Eating cheese is good for your heart health, particularly if you are a woman, according to the findings of a new Irish study.

Researchers at University College Dublin (UCD) tested the impact of eating both cheddar cheese and butter on cholesterol levels in men and women.

In men, there was no significant difference in how they responded to consuming cheese or butter – there was a similar lowering of cholesterol concentrations with both foods.

However, there was a dramatic difference in women, with significantly lower cholesterol after consumption of cheese compared to butter.

Researchers believe this indicates that women are more sensitive to the "dairy matrix effect".

This is a term used to describe the complex structure of protein, fat and other nutritional elements in dairy foods and how they interact in the human body in cheese.

Dr Martina Rooney from UCD is a co-author of the research article, 'The impact of sex and the cheese matrix on cholesterol metabolism in middle-aged adults’ .

She believes that the study’s findings may play a role in personalised nutrition, such as female-specific guidance for heart health and the treatment of heart disease.

“Simply put, females appear to respond more favourably to cheese compared to fat in other dairy foods – and this is important.

“Increased understanding of sex differences in response to diet will help provide more tailored, personalised nutrition to those at risk of heart disease, and therefore improve management of heart health through lifestyle modifications," Dr. Rooney added.

The National Dairy Council (NDC) said that heart disease is a leading cause of death among women in Ireland, even though men are at greater risk of developing the condition.

The organisation said that dairy products, such as milk, yogurt and cheese, are known to play an important part in health due to the nutrients they contain.

However, the NDC noted that "many people limit their intake of these important foods because they contain saturated fat, which is linked to high cholesterol".