Browse evidence-based analysis of health-related claims and assertions
The study found that what kind of fat is inside the bad cholesterol matters more for heart disease than how big or small the particles are.
Correlational
In one type of monkey, healthy fats made the bad cholesterol particles bigger; in another type, they made them slightly smaller — showing the effect isn't the same in all animals.
Descriptive
Monkeys that ate more polyunsaturated fat had less plaque buildup in their heart arteries, no matter what species they were.
When monkeys ate more linoleic acid (a healthy fat), the fat inside their bad cholesterol particles changed — less of one type and more of another, which might be less harmful.
When monkeys ate more healthy fats like linoleic acid instead of saturated fats, their blood cholesterol levels dropped by about a quarter, no matter the species.
Mice without FFAR4 develop plaques with bigger dead-cell cores as their disease gets worse, which might mean FFAR4 helps keep plaques from becoming dangerous.
Even though the overall size of the plaque in the heart’s main artery didn’t change in mice without FFAR4 after 16 weeks, the dead-cell core inside got much bigger — meaning the plaque became more dangerous even if it didn’t grow.
After eating a high-fat diet for 8 weeks, male and female mice without FFAR4 had smaller artery plaques in the aortic sinus, but not in the aortic arch — suggesting FFAR4 might affect early plaque growth differently.
Male mice without the FFAR4 receptor develop bigger artery plaques in one specific area (the aortic arch) after eating a high-fat diet for 16 weeks, but female mice don't show this difference.
When mice lack a specific receptor called FFAR4 and eat a high-fat diet, their artery plaques develop bigger dead-cell areas inside, which makes the plaques more dangerous.
Rats that ate beef had less vitamin E in their liver than rats that ate chicken, meaning their livers had less protection against cell damage.
When rats ate high-fat diets, their blood had less vitamin E (an antioxidant) but more of an enzyme that fights free radicals, meaning their bodies were trying harder to handle stress.
Rats that ate beef had more of a blood marker called CRP, which is a sign their bodies were experiencing more inflammation.
Rats that ate beef had almost 4 times more of a chemical called TMAO in their urine than rats that ate chicken — this chemical is linked to heart disease and inflammation.
Rats that ate beef had much more damage to their gut cells from oxidative stress than rats that ate chicken, which could mean beef makes their digestive system more stressed.
Focusing on cutting butter and red meat may help lower cholesterol more than just removing fried foods with trans fats.
In a lab diet setting, swapping butter for vegetable oil lowers cholesterol more than just removing artificial trans fats.
Quantitative
When you replace bad fats and cholesterol in your diet with healthy oils, your overall cholesterol balance improves by about 0.33 points on the ratio scale.
Eating more healthy fats like those in nuts, seeds, and fish is linked to lower bad cholesterol in people on controlled diets.
Swapping butter for olive oil doesn’t seem to change bad cholesterol levels in people eating strictly controlled diets.
Eating more cholesterol from foods like eggs or liver is linked to higher bad cholesterol levels in people eating strictly controlled diets.
Eating foods with artificial trans fats, like some fried or baked goods, is linked to higher bad cholesterol in people on tightly controlled diets.
Eating more saturated fat, like in butter or cheese, is linked to higher levels of bad cholesterol in people eating strictly controlled diets.
Cutting out butter and replacing it with vegetable oil lowers bad cholesterol more than just removing artificial trans fats from your diet.