Palm stearin vs butter: cholesterol effects in controlled feeding trial
What it found
In healthy adults, a butter-based diet raised LDL cholesterol more than a palm stearin-based diet, regardless of whether the background diet was low-carb/high-fat or high-carb/low-fat.
The rise was mainly in larger LDL particles.
What they found
Studies in people
LDL cholesterol
Butter raised LDL cholesterol by 13.4% compared with palm stearin in the low-carb/high-fat group and by 10.8% in the high-carb/low-fat group. Almost all participants had higher LDL cholesterol on butter.
LDL particle sizes
The higher LDL cholesterol with butter came mainly from larger LDL I and LDL IIa particles. Small LDL particles did not differ between the two diets.
Other blood fats
There were no differences between palm stearin and butter in HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, or small LDL particles.
Oxidized LDL
Oxidized LDL was lower after palm stearin than butter in the low-carb/high-fat group, but not in the high-carb/low-fat group.
Fatty acid composition
In the low-carb/high-fat group, 14 plasma phospholipid fatty acids differed between butter and palm stearin, but only 2 differed in the high-carb/low-fat group. Butter had higher odd-chain saturated fats 15:0 and 17:0.
What the authors conclude
“These results demonstrate that Butter raises LDL-C relative to PS in healthy normocholesterolemic adults regardless of background variations in carbohydrate and fat, an effect primarily attributed to larger cholesterol-rich LDL particles.”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that butter raises LDL cholesterol relative to palm stearin in healthy adults with normal cholesterol, regardless of the carbohydrate and fat content of the diet.
- They say this effect is primarily due to larger, cholesterol-rich LDL particles.
- They highlight the importance of the food matrix in determining the biological effects of saturated-fat-containing foods on cardiovascular risk.
How it was done
Foods high in saturated fat are often discouraged because they can raise cholesterol, but the effect may depend on the specific food and the amount of carbohydrate in the diet. The authors wanted to compare palm stearin and butter directly.
They ran a randomized, controlled-feeding, cross-over trial in 24 healthy, non-obese adults with normal cholesterol. Participants self-selected into a low-carb/high-fat group (12 people) or a high-carb/low-fat group (12 people). Each person ate a canola oil run-in diet for 3 weeks, then a palm stearin diet and a butter diet for 3 weeks each, separated by a 2-week washout.
What it can’t tell you
- The study measured cholesterol and lipoprotein particles, not heart attacks or other cardiovascular events.
- The results are based on 24 adults with normal cholesterol levels, so they may not apply to other groups.
- The study used palm stearin, not the more commonly consumed palm oil.
Who paid
- Funding
- Funded by Malaysian Palm Oil Board (from the PubMed record).
- Conflicts
- Dr. Volek receives royalties for low-carbohydrate nutrition books. He is founder, consultant, and stockholder of Virta Health Corp and a member of the science advisory boards for Simply Good Foods. Dr. Phinney receives royalties for low-carbohydrate nutrition books. He is founder and stockholder of Virta Health Corp. Dr. Krauss has had investigator-initiated research funding from NIH and Dairy Management, Inc. He receives royalties from a patent for ion mobility analysis of lipoproteins and from a textbook on Nutrition and Cardiometabolic Health. He is on the scientific advisory boards of, and has stock options from, Virta Health Corp. and DayTwo, Ltd. and is a part-time employee of JumpstartMD.
- Authors work at
- The Ohio State University, USA; University of North Georgia, USA; University of California, USA
The paper
- Title
- Effects of Palm Stearin versus Butter in the Context of Low-Carbohydrate/High-Fat and High-Carbohydrate/Low-Fat Diets on Circulating Lipids in a Controlled Feeding Study in Healthy Humans
- Type
- Randomised controlled trial
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Licence
- CC BY. Words in quotation marks are the authors’; the rest is our summary.
- Cite
- Hyde PN, Sapper TN, LaFountain RA, et al (2021). Effects of Palm Stearin versus Butter in the Context of Low-Carbohydrate/High-Fat and High-Carbohydrate/Low-Fat Diets on Circulating Lipids in a Controlled Feeding Study in Healthy Humans. Nutrients. doi:10.3390/nu13061944Free full textPubMed 34198888DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error