“You should avoid fat to protect your heart.”
You do not need to avoid fat to protect your heart; cutting saturated fat, especially by swapping it for unsaturated fats, is what helps.
You can keep fat in your diet and still protect your heart. Focus on the type: use more olive oil, canola oil, nuts, seeds and fish, and less butter, fatty meat and other sources of saturated fat.
Swap one saturated fat you use often, such as butter for cooking, for an unsaturated oil like olive or canola oil.
Safety note: Extremely restrictive diets can cause inadequate energy and nutrient intake. People with pancreatitis, gallbladder disease, fat-malabsorption disorders or prescribed therapeutic diets need individualized guidance about the amount and type of fat.
Talk to a healthcare professional if: you have very high LDL cholesterol, heart disease, pancreatitis, gallbladder disease or trouble absorbing fat, or you have been told to follow a low-fat diet for a medical reason.
Strong confidence because long-term randomized trials show fewer heart events when people cut saturated fat, and bigger cuts gave bigger benefits. Major guidelines tell people to change the type of fat they eat, not to avoid fat.
You do not need to avoid fat to protect your heart; cutting saturated fat, especially by swapping it for unsaturated fats, is what helps. In trials lasting at least 2 years, cutting saturated fat lowered combined heart and blood vessel events by about 17%, and replacing it with polyunsaturated fat or carbohydrate both appeared helpful.
Your body needs some fat to work properly, including essential fatty acids it cannot make and fat to carry vitamins A, D, E and K into the body. The World Health Organization advises keeping saturated fat to no more than 10% of calories and trans fat to no more than 1%, and making most fat unsaturated. It suggests total fat of about 30% of calories or less, which still leaves plenty of room for fat. It names polyunsaturated fats, monounsaturated fats from plants, or carbohydrates from foods with natural fiber, such as whole grains, vegetables, fruits and beans, as swaps for saturated fat.
Olive oil, canola oil, nuts, seeds and fish supply mostly unsaturated fat. Butter, fatty meats and coconut oil supply more saturated fat. The heart benefit in trials came from eating less saturated fat, not from cutting every type of fat.
- Hooper L, Martin N, Jimoh OF, et al. Reduction in saturated fat intake for cardiovascular disease. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2020;(8):CD011737. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD011737.pub3. PMID: 32827219
- World Health Organization. Saturated fatty acid and trans-fatty acid intake for adults and children: WHO guideline. 2023. ISBN: 978-92-4-007363-0
- World Health Organization. WHO updates guidelines on fats and carbohydrates. News release. 17 July 2023
- Hunter JG, Cason KL, Lane E. Fat in Your Diet. HGIC 4050. Clemson Cooperative Extension Home & Garden Information Center. Revised July 23, 2021