Switching from foods high in saturated fats (like butter) to foods high in refined carbs (like white bread or sugar) doesn’t change your good-to-bad cholesterol balance or lower your risk of heart disease.

If you swap out butter and fatty meats for carbs like bread or rice, it doesn’t clearly help your heart—but if those carbs are whole grains or veggies that don’t spike your blood sugar, they might help a little.

If you swap out butter or fatty meats for bread or pasta, your bad cholesterol goes up more than if you swap them out for olive oil or avocado — and the difference is pretty small, but it’s there.

Switching from foods high in saturated fat (like butter) to foods full of sugar and white bread doesn’t make your heart any safer — studies show it doesn’t help prevent heart disease.

Getting rid of artificial trans fats (like in fried foods) and replacing them with healthy oils or whole grains lowers bad cholesterol ratios more than just cutting butter or cheese.

If you swap out foods like butter and cheese for sugary snacks and white bread, it might make your heart health worse by raising bad fats in your blood, lowering good cholesterol, and making your body less sensitive to insulin—which could raise your chance of having a heart attack.