Dietary fats: olive oil, butter and your heart

Updated November 14, 2026 Well Day Media Editorial Team

A woman drizzling olive oil over a salad, tomatoes and bread nearby

The short answerReplacing saturated fats (butter, lard, fatty meat) with unsaturated vegetable oils lowers cardiovascular disease risk by about 30%, according to an American Heart Association advisory. In large U.S. cohorts, consuming more than half a tablespoon of olive oil a day was linked to 19% lower mortality.

Key points

Replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat lowers cardiovascular risk by about 30%.
More than ½ tablespoon of olive oil a day was linked to 19% lower mortality.
What you replace fat with matters: refined carbs instead of fat bring no benefit.
Olive, canola, soybean and other vegetable oils are good everyday choices.

The American Heart Association position

In a 2017 presidential advisory, the American Heart Association reviewed randomized trials and concluded that replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated vegetable oils lowered cardiovascular disease by about 30%, an effect similar to cholesterol-lowering statins. Replacing saturated fat with refined carbohydrates and sugars did not lower risk (Sacks et al., 2017).

Olive oil

In more than 90,000 U.S. adults followed for 28 years in the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, those who consumed more than ½ tablespoon of olive oil a day had a 19% lower risk of death from any cause than those who rarely used it. Replacing about 10 g a day of butter, margarine or mayonnaise with olive oil was linked to 8% to 34% lower risk of death from various causes (Guasch-Ferré et al., 2022).

In the PREDIMED randomized trial, a Mediterranean diet with extra-virgin olive oil was followed by about 30% fewer major cardiovascular events (Estruch et al., 2018).

In practice

Cook with olive or canola oil instead of butter.
Dress salads with olive oil and vinegar.
Choose fish, nuts and avocado more often than fatty and processed meat.
Do not swap fat for sugar: “fat-free” cookies are not a health food.

Frequently asked questions

Is coconut oil healthy?

No. It is very high in saturated fat and raises LDL cholesterol. The American Heart Association advises against it.

How much saturated fat is too much?

The Dietary Guidelines recommend less than 10% of calories; the AHA suggests about 5% to 6% for people who need to lower LDL cholesterol.

Sources

Sacks et al. (2017). Dietary Fats and Cardiovascular Disease: A Presidential Advisory From the American Heart Association. Circulation 136(3). doi:10.1161/CIR.0000000000000510
Guasch-Ferré et al. (2022). Consumption of Olive Oil and Risk of Total and Cause-Specific Mortality Among U.S. Adults. Journal of the American College of Cardiology 79(2):101-112. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2021.10.041
Estruch et al. (2018). Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease with a Mediterranean Diet Supplemented with Extra-Virgin Olive Oil or Nuts. New England Journal of Medicine 378(25). doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1800389

Prepared according to our evidence methodology and the principles of lifestyle medicine. For education only; it does not replace advice from your doctor.