Cheese, Microbiome and Obesity: A Love Triangle

Abstract

IntroductionRecent evidence has shown the importance of the microbiome in the development and maintenance of obesity. Probiotics were proposed for modulating the microbiome in order to achieve weight loss.MethodsData related to consumption of dairy food in European countries were obtained from the Global Dairy Consumption Report of the European Association of Dairy Trade Eucolait. Age-adjusted prevalence of obesity in European countries was extracted from the World Health Organization Global Health Repository. Linear regression was performed.ResultsConsumption of cheese in kilogram per capita was inversely correlated to the age-adjusted prevalence of obesity in 26 European countries (R2: 0.298, p=0.004).ConclusionConsumption of cheese appears to protect against weight gain. This finding deserves further confirmation by longitudinal studies or randomized controlled trials.