Research
Macro partitioning
Replacing saturated fatty acids with omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids lowers LDL cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol concentrations in a dose-dependent manner.
Incorporating omega-6 rich oils (like corn, soybean, or sunflower oil) into your diet in place of saturated fats (like butter or lard) will lower your LDL ('bad') cholesterol. The more you replace saturated fat with these oils, the greater the reduction in LDL cholesterol.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Findings from intervention studies on cardiometabolic risk factors suggest that ω-6 PUFAs reduce concentrations of LDL cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol in a dose-dependent manner compared with dietary carbohydrate
Why this rating
Strong, consistent evidence from multiple RCTs and meta-analyses regarding lipid biomarkers.
Source
ω-6 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Cardiometabolic Health: Current Evidence, Controversies, and Research Gaps
Kevin C. Maki et al. · Advances in Nutrition · 2018
DOI 10.1093/advances/nmy038
narrative_reviewCited 120×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Replacing saturated fatty acids with omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids has a neutral effect on blood pressure.Good
- Replacing saturated fatty acids (SFAs) with omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), specifically linoleic acid, reduces the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) events and cardiovascular mortality.Moderate
- Higher biomarker levels of linoleic acid (LA) are associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D).Moderate
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