Mental well-being key to healthy aging; surprising link to cheese

Scientists have confirmed the key role of mental well-being in healthy aging by analyzing a range of data on factors influencing it. They also discovered a surprising factor linked to both mental well-being and good aging.

A study of 2.3 million people showed that, regardless of socio-economic factors, mental well-being can be the most important single condition for healthy aging and a longer life. Scientists from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China analyzed data from ethnically diverse European residents.

In a complex analysis, researchers compared data on various factors including genetics, lifestyle, wealth, and education. Mental well-being emerged as the best predictor of a long, healthy life. However, the surprising discovery was that people who reported the best mental health and resilience to stress, which improved well-being, also seemed to eat more cheese.

Statistically, the study revealed diseases, behaviors, and lifestyle choices that significantly lower the healthy aging score. The most important of these included watching television, smoking, heart failure, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), stroke, coronary artery disease, and ischemic heart disease. These risk factors were not surprising to scientists.

Cheese, on the other hand, swung the pendulum the other way in terms of its association with well-being and healthy aging. It was identified in the lifestyle analysis as one of the top five components most associated with healthy aging. Its consumption was related to healthy aging at a level of 3.67%. By comparison, higher fruit consumption had a positive impact of 1.96%, while too much time spent watching television, indicative of a more sedentary lifestyle, had a 7.39% negative impact.

Higher consumption of cheese (and fruits), though not directly responsible for happy, healthy aging, was one of the standout factors among people who scored high in terms of mental well-being. What does this mean? As with all cohort studies, complex interactions preclude pointing out any single factor for changes in such complex issues as a sense of mental well-being and aging.

Cheese consumption may be linked to wealth, social activity, or dietary health benefits. Although this was a large study, it focused exclusively on adults of European descent. A study using data, for example, from Asia, where dairy consumption is less widespread, might indicate another dominant factor co-occurring with mental well-being.