Gouda cheese and cancer

We’ve all heard different things about the foods that can prevent cancer or boost our immune system. There’s a whole list of them, but one that has been bouncing around recently concerns gouda cheese and cancer.

For all the cheese lovers, there is some good (or should I say ‘gouda’) news. A study last year revealed that aged cheese contains a good bacteria that can improve the immune system of the elderly.

When we age a process called, immunosenescence is taking place. In essence, this is the aging process of our immune system which can leave the elderly more susceptible to infection, less responsive to vaccination, more prone to inflammatory diseases, and less able to detect and destroy cancer cells.

The digestive system plays a role here as it produces immune components and the bacteria. Therefore good bacteria in the gut supports immune function.

Scientists at the University of Turku in Finland wanted to see if eating cheese would assist this as aged cheese contains good bacteria.

In the study, people aged over 70 had a slice of gouda cheese with breakfast every day for four weeks. The results found an increased ability of the immune system to deal with invading organisms. The researchers concluded that probiotic cheese can thus tackle immunosenescene. This showed the ability of cheese, such as gouda, cancer fighting and inflammatory fighting potential.

Although we’d all love to live on a diet of crackers and gouda cheese, cancer and other conditions that arise with an aging immune system need to be dealt with holistically meaning a healthy and nutritiously varied diet and an active lifestyle. The study has show the potential of gouda cheese’s cancer fighting potential which lies in its ability to produce the good bacteria in our stomach but remember healthy living is something we have to commit to for live and we cannot rely on just one food alone (no matter how delicious it might be).