2016, also known as the Year of Doom™ and widely touted as The Beginning of the End, has one epic silver lining.
Vegans, clean-eaters and doom-mongers have long been espousing the evils of lactose, the high levels of fat and the negative impact of cheese on your skin / arteries / heart / stomach (delete as appropriate).
But the journal Nature Medicine has published new research which suggests that eating cheese might actually help you live longer. According to the study, published online this month, a compound found in some cheese, known as spermidine, could be the key to longevity.
Initially in the study, spermidine was found to increase the average lifespan of the test mice and rats. Furthermore, the research suggests that spermidine also boasts cardio-protective properties. It can actually help reduce thickening of the heart muscles (primarily associated with high blood pressure) and avoid abnormal pumping rhythm (associated with heart failure). In other words, cheese could actually be really good for your heart, as well as for your lifespan.
Out of 800 Italian human test subjects (a traditional Italian diet features a good quantity of cheese), those who ingested more spermidine were found to have a 40 per cent lower risk of heart failure. They also had lower blood pressure and a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease in general.
Cheesy good news indeed — but we have to specify that spermidine is mostly found in aged cheese, whole grains and mushrooms.
— Source: www.indy100.com
