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REVIEW article

Front. Nutr.

Sec. Nutrition and Microbes

Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1649432

This article is part of the Research TopicFrom Nutrients, Food Matrices, Bioactive Compounds, to Microbiota: Exploring the Path to Optimal Human Health - Congress Farm to Fork: Our Food, Our Health, Our FutureView all 6 articles

Cheese: mere indulgence or part of a healthy diet?

Provisionally accepted
Ana EugénioAna Eugénio1,2Rita RamosRita Ramos1,3,4Inês R BarretoInês R Barreto1,2Raquel CarriçoRaquel Carriço1,5Joana MatosJoana Matos1,5Alexandra CameloAlexandra Camelo1,2Christophe Espírito SantoChristophe Espírito Santo1,2Inês BrandãoInês Brandão1,2*
  • 1Centro de Apoio Tecnológico Agro Alimentar (CATAA), Castelo Branco, Portugal
  • 2Universidade de Coimbra Centre for Functional Ecology - Science for People & the Planet, Coimbra, Portugal
  • 3Universidade da Beira Interior Faculdade de Ciencias, Covilhã, Portugal
  • 4Instituto Pedro Nunes, FitoLab, Laboratory for Phytopathology, Rua Pedro Nunes, Edificio B, 3000-199, Coimbra, Portugal
  • 5Universidade Lusófona, Campo Grande 376, 1749-024, Lisboa, Portugal

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Cheese is a widely consumed fermented dairy product with a long history of human consumption dating back several millennia, which justifies a brief historical introduction in this review. Beyond its cultural and gastronomic relevance, cheese presents a complex nutritional and microbial matrix that may confer neutral or even beneficial effects on cardiometabolic health, despite concerns related to its saturated fat and sodium content. This review first explores the key components of the cheese matrix and several mechanisms potentially involved in its metabolic impact, including the presence of polar lipids, the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) by the cheese microbiota, and the high calcium content that may reduce fat absorption, among others. Additional bioactive compounds formed during fermentation, such as angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE)- inhibitory peptides, are also discussed for their potential health effects. We also include a comprehensive survey of most European Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) cheeses and their microbiota. Finally, to assess the most recent evidence in human health, we analysed a sample of studies published on PubMed in the last 2.5 years, including observational studies and randomized controlled trials. This selection highlights the latest research trends and supports a growing body of evidence suggesting that cheese, particularly in its intact matrix form, is not associated with adverse cardiometabolic outcomes—and may even exert protective effects. These findings call for more robust, long-term trials to confirm causality and support updated dietary guidance.

Keywords: cheese matrix, Cardiometabolic Health, Fermented dairy, Bioactivecompounds, Cheese microbiota, saturated fat, Protected designation of origin (PDO), randomized controlled trials

Received: 18 Jun 2025; Accepted: 22 Aug 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Eugénio, Ramos, Barreto, Carriço, Matos, Camelo, Espírito Santo and Brandão. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Inês Brandão, Centro de Apoio Tecnológico Agro Alimentar (CATAA), Castelo Branco, Portugal

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary Material