What happens to your blood fats when you eat walnuts instead of butter?
Replacing Saturated Fats with Unsaturated Fats from Walnuts or Vegetable Oils Lowers Atherogenic Lipoprotein Classes Without Increasing Lipoprotein(a)
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Cholesterol efflux and PCSK9 levels didn’t change despite lower LDL.
Scientists thought walnuts might improve heart health by boosting HDL function (cholesterol efflux) or lowering PCSK9 (a protein that raises LDL). But neither changed—meaning we still don’t fully understand *how* these fats lower cholesterol.
Practical Takeaways
Replace butter, cheese, or red meat with walnuts, sunflower oil, or other PUFA-rich fats to lower your bad cholesterol.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Cholesterol efflux and PCSK9 levels didn’t change despite lower LDL.
Scientists thought walnuts might improve heart health by boosting HDL function (cholesterol efflux) or lowering PCSK9 (a protein that raises LDL). But neither changed—meaning we still don’t fully understand *how* these fats lower cholesterol.
Practical Takeaways
Replace butter, cheese, or red meat with walnuts, sunflower oil, or other PUFA-rich fats to lower your bad cholesterol.
Publication
Journal
The Journal of Nutrition
Year
2020
Authors
A. Tindall, P. Kris-Etherton, K. Petersen
Related Content
Claims (6)
Swapping saturated fats like butter for unsaturated fats like olive oil doesn’t seem to help your body remove cholesterol better or change a key protein linked to cholesterol levels — so those things probably aren’t why this diet change helps lower bad cholesterol.
Eating walnuts or using vegetable oils instead of foods with saturated fats can lower bad cholesterol in people at risk for heart disease—by about 5 to 7%.
Replacing butter with oils like those in walnuts helps lower cholesterol because of the type of fat, not something special in the whole nut.
If you're at risk for heart disease, swapping out saturated fats for healthier fats from walnuts or vegetable oils won't raise a specific blood marker (called Lp(a)) that's linked to heart problems.
Swapping out bad fats like butter or fried food fats with healthy fats from walnuts can help your liver make less cholesterol and clear more 'bad' cholesterol from your blood.