Eating cheese may help you live longer, according to study about well-being
Rich or poor, you can live the gouda life.
A large-scale study of 2.3 million people conducted by a team of researchers from the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine found that mental well-being is the single most important contributor to healthy aging and longevity. But there’s also a strong connection to cheese consumption, researchers noted.
The study, led by Professor Tian-Ge Wang, also suggested that happy people live longer, independent of socioeconomic status.
Comparing scores on positive outlook, depressive symptoms, neuroticism and life satisfaction with age-related health issues, researchers found diminished mental health was linked to behaviors and illnesses known to shorten life span.
If that seems like a no-brainer, bring on the Stilton, because the same study found that those who reported the most robust levels of mental health and stress resilience seemed to eat more cheese.
Using 33 factors to connect mental health to physical aging, researchers found that while cheese was not directly responsible for longevity, a higher intake of cheese and fruit was a standout contributor to high well-being scores. In fact, and in rind, those who reported consuming camembert and the like had a 3.67% positive impact on those healthy aging factors.
Well brie-ing indeed.
Behaviors and lifestyle choices that significantly reduced the healthy aging score include TV watching, smoking, medication use, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), stroke, coronary atherosclerosis, and ischemic heart disease.
Wang noted, “Our results underscore the importance of prioritizing mental well-being in health policies geared towards healthy aging.”
He suggested that remaining active, restricting TV watching, and avoiding smoking can enhance cognitive function and prevent common diseases.
Using a technique called “Mendelian randomization” — which uses DNA to see whether one thing causes another — researchers found that people with better mental well-being tended to be healthier as they aged.
Death-defying dairy was not the only surprise.
In another interesting takeaway, the study found that rich people don’t necessarily live longer or better. While socioeconomic status influences access to food and healthcare as well as rates of work-related stress, longevity is not absolutely determined by wealth.
“To inform meaningful health policies, we need fine-grained causal evidence on which dimensions of socio-economic status affect longevity and the mediating roles of modifiable factors such as lifestyle and disease,” researchers noted.
Experts agree that if you’re looking to live long and eat richer regardless of your earning potential, mozzarella is the healthiest cheese for your heart.
Dr. Cheng-Han Chen, a board-certified interventional cardiologist, told Parade that “it’s a good source of protein and calcium and even contains probiotics that can benefit gut and immune health. Fresh mozzarella is also lower in saturated fat and sodium than other cheeses.”
