If adults swap carbs for saturated fats—like butter or fatty meats—it changes their cholesterol levels in different ways. The kind of food replacing the carbs matters more than just cutting carbs alone.

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 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.

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're at risk for metabolic problems, swapping butter or fatty meats for olive oil or avocados doesn't drop your 'good' cholesterol as much as swapping them for bread or sugar.

Eating less saturated fat can slightly lower your bad cholesterol, but that doesn’t mean you’ll live longer or have fewer heart problems unless you’re changing other parts of your diet too.