IN EXCELLENT news just in time for the festive season, Swedish researchers have found that eating high fat cheeses and cream could reduce the chances of developing dementia.
In a study recently published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, scientists revealed that people who indulged in 20g of heavy cream - roughly one-and-a-half tablespoons - had a 16% lower risk of dementia than those who consumed none.
Those who ate 50g of cheese daily reduced their chances by 13% compared to those who ate less than 15g a day.
In terms of vascular dementia, the risk of developing the condition was 29% lower for those who eat cheese.
Researchers analysed information from 27,670 seniors and tracked their health over a period of 25 years.
During that time, participants kept track of what they ate for one week, and reported on how much their diet had changed over the last few years.
"For decades, the debate over high-fat versus low-fat diets has shaped health advice, sometimes even categorising cheese as an unhealthy food to limit," says Dr Emily Sonestedt, an associate professor from Lund University, Sweden, who was the study's senior author.
"Our study found that some high-fat dairy products may actually lower the risk of dementia, challenging some long-held assumptions about fat and brain health."
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