Why Jarlsberg Cheese Is More Newsworthy than Ever

Jarlsberg Cheese Nutrition

The study itself compared the biochemical markers for bone formation, “carboxylated osteocalcin,” of individuals who took 57 grams of Jarlsberg per day, versus individuals who took 57 grams of Camembert per day, says Helge Einar Lundberg, M.D. at Skjetten Medical Centre in Norway and one of the authors of the study.

The individuals who ate Jarlsberg in the study had larger markers of bone production while not increasing their levels of low cholesterol.

Investigators wanted to study Jarlsberg because it is one of the only cheeses that contains Vitamin K2, which has a known positive impact on osteocalcium and bone formation. “First we had to do research to find out the optimal dose, which is about 57 grams per day or about four pre-sliced cheese slices,” says Helge Einar Lundberg, M.D. at Skjetten Medical Centre in Norway and one of the authors of the study. “Jarsberg is the only cheese, to my knowledge, that contains a long-chain version of Vitamin K2.  So, we wanted to find out if it is a general cheese effect or is this a Jarlsberg effect?”

They used Camembert as the control cheese because it was made by the same producer as the Jarlsberg so any effects of different producers wouldn’t be introduced into the study, and Camembert “had the same contents of fat, the same contents of protein, of magnesium and calcium and so on” to also control for, Lundberg says.

The results were so positive, strongly suggesting bone formation, that the team is planning future studies on Jarlsberg. Future studies include comparing Norvegia Cheese to Jarlseberg, as “they are identical except for the taste and the contents of propionibacterium freudenreichi and Vitamin K2 9-4H,” Lundberg says.