Browse evidence-based analysis of health-related claims and assertions
The livers of mice eating olive oil and nuts turned off genes that make fat, compared to mice eating a fatty diet, which may help explain why they had less fat in their blood.
Mechanistic
Mice eating olive oil and nuts had more of the good fats (like olive oil and nuts) and less of the bad fats (like butter) in their blood than mice eating a typical fatty diet.
Descriptive
The plaques in mice eating olive oil and nuts had fewer inflammatory immune cells inside them than plaques in mice eating a fatty diet.
Immune cells from mice eating olive oil and nuts stuck less to the inside of blood vessels in a lab test, meaning they were less likely to start building artery plaques.
When immune cells from mice eating olive oil and nuts were tested in a dish, they absorbed less of the bad cholesterol that clogs arteries than cells from mice eating butter.
Quantitative
The immune cells in mice eating olive oil and nuts had fewer 'danger signals' on their surface than those eating a fatty Western diet, making them less likely to trigger inflammation.
Mice eating olive oil and nuts had fewer fat-filled immune cells in their blood than mice eating butter, which may help prevent artery damage.
Mice that ate olive oil and nuts instead of butter had less cholesterol and fat in their blood, which might help keep their arteries from getting clogged.
When mice with a genetic predisposition to clogged arteries ate a diet with olive oil and nuts instead of butter and animal fat, their artery plaques got smaller.
The emergence of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease as a leading cause of death occurred only in the 20th century, despite consistent human consumption of animal-based diets throughout evolutionary history.
Assertion
Atherosclerotic plaque development requires prolonged exposure to pathogenic stimuli and does not occur within short-term dietary interventions of less than one year.
Multiple large-scale meta-analyses of prospective cohort studies demonstrate no statistically significant association between dietary saturated fat intake and incidence of coronary heart disease or cardiovascular disease.
Domesticated carnivores fed ultraprocessed diets develop atherosclerotic plaque and cardiovascular disease, whereas those fed species-appropriate meat-based diets do not.
Wild obligate carnivores consuming natural prey-based diets exhibit minimal to no atherosclerotic plaque buildup in arterial vasculature.
A comprehensive meta-analysis of epidemiological evidence concludes that LDL cholesterol does not satisfy the Bradford Hill criteria for causality in the development of cardiovascular disease.
The Seven Countries Study selectively reported data from only seven of 22 analyzed countries to falsely imply a causal relationship between saturated fat intake and cardiovascular disease, omitting data from 15 countries showing no association.
Historical human populations consuming diets high in saturated fat from animal sources likely had higher circulating LDL cholesterol levels than contemporary populations, yet exhibited negligible rates of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
Prior to the widespread consumption of industrial seed oils and refined carbohydrates in the early 20th century, clinical cases of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease were exceptionally rare in human populations consuming diets high in animal fats.
A substantial proportion of patients hospitalized with acute coronary artery disease have LDL cholesterol levels below 100 mg/dL, challenging the assumption that elevated LDL is a necessary precursor to clinical events.
Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) functions as a transport particle that delivers cholesterol and other essential lipids to peripheral tissues via the bloodstream.
Atherosclerotic plaque buildup in arterial walls is a common pathological mechanism underlying both myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke.
There isn’t strong enough proof to say that eating less saturated fat and more vegetable oils will definitely prevent heart disease, according to this big review.
Even though eating trans fats seems bad for your heart, the amount of trans fat found in your blood doesn’t clearly link to heart disease risk in these studies.
Correlational
People with more omega-3 fats in their blood don’t clearly have lower heart disease risk, even though the numbers hint at a possible benefit.