December 17, 2025

expert reaction to study looking at the association between eating high-fat cheese and cream and dementia risk

A study published in Neurology looks at the association between high fat cheese and dementia risk. 

Prof Eef Hogervorst, Professor of Biological Psychology and Director Dementia Research, National Centre for Sports and Exercise Medicine, Loughborough University, said:

“This Swedish study showing an associated reduced dementia risk in middle-aged and older people who ate high fat cheese and cream. The study has several strengths, including a large sample including 27,670 people of whom 3208 developed during a follow-up of 25 years.

“The data showed that associated risk for dementia was reduced by 13-17% in people who ate more than 50 gram of high fat cheese per day. Eating more high fat cream was associated with a 16-24% reduced dementia risk. No associations were seen of low or high fat (normal or fermented) milk or low-fat cream. This is of interest considering long standing public health advice to switch to low fat dairy for heart health. Where this advice has been questioned for heart disease, more recent studies suggest this may also pertain to brain health.

“The limits of the study were acknowledged by the authors and in the editorial, such as issues in recall of diet by the very nature of how people experience some dementia symptoms. Care was taken to include people who did not have dementia at baseline and -in separate analyses -to also separate out those who were dementia free for 10 years to mitigate this. Other long-term studies have also reported that cheese consumption was associated with lower dementia risk, in Finland and the UK, but not in Japan.

“An interesting point raised was whether substitution (of red and processed meats to high fat cheese and creams) was associated with the finding and some evidence in the analyses pointed to this. Most importantly, one of the issues raised is that foods should not be seen in isolation, but as part of diets and lifestyles. The Mediterranean diet has long been advocated for its reduced dementia and heart disease risk and also contains cheese. Importantly, in the Swedish study those who ate high fat cheese were also more educated and had lower body mass index, and less risk for other diseases associated with dementia (heart disease, diabetes). This means that whatever the type of food, they did not eat that much of it to lead to obesity and heart disease..

“What the data suggest is that high fat diary does not necessarily result in dementia and that fermented milk does not necessarily protect against dementia. I think it’s important for the public to know that many beneficial vitamins reside in full fat cheese including vitamin A, K2, D (which are fat soluble), B12, folate, but also iodine, zinc and selenium which can all support brain health.”

Dr Richard Oakley, Associate Director of Research and Innovation at Alzheimer’s Society, said:

“One in three people born today will develop dementia in their lifetime and so many people are interested in what they can do to reduce their risk of dementia. Further research into prevention is vital.

“This research does not show that eating more high fat dairy products, such as cheese or cream, can reduce our risk of developing dementia.

“We do know, however, that what is good for the heart is good for the head and so we recommend a healthy balanced diet.

“The Lancet Commission, which was part funded by Alzheimer’s Society, found nearly half of cases of dementia globally are linked to modifiable risk factors – or things that can be changed either on an individual or societal level.

“Evidence shows that quitting smoking, keeping physically active, eating a healthy balanced diet, managing long term health conditions and drinking less alcohol play a far greater role in reducing dementia risk than focusing on a single food.

“Anyone concerned about their risk of dementia can find out more at alzheimers.org.uk.”

Prof Tara Spires-Jones, Director of the Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, Division Lead in the UK Dementia Research Institute, and Past President of the British Neuroscience Association said:

“A new study published by Du and colleagues observed that people who reported a high intake of high fat cheese in the 1990s had lower risk of developing dementia around 25 years later than people who did not eat cheese.  While these are interesting data, this type of study cannot determine whether this association of reduced dementia risk was caused by the differences in cheese consumption. One of the biggest limitations of this study is the cheese consumption as recorded from a food diary and interview at one time point 25 years before the analysis of dementia diagnosis. It is highly likely that diet and other lifestyle factors changed in those 25 years. Strong evidence from across the field indicate that healthy diet, exercise, and cognitively stimulating activities (education, challenging jobs and hobbies etc) can boost brain resilience to diseases that cause dementia. There is not strong evidence for any individual food protecting people from dementia.”

Prof Naveed Sattar, Professor of Cardiometabolic Medicine/Honorary Consultant, University of Glasgow, said:

“I do not believe there is a causal link here, as this is an observational study rather than a randomized controlled trial. It is important to note that individuals who consumed more high-fat cheese and cream were, on average, better educated. This raises the possibility of residual confounding – whereby other “healthy” characteristics associated with higher education, rather than the cheese or cream itself, may explain the lower dementia rates observed.

“We already know of several well-established and proven factors that reduce dementia risk, such as maintaining healthy blood pressure, managing weight, and preventing heart disease or stroke. These interventions should remain the priority, given their strong evidence base, rather than focusing on unproven dietary associations.”

‘High- and Low-Fat Dairy Consumption and Long-Term Risk of Dementia’ by Yufeng Du et al. was published in Neurology at 21:00 UK time on Wednesday 17 December 2025. 

DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000214343

Declared interests

Prof Tara Spires-Jones: “I have no conflicts with this study but have received payments for consulting, scientific talks, or collaborative research over the past 10 years from AbbVie, Sanofi, Merck, Scottish Brain Sciences, Jay Therapeutics, Cognition Therapeutics, Ono, and Eisai, and direct a company Spires-Jones Neuroscience, Ltd to act as a consultant. I am also Charity trustee for the British Neuroscience Association and the Guarantors of Brain and serve as scientific advisor to several charities and non-profit institutions.”

Prof Naveed Sattar: “NS has consulted for and/or received speaker honoraria from Abbott Laboratories, AbbVie, Afimmune, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Carmot Therapeutics, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Hanmi Pharmaceuticals, Janssen, Menarini-Ricerche, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Metsera, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Sanofi, and Roche; and received grant support paid to his University from AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis, and Roche.  No shares in any medical areas.”

For all other experts, no reply to our request for DOIs was received.