Blue Cheese may be beneficial for mental health

Researchers at Kobe University in Japan have discovered that that LH dipeptide, a constituent of blue cheese and also a constituent of the fermented Japanese soy product “natto”, may be beneficial for mental health. It is likely that there’ll be significant developments on this story over the course of 2020.

It is well established that microglia, immune cells in the central nervous system, remove waste products from our brains but may contribute to the development of depression as this process can result in inflammation in the brain. The new studies suggest that LH dipeptide can reduce that inflammation and thus reduce / prevent depression or inflammatory-related mood disorders.

So far the studies have been carried out on mice, however further studies on humans are planned. The researchers propose that it suggests that eating blue cheese may be a safe preventative measure to combat depression.