Cheese: The Secret To A Longer Life And Faster Metabolism?

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After reading some articles on Functional Performance Systems website HOME | Functional Performance Systems, Simi Valley, CA on the importance of dairy and Peat's comments as to why milk is so important, I saw this article:

Cheese: the secret to a longer life and faster metabolism?

the fact that the French tend to lead long and healthy lives while consuming diets high in saturated fats.

Though most explanations of this phenomenon, known as the 'French Paradox', focus on wine consumed and lifestyle, this new Danish research points to a simpler answer.

The study, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, suggests Scientists at Aarhus University in Denmark investigated that fermented dairy products such as cheese could contribute to longevity and health.

The French enjoy a low incidence of coronary heart disease and an average life expectancy of 82 years, while consuming up to 23.9kg of cheese each year. The British who eat 11.6kg of cheese each year, suffer from twice the levels of cardiovascular disease and their life expectancy is 81 years.

Hanne Bertram, a food scientist at Aarhus University in Denmark, compared urine and fecal samples from 15 men whose diets either contained cheese or milk, or ate a diet with butter but no other dairy products.

Bertram found that those who ate cheese had higher levels of butyric acid, a compound which has been been linked to reduced obesity and higher metabolism. The higher butyrate levels were linked to a reduction in cholesterol.

This, Bertram says, "suggests a role for gut microbes and further shore up the connection between cheese and the French paradox."

Well now I am going to eat more cheese.