French stinky cheeses turn out to be surprisingly healthy: worms live up to 77 percent longer | To eat

Anyone who ignores French raw milk stinky cheeses should think twice. Roquefort gourmets could actually live longer. And even more cheerful.

French cheeses have a worldwide reputation. For their quality, yes, but not only because of that. “The smell comes at you from afar,” The New York Times once summarized. A British university once declared a cheese from Boulogne the worst smelly cheese in the world. “That winning cheese was so strong that it was described as farm odor mixed with manure, odorous from up to fifty meters away,” according to Guinness World Records.

But there is light at the end of the stinking tunnel. People who eat raw milk French cheeses may live longer. And their motor skills are better, because their muscles remain in better condition.

That shows research from a team of scientists from, among others, the Clermont Auvergne University in Clermont-Ferrand. They noted that fermented foods are very fashionable these days because certain bacteria in food are said to be healthy. “But when we ask our students about fermented food, they mainly mention beer and yogurt. Raw milk cheeses contain an extraordinary wealth of microorganisms,” says researcher Laurent Rios.

These microorganisms are said to be good for people’s health and longevity. To measure the effects, the scientists selected eight raw milk cheeses, such as roquefort, comté, brie and époisses: real fragrant French cheeses. Because the effects on people’s lifespan could only be determined after their death, a faster alternative was chosen.

The cheeses were fed to a select group of special worms, with a length of less than 1 millimeter. Their metabolism is partly comparable to that of humans, but they live a lot shorter: about twenty days. “This makes it easier to study the effect on old age. We have given thousands of worms nutritional supplements from our cheeses, comparable to a 20 gram portion of French cheese for a human.”

The effect was remarkable. The mini worms that ate stinky cheese lived significantly longer than the worms that did not eat cheese. Some even 77 percent longer. The microorganisms in the cheese block molecules in the body that are partly responsible for cardiovascular disease and disorders of the nervous system and joints.

The tested worms not only lived longer, but also ‘happier’. “They can move better throughout their lives. Their mobility improved later in life. The muscles of the cheese-eating worms were better maintained.”

The best scores were achieved with two of the eight French raw milk cheeses: Saint-Nectaire and goat cheese. New research has been carried out, this time in the laboratory with human cartilage. And positive effects were measured there too. Less inflammation and fewer harmful enzymes were measured.

The scientists say that further research is needed to learn more about, for example, the differences in effects between different cheeses. But with such initial results, you are a loser if you still pay attention to that “farmyard with manure smell”. “Eating about 20 grams per day is enough,” says researcher Rios. “That’s a modest amount that most cheese lovers will happily eat.”

Although: not everyone grows old thanks to raw milk cheese. Salmonella, listeria and E. coli bacteria were also found during inspections in raw milk French cheeses.

Research by the French public broadcaster showed that in 2015 and 2016, around ten people died and almost eighty people became ill after eating raw milk cheese contaminated with dangerous bacteria.