Does eating less butter help your heart?
Effect of reducing saturated fat intake on cardiovascular disease in adults: an umbrella review
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Higher saturated fat intake was associated with reduced risk of fatal and overall stroke in observational studies.
This directly contradicts decades of public health messaging that saturated fat = bad for the heart and brain. It suggests observational studies may be picking up confounding factors like overall diet quality or socioeconomic status.
Practical Takeaways
If you want to lower your heart attack risk, reduce saturated fat—but replace it with unsaturated fats (like olive oil, nuts, fish), not refined carbs or sugar.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Higher saturated fat intake was associated with reduced risk of fatal and overall stroke in observational studies.
This directly contradicts decades of public health messaging that saturated fat = bad for the heart and brain. It suggests observational studies may be picking up confounding factors like overall diet quality or socioeconomic status.
Practical Takeaways
If you want to lower your heart attack risk, reduce saturated fat—but replace it with unsaturated fats (like olive oil, nuts, fish), not refined carbs or sugar.
Publication
Journal
Frontiers in Public Health
Year
2024
Authors
Adolfo Aramburu, Gandy Dolores-Maldonado, Katherine Curi-Quinto, Karen Cueva, Giancarlo Alvarado-Gamarra, Katherine Alcalá-Marcos, C. Celis, Claudio F. Lanata
Related Content
Claims (6)
If you eat less saturated fat (like butter or fatty meat) but still eat lots of white bread, sugary snacks, or refined carbs, it probably won’t make your heart any healthier or lower your risk of heart disease.
If adults eat less saturated fat, they’re probably 21% less likely to have a heart attack, stroke, or other heart-related problems — but it doesn’t seem to change how long they live.
Cutting back on foods like butter and fatty meats doesn’t seem to make people live longer or die less from heart disease or cancer, according to studies that aren’t super strong.
People who eat more saturated fat, like butter and fatty meats, seem to die more often from heart disease and breast cancer, but this might just be because other things—like lifestyle or diet—are actually causing the difference, and the science isn’t very strong.
Eating less saturated fat can slightly lower your bad cholesterol, but that doesn’t mean you’ll live longer or have fewer heart problems unless you’re changing other parts of your diet too.