Research
Macro partitioning
Dietary strategies that replace carbohydrates with saturated fats (e.g., cheese, meat, butter) or include monounsaturated/polyunsaturated fats (e.g., olive oil) can increase HDL cholesterol levels.
Consider reducing your carbohydrate intake and replacing it with healthy fats, such as those found in olive oil, nuts, or even moderate amounts of saturated fats from cheese and meat. This dietary shift can help increase your HDL cholesterol levels.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
A replacement of carbohydrates by lipids, especially saturated fatty acids, have demonstrated better results concerning HDL-c levels. Thorning et al. (2015) showed that diets rich in cheese and meat increased HDL-c levels when compared to the same energy intake diets, but composed of carbohydrates instead of saturated fatty acids.
Why this rating
Cites multiple studies showing consistent increases in HDL with specific dietary patterns.
Source
Reverse Cholesterol Transport: Molecular Mechanisms and the Non-medical Approach to Enhance HDL Cholesterol
Leandro R. Marques et al. · Frontiers in Physiology · 2018
DOI 10.3389/fphys.2018.00526
narrative_reviewCited 171×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Regular aerobic exercise increases HDL cholesterol levels and enhances Reverse Cholesterol Transport (RCT) efficiency by upregulating key receptors (ABCA1, ABCG1, SR-B1) and enzymes (LCAT, CETP).Good
- Extremely high HDL cholesterol levels (e.g., >116 mg/dL in men, >135 mg/dL in women) are associated with increased all-cause mortality.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
This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →