time, especially if you already eat a healthy diet.
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 552 / 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.
- 1Cheese doesn’t seem to help or hurt your health on its own — it’s neutral.
- 2If you eat a healthy diet, adding cheese won’t ruin it.
- 3If you eat poorly, cheese won’t save you.
- 4People who ate about 23.5 grams of cheese daily (roughly 1 slice) had no higher or lower risk of diabetes, heart disease, or dying early.
- 5Eating more cheese didn’t improve vitamin K2 levels in the blood.
- 6People who ate more cheese also tended to eat more fruits, veggies, and whole grains — but cheese itself didn’t cause those health benefits.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Frontiers in Nutrition
Year
2019
Authors
L. Dekker, P. Vinke, I. Riphagen, Isidor Minović, M. Eggersdorfer, E. G. van den Heuvel, L. Schurgers, I. Kema, S. Bakker, G. Navis
Related Content
Claims (6)
People who eat cheese have the same or lower risk of dying from any cause compared to those who eat less cheese.
Adults who eat a higher-quality diet, based on the Lifelines Diet Score, have a 46% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes and a 38% lower risk of dying from any cause, regardless of how much cheese they consume.
Eating cheese does not change the level of dp-ucMGP in the blood of adults aged 60–75, regardless of kidney function or other factors.
People who eat more cheese tend to have higher diet quality scores, but this is because they follow other healthy eating habits, not because cheese itself improves diet quality.
Adding cheese to a healthy eating pattern does not change the link between that pattern and lower risk of type 2 diabetes or death from any cause.
Eating about 23.5 grams of cheese every day does not change the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart attack, heart failure, or dying from any cause over several years, even when accounting for other lifestyle and health factors.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.