Research
Macro partitioning
Replacing saturated and trans fatty acids with unsaturated fatty acids lowers LDL cholesterol and reduces cardiovascular disease risk, whereas simply reducing total fat without this substitution may worsen the lipid triad (high triglycerides, low HDL, small LDL particles).
Focus on swapping saturated fats (like butter or fatty meats) for unsaturated fats (like olive oil, nuts, or fish) rather than just cutting total fat. Simply eating less fat but replacing it with refined carbohydrates may not improve your cholesterol profile and could worsen it.
GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
A diet that is low in saturated fatty acids, trans fatty acids, and cholesterol and relatively high in unsaturated fatty acids gives the best lipoprotein pattern. It keeps the LDL-cholesterol relatively low, and at the same time, it mitigates the lipid triad.
Why this rating
Supported by multiple epidemiologic studies (Nurses' Health Study) and clinical trials, though observational data has limitations.
Source
Dietary Fat Consumption and Health
Alice H. Lichtenstein et al. · Nutrition Reviews · 2009
DOI 10.1111/j.1753-4887.1998.tb01728.x
narrative_reviewCited 291×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Reducing total fat intake in children and adolescents to 28-34% of energy does not compromise growth or development, provided total energy and essential nutrient intakes are adequate.Good
- Reducing total dietary fat intake over the past 30 years in the US has not led to a reduction in obesity prevalence, suggesting that fat reduction alone is insufficient for weight control without addressing total energy intake and physical activity.Moderate
Related findings · Macro partitioning
- Total daily protein intake of 1.6 g/kg/day is sufficient for maximizing resistance training-induced muscle gains, with an upper confidence interval of 2.2 g/kg/day.Strong
- Resistance exercise training combined with sufficient dietary protein intake acts synergistically to maximize skeletal muscle hypertrophy, with protein intake saturating around 1.6 g/kg/day for general populations and potentially requiring 2.0-2.2 g/kg/day for resistance-trained individuals.Strong
- Trans fats should be completely eliminated from the diet, as they increase LDL cholesterol, decrease HDL cholesterol, and are directly associated with increased coronary risk.Strong
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