High-fat and low-fat fermented milk and cheese intake, proteomic signatures, and risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality

Purpose

This study aimed to examine the associations between the intake of high- and low-fat fermented dairy (cheese and fermented milk), their proteomic profiles, and mortality risk.

Methods

This cohort study included 25,187 participants (mean age 57.7 years, 60.9% females). Fermented dairy intake was assessed by a modified diet history method. In a random subset of this cohort ( n  = 4359), we constructed proteomic signatures for fermented dairy intake using 136 candidate plasma proteins.

Results

During 23.5 years of follow-up, 9742 participants died. High-fat cheese (> 20% fat) intake was inversely associated with risk of all-cause mortality (HR for an increment of 20 g/day, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.96–0.99, P  < 0.001) and cardiovascular disease mortality (HR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.93–0.99, P  = 0.006). Low-fat cheese intake showed an inverse association with all-cause mortality (HR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.96–1.00, P  = 0.047). Low-fat fermented milk intake was inversely associated with all-cause mortality (HR for an increment of 250 g/day, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.85–0.97, P  = 0.006), while high-fat fermented milk (> 2.5% fat) showed null association. A total of 42, 26, 0, and 39 proteins were identified for the signature of high-fat cheese, low-fat cheese, high-fat fermented milk, and low-fat fermented milk, respectively. Inverse associations with all-cause mortality were observed for all three signatures with identified proteins. The identified proteins were involved in biological pathways related to immune response and inflammation.

Conclusion

Our study indicated that consuming high-fat cheese, low-fat cheese, and low-fat fermented milk was linked to survival benefits. Plasma proteins improve our understanding of the health effects of fermented dairy.