Eating a lot of saturated fat makes your bad cholesterol go up.

Pro

Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

Community contributions welcome

Lower Intake of Saturated Fatty Acids Is Associated with Improved Lipid Profile in a 6-Year-Old Nationally Representative Population

Cross-Sectional Study

Human

2022 Feb 5

When kids ate less saturated fat (like butter and fatty meat), their 'bad' cholesterol (LDL) went down. When they ate more saturated fat, their LDL went up — so eating less saturated fat helps keep cholesterol lower.

Contradicting (1)

Community contributions welcome

Effects of dietary fatty acids and carbohydrates on the ratio of serum total to HDL cholesterol and on serum lipids and apolipoproteins: a meta-analysis of 60 controlled trials.

Systematic Review With Meta-Analysis

Human

2003 May

This study looked at how different fats in food affect overall cholesterol levels, but it didn’t check if saturated fats raise LDL by changing how the liver makes or clears cholesterol, so we can’t say it proves the claim.

Similar Assertions

High intake of dietary saturated fats elevates circulating low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels in humans.

91%

Eating less saturated fat, like from butter and red meat, tends to go along with lower levels of 'bad' cholesterol in the blood.

88%

Eating more saturated fats, like those in butter and red meat, raises the bad cholesterol in your blood, which can build up as gunk in your arteries over time.

84%

Saturated fat raises LDL cholesterol, but mostly the 'bigger, fluffier' kind that doesn't clog arteries as much as the small, sticky kind.

83%

Eating more saturated fats, like those in butter and red meat, raises the bad cholesterol in your blood, which can build up as gunk in your arteries over time.

82%