If I eat this way and my cholesterol goes up, does it matter?

Gil CarvalhoMD, PhD · nutrition and aging researcher, creator of Nutrition Made Simple!

Yes. The particle count is the causal agent, so swap the fat.

What it rests onObservational data showing less heart disease and death when saturated fat is replaced with unsaturated fat or whole carbohydrate; a meta-analysis of the fourteen trials meeting minimum quality standards finding a modest reduction in cardiovascular events; and the mechanism that saturated fat raises the number of the lipoproteins he describes as the main causal agent of heart disease. He discounts the 1960s trials cited on the other side because Minnesota lost most of its participants and was interrupted before outcomes could be recorded, and because saturated fat was sometimes replaced with trans-fat margarine.

Shawn BakerMD · orthopedic surgeon and strength athlete

Not necessarily. A sharp rise is a minority response, and the usual pattern is benign.

What it rests onHe argues the usual lipid response is a rise in HDL and a fall in triglycerides with a shift toward larger LDL particles, and offers a de-escalation ladder (cut saturated fat, eat only when hungry, add unsaturated fat, consider a less strict version) rather than statin therapy first. The same page says research is putting the entire lipid health hypothesis in question, and gives no source for it.