Discovering an unexpected effect of cheese on health

A large-scale study conducted by Chinese researchers on 2.3 million people found that cheese consumption provides unexpected health benefits.

During the study, a team from Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine investigated the impact of mental health on aging, and found that mental health is the most important contributor to healthy aging and longevity, and they noted that there is also a strong relationship between cheese consumption and healthy aging.

The study, led by Professor Tianjie Wang, suggested that happy people live longer, regardless of socio-economic status.

Comparing findings on positive expectancies, depressive symptoms, neuroticism, and life satisfaction with age-related health problems, the researchers found that declining mental health was linked to behaviors and diseases known to shorten lifespan.

The study also found that those who reported the best levels of mental health and stress tolerance appeared to eat more cheese.

Using 33 factors to link mental health to physical aging, the researchers found that although cheese was not directly responsible for longevity, eating higher amounts of cheese and fruit was a significant contributor to higher scores of well-being.

In fact, those who reported eating cheese had a 3.67% positive effect on healthy aging factors. While the positive effect of eating more fruit was 1.96%.

The researchers point out that the nature of this association is still unclear and requires further study.

Behaviors and lifestyle choices that significantly reduced the score for healthy aging included television viewing, smoking, medication use, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), stroke, coronary atherosclerosis, and ischemic heart disease.

"Our results underscore the importance of prioritizing mental well-being in health policies geared toward healthy aging," Wang explained.

He suggested that staying active, restricting television viewing and avoiding smoking could enhance cognitive function and prevent common diseases.

Using a technique called "Mendelian randomization" to analyze the participants' DNA, the researchers found that those with better mental health tended to be healthier as they got older.