Eating less saturated fat lowers LDL cholesterol a little. In trials lasting two years or more, it led to 21% fewer heart and blood vessel events, counted together (Hooper et al., 2020). The American Heart Association suggests keeping it under 6% of your calories, about 13 grams on a 2,000-calorie day (AHA). What you eat in its place seems to matter too.
Key takeaways
In 15 trials, cutting saturated fat lowered heart and blood vessel events, counted together, by 21%, with little or no effect on deaths (Hooper et al., 2020).
Swapping saturated fat for polyunsaturated fat was linked to 25% less heart disease; swapping it for refined starch or added sugar wasn't linked to a benefit (Li et al., 2015).
Limits differ: under 6% of calories for the AHA, 10% or less for the World Health Organization, and a 20 gram Daily Value on U.S. labels (AHA; WHO, 2023; FDA).
Cheese, pizza and ice cream are the top sources for U.S. adults (Taylor et al., 2024).
What's saturated fat?
Saturated fat is one of the main kinds of fat in food, mostly from animal foods and a few plant oils. It's in beef, lamb, pork, poultry skin, butter, cream, cheese and ice cream, and in coconut, palm and palm kernel oil (AHA).
Cooking fats differ a lot. Per 100 grams, coconut oil has 82 grams of saturated fat, butter 63, palm oil 49 and lard 39. Olive oil has 14 and canola oil 7 (Sacks et al., 2017).
How does saturated fat affect cholesterol?
Eating less of it lowers cholesterol a little, mostly LDL, often called the "bad" cholesterol. In the Cochrane trials, total cholesterol fell by about 0.24 mmol/L (about 9 mg/dL). In the five trials that measured LDL, it fell by about 0.19 mmol/L (about 7 mg/dL) (Hooper et al., 2020).
Coconut oil shows the effect clearly. In 16 trials, it raised LDL cholesterol by 10.47 mg/dL compared with other vegetable oils (Neelakantan et al., 2020).
Trans fat is a separate problem. It raises LDL cholesterol and lowers HDL, the "good" kind (MedlinePlus).
Does cutting saturated fat lower heart risk?
Yes, for heart and blood vessel problems counted together. The trials didn't show a clear effect on heart attacks or strokes on their own, or on how long people lived.
The strongest evidence is a Cochrane review of 15 trials with about 59,000 adults, each lasting at least two years. Cutting saturated fat lowered combined heart and blood vessel events by 21%. For people without heart disease, about 56 people would need to cut back for about four years to spare one event. For people who already had heart disease, it was about 32 (Hooper et al., 2020).
The review found little or no effect on deaths from heart disease or from any cause. The World Health Organization funded the 2020 update.
What should replace saturated fat?
Polyunsaturated fat, from plant oils, has the best evidence, followed by monounsaturated fat and whole grains. Refined starch and added sugar don't show a benefit.
One study followed more than 127,000 U.S. health professionals for over two decades. Swapping 5% of calories from saturated fat for polyunsaturated fat, monounsaturated fat or whole grains was linked to 25%, 15% and 9% less heart disease. Swapping it for refined starch or added sugar wasn't linked to a benefit (Li et al., 2015). That's a link, not proof.
A 2017 American Heart Association advisory reached a similar view from trials. Replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated vegetable oil cut heart disease by about 30%, while replacing it with mostly refined carbs and sugars didn't (Sacks et al., 2017).
The Cochrane review is more cautious. It found no clear difference between trials that swapped in polyunsaturated fat and those that swapped in carbs (Hooper et al., 2020).
The World Health Organization suggests replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat, plant monounsaturated fat, or carbs with natural fiber, like whole grains, vegetables, fruit and pulses (WHO, 2023). There's more on carb quality in carbs and added sugar, and on fiber in how much fiber you need.
How much saturated fat is too much?
The AHA suggests under 6% of your calories (AHA). Fat has 9 calories per gram (MedlinePlus), so that's about 11 grams at 1,600 calories, 13 at 2,000 and 17 at 2,500.
Source | Limit |
|---|---|
under 6% of calories, about 13 grams on 2,000 calories | |
10% of calories or less | |
Daily Value of 20 grams | |
no number: as low as possible while eating a nutritionally adequate diet |
On average, saturated fat makes up about 10.7% of U.S. adults' calories (Taylor et al., 2024).
Where does saturated fat come from?
Many everyday foods, led by cheese, pizza and ice cream for U.S. adults. A study of more than 36,000 U.S. adults traced their saturated fat to its sources. Cheese gave 8.3%, pizza 5.2%, ice cream 4.4%, eggs and omelets 3.8%, and burritos and tacos 3.5%. For adults over 70, ice cream topped the list (Taylor et al., 2024).
The top six foods made up only about a quarter of the total, so no single food explains most of it.
Which swaps have evidence?
The AHA suggests liquid plant oils in place of butter, lard and tropical oils, and beans, fish or nuts in place of some meat (AHA). For protein amounts, see how much protein do you need.
Red meat to plant protein: in 36 trials, swapping red meat for beans, soy or nuts lowered LDL cholesterol more than keeping the meat. Fish didn't make the same difference to LDL. Some authors had food industry support (Guasch-Ferré et al., 2019).
Nuts: in 61 trials, about an ounce (28 grams) of tree nuts a day lowered LDL cholesterol by about 4.8 mg/dL. Some authors were paid through a tree nut industry contract (Del Gobbo et al., 2015).
Olive oil and nuts: the PREDIMED trial followed Spanish adults aged 55 to 80 at high heart risk. A Mediterranean diet with extra-virgin olive oil or nuts led to about 31% and 28% fewer major heart events than reduced-fat advice. These results come from the 2018 reanalysis, and producers donated the foods (Estruch et al., 2018).
Frequently asked questions
Is 13 grams right for me? Only if you eat about 2,000 calories a day. The AHA's limit is 6% of calories, and fat has 9 calories per gram. So 6% of 1,600 calories is 96 calories, or about 11 grams, and at 2,500 calories it's about 17 grams (AHA; MedlinePlus).
Do I need to cut out saturated fat completely? No. The National Academies set no number. Their advice is to keep it as low as you can while still eating a nutritionally adequate diet (NASEM).
Is fish good for cholesterol? Fish's benefit shows up in heart outcomes more than LDL. The AHA links one to two seafood meals a week to less heart failure, heart disease and ischemic stroke (Rimm et al., 2018). Swapping red meat for fish didn't lower LDL in trials (Guasch-Ferré et al., 2019).
What about trans fat? Since 2018, partially hydrogenated oils can't be added to most U.S. foods. Natural trans fat in milk, butter, cheese and meat remains (FDA). A label can say 0 grams when a serving has less than half a gram (21 CFR 101.9).
How Knit shows your fat
When you log food in an app connected to Apple Health, Knit shows your total fat and saturated fat in the Record tab, under Nutrition. Logged grams are estimates, and how accurate calorie tracking is covers how close they get. A few weeks of logging shows what a typical day looks like for you (why Knit compares you to you).
