Cheese may encourage certain kinds of healthy gut bacteria. You’ve probably heard that cheese is not so good for you, but the French are well known both for eating lots of cheese and for being healthier than their diet would suggest. Research out this week brings us one step closer to understanding why that might be the case. “The research—funded in part by Arla Foods (a Danish food company that produces dairy products) and the Danish Dairy Research Foundation—analyzed data from 15 healthy young men who ate three diets for two weeks. All diets had the same amount of calories and fat, but one was rich in 1.5% fat milk, another required eating 1.7 grams of cow cheese per day, and the third was a control diet. The researchers analyzed the men’s urine and feces to figure out how dairy is metabolized and what effect it had on markers of blood cholesterol levels.” Researchers saw more metabolites like short-chain fatty acids like butyrate and propionate that they know are related to the metabolism of the microflora in the dairy eaters. “They also had lower levels than the control group of TMAO, a metabolite produced when the body metabolizes choline, which is found in many animal-derived foods like red meat.” More short chain fatty acids and lower levels of TMAO have been associated with lower levels of cholesterol, which may help stave off heart disease

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