Research
Micronutrients & recovery
Specific saturated fatty acids have different effects on lipid profiles: Lauric, myristic, and palmitic acids raise LDL-C, while stearic acid is biologically neutral.
Not all saturated fats affect your cholesterol the same way. Fats found in coconut oil and meat (lauric, myristic, palmitic) tend to raise LDL cholesterol. Stearic acid, found in some animal fats, does not. However, replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats remains a beneficial strategy for heart health.
GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
When replacing dietary carbohydrates isocalorically, lauric (12:0), myristic (14:0), and palmitic (16:0) acids raised serum LDL-C, whereas stearic acid (18:0) did not; in this respect, stearic acid is often described as being biologically neutral.
Why this rating
Supported by meta-analyses of controlled trials.
Source
The dietary fat–heart disease hypothesis: An ongoing debate
Nasr H. Anaizi · Ibnosina Journal of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences · 2018
DOI 10.4103/ijmbs.ijmbs_71_17
narrative_review
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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