Does eating less butter help your heart?
Saturated Fat Intake and the Prevention and Management of Cardiovascular Disease in Adults: An Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Evidence-Based Nutrition Practice Guideline.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Focusing on reducing total SFA intake (regardless of food source) has only low certainty of benefit.
Most public health advice says ‘cut all saturated fat’ — but this review suggests that blanket approach may not be as effective as replacing it with better fats.
Practical Takeaways
Swap one daily source of saturated fat (e.g., butter on toast) with a polyunsaturated fat source (e.g., avocado or almond butter).
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Focusing on reducing total SFA intake (regardless of food source) has only low certainty of benefit.
Most public health advice says ‘cut all saturated fat’ — but this review suggests that blanket approach may not be as effective as replacing it with better fats.
Practical Takeaways
Swap one daily source of saturated fat (e.g., butter on toast) with a polyunsaturated fat source (e.g., avocado or almond butter).
Publication
Journal
Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
Year
2023
Authors
S. Johnson, C. Kirkpatrick, Nicole Miller, J. Carson, D. Handu, L. Moloney
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Claims (4)
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.
If you eat less of the kind of fat found in butter and red meat, you're less likely to have heart problems like heart attacks or strokes.
If you swap out butter and fatty meats for oils like olive or sunflower oil, you might slightly lower your chance of having a heart problem — but the evidence isn’t super strong.
Cutting down on all saturated fats overall—instead of just avoiding certain foods like butter or cheese—might slightly lower your risk of heart disease, but we’re not very sure about it.