Palm oil does raise cholesterol, but the picture is more nuanced than a simple yes or no. A meta-analysis of clinical trials published in Circulation found that palm oil increased LDL (“bad”) cholesterol by about 8 mg/dL and total cholesterol by about 12 mg/dL compared to unsaturated vegetable oils like olive, sunflower, and canola. The effect depends heavily on what fat you’re replacing it with and what form of palm oil you’re consuming.
What’s in Palm Oil That Affects Cholesterol
Palm oil is roughly 50% saturated fat, with palmitic acid making up 44% of its total fatty acid content. That puts it in a middle ground between highly saturated fats like coconut oil (which is about 82% saturated) and unsaturated oils like olive oil (about 14% saturated). The other half of palm oil is split between monounsaturated fats, mostly oleic acid (40%), and polyunsaturated fats like linoleic acid (10%).
Saturated fat raises LDL cholesterol by slowing the rate at which your liver clears it from the bloodstream. When you eat more palmitic acid, LDL particles linger longer in circulation, and your total cholesterol climbs. But because palm oil also contains a meaningful amount of unsaturated fat, its cholesterol-raising effect is weaker than you might expect from a fat often grouped alongside butter and lard.
How Palm Oil Compares to Other Fats
The cholesterol impact of palm oil shifts dramatically depending on what you’d otherwise be eating. Against unsaturated oils like sunflower, olive, or canola, palm oil consistently raises LDL and total cholesterol. That meta-analysis in Circulation quantified the difference: about 8 mg/dL higher LDL and 12 mg/dL higher total cholesterol when palm oil replaced those healthier oils.
Compared to butter and other animal fats, though, the story flips. Two head-to-head studies found no significant difference between palm oil and animal fats for total cholesterol, LDL, or HDL. A study of middle-aged men with normal cholesterol found that both crude and refined palm oil failed to raise total cholesterol above habitual diet levels, while butter pushed LDL and total cholesterol significantly higher than palm oil did. The refined palm oil group actually had the highest HDL (“good”) cholesterol and apolipoprotein A1 levels of any diet tested, including sunflower oil.
Against trans fats (partially hydrogenated oils, now largely banned but still present in some food supplies), palm oil looks even better. It raised HDL cholesterol without significantly changing LDL or total cholesterol. This comparison matters historically because palm oil was widely adopted as a trans fat replacement in processed foods.
Red Palm Oil vs. Refined Palm Oil
Not all palm oil behaves the same way in your body. Unrefined “red” palm oil retains its natural carotenoids (which give it that deep orange-red color) and a form of vitamin E called tocotrienols. These tocotrienols inhibit an enzyme your liver uses to produce cholesterol, the same enzyme targeted by statin medications, though the effect is much milder.
One study found that while a palm oil diet initially raised LDL and total cholesterol over the first four weeks, sustained intake through 12 weeks actually led to significant reductions in triglycerides, total cholesterol, and LDL compared to the control diet. The researchers attributed this reversal to the antioxidant and vitamin content in the palm oil used, suggesting it was unrefined. Refined palm oil, which has been bleached and deodorized, loses most of these protective compounds.
Palm olein, a liquid fraction of refined palm oil commonly used in cooking, has performed similarly to olive oil in crossover studies. Multiple trials found no significant differences between palm olein and oleic acid (the primary fat in olive oil) in their effects on serum cholesterol. An Indian study reached the same conclusion when comparing palm olein to groundnut oil: both maintained relatively normal cholesterol levels.
What This Means for Heart Disease Risk
Raised LDL cholesterol is a well-established risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and both European and American guidelines emphasize keeping LDL and non-HDL cholesterol low. Higher non-HDL cholesterol shows strong associations with long-term risk of artery-clogging disease. On that basis, swapping palm oil for unsaturated alternatives would be expected to lower your risk.
But when researchers looked directly at whether palm oil consumption correlates with actual heart attacks and strokes rather than just lipid changes, the evidence was surprisingly thin. A systematic review in PLOS One concluded that it could not establish strong evidence for or against palm oil consumption relating to cardiovascular disease risk or death. One study within that review found a significant association between palm oil consumption and heart disease mortality in both developing and high-income countries, but the review authors graded all their evidence as “very low quality.” The gap between palm oil’s measurable effect on cholesterol numbers and its real-world impact on heart disease remains unresolved.
Practical Takeaways for Your Diet
If you’re choosing a cooking oil and heart health is your priority, unsaturated options like olive oil, canola oil, or sunflower oil will produce a better cholesterol profile than palm oil. Replacing saturated fats with monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats consistently improves blood cholesterol levels in clinical trials.
If palm oil is showing up in your diet through processed foods (crackers, baked goods, spreads, instant noodles), the relevant question is how much of your total fat intake it represents. Small amounts in an otherwise balanced diet are unlikely to meaningfully shift your cholesterol. Large amounts, especially of refined palm oil stripped of its natural antioxidants, will nudge your LDL upward compared to a diet built around unsaturated fats.
If you’re specifically choosing palm oil for cooking, red (unrefined) palm oil offers the best tradeoff. Its tocotrienols and carotenoids provide benefits that refined versions lack, and longer-term consumption may partially offset the initial cholesterol increase. It has a distinctive flavor that works well in West African and Southeast Asian dishes but can be overpowering in foods where you want a neutral oil. For everyday cooking where flavor neutrality matters, an unsaturated oil is the simpler choice for keeping cholesterol in check.