Serum HDL cholesterol was positively associated with cheese intake in the Oslo Health Study

Abstract

We have examined the association between cheese intake and serum lipids in the cross-sectional Oslo Health Study (18,770 subjects), using ANOVA and linear regression. In both sexes and in most of four age groups, i.e., young (30 years), middle-aged (40 and 45 years), seniors (59–60) and old (75–76 years), cheese intake was negatively associated with triacylglycerol (TAG) and positively with high-density lipoprotein (HDL) (P < 0.05 for trend). In the whole material, HDL was 1.38 (1.36–1.40), 1.44 (1.42–1.45), 1.50 (1.49–1.51) and 1.57 (1.56–1.58) mmol/L in cheese intake groups 1–4, respectively (i.e., intake 0.5, 2.0, 5.0 or 10.5 times per week). Corresponding values for TAG were: 1.79 (1.73–1.86), 1.67 (1.63–1.71), 1.57 (1.54–1.61) and 1.48 (1.46–1.50) mmol/L. Also in multiple linear regression analysis with several confounding variables the serum HDL versus cheese intake association still prevailed (P = 0.001), but the cheese versus TAG association was not significant in the multivariate model.