Research

Hormonal

Shifting dietary fat quality from saturated to polyunsaturated (increasing the P/S ratio) consistently lowers plasma cholesterol levels, whereas increasing dietary cholesterol quantity has a marginal effect on plasma cholesterol in the majority of individuals.

Focus on the type of fat you eat rather than strictly avoiding dietary cholesterol. Replacing saturated fats (like those in dairy or fatty meats) with polyunsaturated fats (like vegetable oils) is a more reliable way to lower plasma cholesterol than simply cutting back on eggs or shrimp. Most people's bodies naturally adjust to higher cholesterol intake, but they respond consistently to changes in fat quality.

GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
Plasma cholesterol levels were more sensitive to dietary fat quality than to cholesterol quantity.
Donald J. McNamara et al. · Journal of Clinical Investigation · 1987

Why this rating

Controlled metabolic ward study with 75 studies in 50 volunteers, measuring multiple metabolic endpoints.

Source

Heterogeneity of cholesterol homeostasis in man. Response to changes in dietary fat quality and cholesterol quantity.

Donald J. McNamara et al. · Journal of Clinical Investigation · 1987

DOI 10.1172/jci113013

crossover · n=50Cited 310×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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