Eating the Full-Fat Version of This Food Could Help Prevent Dementia, Says New Study

Earlier this week, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins jointly announced new U.S. dietary guidelines, flipping the food pyramid as we know it by featuring a heavier emphasis on protein and full-fat dairy over whole grains. While NBC News reports that experts appear to have split reactions to the new recommendations, one study suggests that there could in fact be some benefit to eating full-fat cheese…in moderation. 

An expansive cohort study, published in the Neurology journal’s January 2026 issue, found that eating full-fat cheese rather than low-fat varieties could help prevent dementia. Among 28,000 Swedish subjects followed over a period of 25 years, more than 3,200 participants ultimately developed dementia. However, people who reported eating 50 grams (1.7 ounces) of high-fat cheese per day—about two slices of cheddar—were 16% less likely to develop dementia than those who ate less than 15 grams daily, concluded the team of nutritional epidemiologists from Sweden’s Lund University. 

High-fat cheese is defined as being composed of at least 20% fat by weight, with cheddar, gouda, and brie being among the most popular types. The protective association between high-fat cheese and Alzheimer’s disease appeared strongest in individuals who did not carry the APOE e4 gene variant, a known genetic risk factor for dementia.

High-fat cream intake was also associated with a modestly lower risk of dementia, including both Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. In contrast, low-fat dairy products—including low-fat cheese, milk, fermented milk, and butter—showed no meaningful link to dementia risk.

Citing a separate 2023 review published in Advances in Nutrition, Harvard experts note that the benefits may not stop there. They say that eating roughly 1.5 ounces of cheese per day is linked to a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, and death from cardiovascular disease.

However, the current study’s researchers stop short of recommending an increase in your cheese intake: ​​”This does not prove that cheese prevents dementia, but it does challenge the idea that all high-fat dairy is harmful for the brain,” study co-author Emily Sonestedt of Sweden’s Lund University recently told USA Today. “For most people, it means that enjoying cheese in reasonable amounts, as part of a balanced diet, does not appear to be harmful and may even be linked to some benefit.”

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