I enjoyed participating in the recent Wine BloggersConference in Walla Walla, where I gave a talk on
wine and health, and I have
been looking for a way to tie it all together. Since I write about wine and
health, I’m in a niche slot. I don’t review wines, like most bloggers at the
conference, and I don’t write about lifestyle per se. But I believe I have found
the link, albeit unexpectedly, in the Wine and Cheese Pairing with Cheeses of
Europe session! The “Cheese Twins” gave a dynamic and entertaining presentation
but usually I think of cheese in the same category as wine and alcohol: Justifiable indulgences but not what most would consider health food. Then I remembered a
paper from a few years ago that suggested that cheese, not wine, may actually
be the basis of the French Paradox.
How cheese might explain the French Paradox
Here’s the idea, as proposed by in a 2012 publication[i]
in the journal Medical Hypotheses: The French Paradox is distinctly French, with
the link to red wine less prominent in other parts of the world. There was the
idea that it was attributable to resveratrol, wine’s miracle molecule, but
there isn’t enough resveratrol in wine to fully explain why the French get away
with their high fat diet. Cheese, being another prominent component of the
French diet, needs to at least be accounted for. Then research began to come out revealing that
cheese, especially of the molded varieties, actually has positive effects on cholesterol
metabolism, lipid profile, and “inflammatory status.” Evidence showed that
these benefits may be due to certain peptides (protein fragments) that occur in
higher amounts in molded cheeses such as Roquefort. (One of these peptides is called roquefortine.) Yes, it appears that cheese
may actually be heart-healthy, despite packing doses of salt and triple cream
well beyond the usual recommended limits.
To be fair, the research on cheese as a potentially heart-healthy dietary constituent is in its infancy, while scientific literature on wine and health is
massive. There is a recent prospective multinational study[ii]
finding dairy intake linked to better heart health, but the correlation was
stronger for milk and yogurt than for cheese. On the other hand, a
meta-analysis of 29 different studies found a positive relationship to heart
health only for fermented dairy such as cheese and yogurt, not total dairy
intake.[iii]
It’s also worth noting that the authors of the Medical Hypothesis paper are from a supplement
manufacturer, not an academic research lab. In the end, I think it’s most likely
that the French Paradox results from a combination of the way that wine, other dietary
constituents, and mealtime habits are ingrained in the traditional French way
of living. Wine consumption in France, at least when the Paradox came to light,
was regular and consistent, just as cheese is a routine course at the end of a meal. We
would expect the effect to be less obvious in other cultures, especially where
wine is not made or the climate not suitable for dairy production. Sadly, the
paradox is diminishing even in France as drinking habits go global.
So while the cheese twins might be a notable pair of
heartthrobs, on the question of heart health it’s wine and cheese that made a
beautiful twosome in Walla Walla.
[i] Petyaev
IM, Bashmakov YK. Could cheese be the missing piece in the French paradox
puzzle? Med Hypotheses 2012 Dec;79(6):746-9. 2012 Sep 13.
[ii] PURE
study investigators. Association of
dairy intake with cardiovascular disease and mortality in 21 countries from
five continents (PURE): a prospective cohort study. Lancet. 2018 Sep 11. pii:
S0140-6736(18)31812-9.
[iii]
Guo J, Astrup A, Lovegrove JA, Gijsbers L, Givens DI, Soedamah-Muthu SS. Milk
and dairy consumption and risk of cardiovascular diseases and all-cause
mortality: dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies.
Eur J Epidemiol. 2017 Apr;32(4):269-287.
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