Your Brain On... Cheese
From Your Brain On by Drs. Ayesha and Dean Sherzai
January 14, 2026 · 43 min · Season 6 · Episode 6
About this episode
The episode discusses the implications of a viral study claiming cheese reduces dementia risk and emphasizes the importance of critical thinking in nutrition science.
Around the start of 2026, a study sparked viral headlines claiming that cheese could reduce dementia risk. But... nutrition science almost never works like this. One study can't "prove" a food is protective or harmful, and viral health claims often miss the most important details of research: how the data was gathered, what was actually measured, what variables were controlled for, and what it means in real life. In this episode, we unpack what the 'viral cheese study' (PMID: 41406402) actually found, what it DOESN'T mean, and why critical thinking around nutrition headlines matters more than ever. We discuss: • Why viral food headlines are so persuasive (and so often misleading) • What the cheese study REALLY reported • The difference between correlation and causation in nutrition research • Why long-term dietary recall data can be unreliable • How bias (including our personal food preferences) shapes interpretation of research • What "show me the data" really means in a world of clickbait science • How to interpret food and brain health studies without falling into extremes We also speak to Emily Sonestedt, research group leader and associate professor at Lund University, and…
People in this episode
Hosts: Drs. Ayesha Sherzai, Drs. Dean Sherzai
Guest: Emily Sonestedt
Topics covered
- nutrition science
- dementia risk
- viral health claims
- correlation vs causation
- dietary recall data
- critical thinking
- food and brain health
Keywords
- cheese
- dementia
- nutrition
- viral study
- health claims
- correlation
- causation
- dietary data
- critical thinking
Sponsors
2026 NEURO World Retreat
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Lund University
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