Diet

Fermented cheeses

Cheeses aged through microbial fermentation (Camembert, Roquefort, aged cheeses). Live cultures, bioactive peptides, and vitamin K2 (menaquinones). Groups Camembert and Roquefort.

In practice

It depends on the case; there is no single guideline.

Effect by goal · level of evidence

Coronary heart disease (lower associated risk)

lower incidence of coronary heart disease Low prospective cohort (Rotterdam) (AA)

In the Rotterdam Study, a higher dietary intake of menaquinones (vitamin K2, coming mainly from cheese) was associated with lower incidence of and mortality from coronary heart disease and with less aortic calcification. It is an observational study: it shows association, not causation.

View the study (prospective cohort (Rotterdam)) →

Lipid profile (neutral effect)

neutral effect on LDL compared with the expected saturated fat effect Low meta-analysis of RCTs (AAA)

Meta-analysis of randomized trials: cheese does not worsen the lipid profile as much as its saturated fat content would suggest (smaller effect on LDL than butter), a phenomenon attributed to the dairy matrix (calcium, protein, fermentation). It does not show clinical cardiovascular benefit.

View the study (meta-analysis of RCTs) →

In depth

Diet · Highest evidence: Low · 2 findings

Cheeses ripened by microbial fermentation (Camembert, Roquefort, aged cheeses). They provide live cultures, bioactive peptides and vitamin K2 (menaquinones, mainly MK-8/MK-9). The evidence of benefit is mostly observational or mechanistic; the causal effect on health has not been established.

Findings

Coronary disease (lower associated risk) — dietary vitamin K2 (Rotterdam Study, observational). 15514282
Lipid profile (neutral effect) — dairy matrix; meta-analysis of RCTs. 26011901

Information, not medical advice.

Information, not medical advice. Scientific evidence reflects the quality of the studies.