Why fat type matters for monkey hearts
Dietary polyunsaturated fat modifies low-density lipoproteins and reduces atherosclerosis of nonhuman primates with high and low diet responsiveness.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
LDL particle size varied in opposite directions between two monkey species on the same diet, yet atherosclerosis still decreased in both.
Most nutrition science assumes larger LDL particles are less harmful — but here, smaller particles in one species didn’t cause more plaque, challenging the size-is-key narrative.
Practical Takeaways
Replace butter, coconut oil, or fatty meats with plant oils like sunflower, safflower, or soybean oil to potentially reduce harmful LDL fat composition.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
LDL particle size varied in opposite directions between two monkey species on the same diet, yet atherosclerosis still decreased in both.
Most nutrition science assumes larger LDL particles are less harmful — but here, smaller particles in one species didn’t cause more plaque, challenging the size-is-key narrative.
Practical Takeaways
Replace butter, coconut oil, or fatty meats with plant oils like sunflower, safflower, or soybean oil to potentially reduce harmful LDL fat composition.
Publication
Journal
The American journal of clinical nutrition
Year
1995
Authors
L. Rudel, F. Johnson, J. Sawyer, M. S. Wilson, J. Parks
Related Content
Claims (6)
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.
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.
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.
Monkeys that ate more polyunsaturated fat had less plaque buildup in their heart arteries, no matter what species they were.
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.