Why It’s Important To Cut Back On Cheese For Brain Health
10 Tips based on the Mediterranean and MIND diet guidelines
If you love eating cheese, the MIND diet guidelines can be tough to swallow. In the original MIND diet study, published in 2015, cheese intake is limited to one 1-ounce serving per week. That’s the amount of cheese in one 1-inch cube or 2 smaller, bite-sized pieces.
Whenever I mention this guideline during talks, it always elicits a collective groan. Then the questions start pouring in—most are an attempt to negotiate a way to be able to eat more cheese. Questions like: Isn’t cheese a fermented food? And: If I cut back on cheese, how will I get my calcium? And, always this: Don’t people in the Mediterranean eat cheese every day?
I get it. I love cheese, too! So let’s dig into the reasons for this guideline and then you can decide how to fold this into your dietary choices.
Driving down saturated fat in the MIND diet
First, it helps to understand why researcher Dr. Martha Clare Morris and her colleagues chose such a tiny cheese portion for a brain-healthy diet. Each food group and serving size in the MIND diet is a reflection of scientific studies that came before. There had already been data showing that eating foods high in saturated fats (such as cheese, butter, and red meat) was associated with greater cognitive decline. Conversely, diets full of monounsaturated (such as extra-virgin olive oil, nuts, seeds, avocados), and polyunsaturated fats (fish and seafood) were shown to be protective against dementia.
Having a high ratio of unsaturated fats (mono- and polyunsaturated fats) to saturated ones was also found to be better for the brain. In the Chicago Health and Aging Project study, those who consumed the most unsaturated fats, in relation to saturated ones, had a statistically significant 70% reduction in the risk of developing Alzheimer’s over 3.9 years.
Elevated LDL increases the risk of Alzheimer’s
Subsequent studies found a correlation between harmful low density lipoprotein (LDL) in blood cholesterol testing and Alzheimer’s risk. Elevated LDL is an important risk factor for Alzheimer’s and other dementias. For many, LDL is sensitive to saturated fat in the diet. In other words, the more sat fat, the higher the LDL. Hence, this was another motivation for MIND diet researchers to create guidelines that reflect a diet that’s no more than 8% saturated fat—low by American standards. This is why the MIND diet limits not only cheese, but butter (less than one tablespoon a day), red meat (no more than three 3-ounce servings per week), fast and fried foods (no more than once a week), and pastries and sweets (up to five servings a week).
The MIND diet is the most successful diet studied for its ability to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s. Follow it closely and the risk can be reduced by 53% after 4.5 years. This doesn’t stem from one food guideline, such as reducing cheese, but rather the dietary pattern as a whole that is rich in the foods proven to be neuroprotective (berries, leafy greens, vegetables, whole grains, fish and seafood, nuts and seeds, extra-virgin olive oil) while limiting food shown to be brain-harming.
The Mediterranean Diet’s stance on cheese
The MIND diet is based on the Mediterranean dietary pattern, but the guidelines differ when it comes to cheese. The Mediterranean diet is slightly more liberal with dairy products, recommending no more than one serving daily of yogurt (1 cup) or cheese (1½ ounces). It also recommends consuming natural cheeses that are lower in fat, such as Parmesan, pecorino, and feta.
Another notable difference: the MIND singles out berries and leafy greens as their own food groups, ensuring they get consumed in adequate doses to provide neuroprotection. In the Mediterranean diet, berries are included in all fruit, and leafy greens are lumped with all vegetables.
Putting the MIND guidelines into practice in your diet
Now you know why the MIND diet strictly limits cheese—as an attempt to drive down the overall saturated fat content of the diet. It makes sense, too, since the typical American diet is loaded with cheese (and butter and red meat). In fact, American households have tripled their cheese consumption since the 1970’s as it has become common to snack on cheese, smother food with cheese, and use cheese to make foods creamy. Most people could benefit from cutting back. But it’s also helpful to remember that the guidelines are just that: guidelines. It’s up to you to create a personalized brain-healthy diet that both makes sense (the concept of “fit” I discussed here) and is sustainable for your long term brain health.
I wrote a whole chapter in the Brain Health Kitchen book about how to build your own brain-healthy food pyramid. For example, if you are a person with excellent LDL numbers, who rarely consumes red meat or butter, your cheese consumption could veer closer towards Mediterranean guidelines.
What if, on the other hand, you have difficulty getting your LDL down to target levels? Or, your diet is already full of other saturated fat foods? Cutting back on cheese according to MIND diet recommendations could be a way to achieve brain health gains. Think of it as low-hanging fruit that will pivot your diet in a more brain-friendly direction.
The other problem with cheese: it’s very satiating. It’s easy to fill up on cheese and crackers before dinner, leaving less room for all the other brain-protective foods, like vegetables, whole grains, beans, leafy greens, and nuts.
Why the MIND diet trial changed the cheese guidelines
The MIND diet trial is the next phase of the 2015 MIND diet study, with results nearing completion. For this placebo-controlled trial, MIND researchers modified the guidelines slightly. Besides dropping red wine as a brain-healthy food group, the cheese serving was increased from one to two ounces. According to Dr. Morris, this had more to do with making people happy than any scientific guideline. She wanted people to enjoy the dietary guidelines and make them a sustainable part of eating. I love Dr. Morris for that. She herself was an avid cheese lover. (Read my full interview with Dr. Morris here.)