Cheese and death from any cause in nine studies
What it found
Long-term cheese consumption was not linked to a higher or lower risk of dying from any cause.
The finding comes from nine studies that followed people over time.
What they found
Studies in people
Overall death risk
People who ate the most cheese had about the same risk of dying from any cause as those who ate the least. The result was consistent across studies.
Amount eaten
Each extra 43 g of cheese per day was linked to almost no change in the risk of dying from any cause.
Short follow-up
In two studies that followed people for less than 10 years, high cheese consumption was linked to a higher risk of death. This was not seen in studies lasting 10 years or more.
Groups studied
The lack of a link held across countries, in men and women, in different age groups, and regardless of study quality.
Other findings
Nutrients in cheese
Cheese contains minerals, whey protein, vitamin K2 and certain fatty acids that may affect health. It is also a major source of saturated fat and sodium.
What the authors conclude
“Our findings suggest that long-term cheese consumption was not associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality.”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that cheese consumption is not significantly associated with risk of all-cause mortality.
- They advise that future large prospective studies should distinguish between high-fat and low-fat cheese.
How it was done
Cheese is eaten by billions of people, and studies looking at its long-term health effects have given mixed results. The authors used death from any cause as a single overall measure of how diet affects health.
They combined nine studies that followed 177,655 people for 5 to 15 years, during which 21,365 deaths occurred. The studies were done in the Netherlands, the UK, the US, Italy and Australia.
What it can’t tell you
- The studies relied on people remembering what they ate, which can be inaccurate.
- The studies measured links, not cause and effect, and other unmeasured factors could have influenced the results.
- The analysis did not separate high-fat from low-fat cheese.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- The authors declare no conflict of interest.
- Authors work at
- Soochow University, China; Key Laboratory of Radiation Biology, China
The paper
- Title
- Cheese Consumption and Risk of All-Cause Mortality: A Meta-Analysis of Prospective Studies
- Type
- Meta-analysis
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Tong X, Chen GC, Zhang Z, Wei YL, Xu JY, Qin LQ (2017). Cheese Consumption and Risk of All-Cause Mortality: A Meta-Analysis of Prospective Studies. Nutrients. doi:10.3390/nu9010063Free full textPubMed 28098767DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error