Most health advice focuses on lowering LDL cholesterol, so searching for how to raise it usually means something specific is going on. You may have lab results showing unusually low LDL, a doctor flagging your levels as a concern, or symptoms that point to fat malabsorption. LDL below about 50 mg/dL is considered clinically low, and while moderately low LDL is generally protective against heart disease, extremely low levels can signal an underlying condition that needs attention.
Before making dietary changes to push LDL higher, it helps to understand why your levels are low in the first place. The approach depends entirely on the cause.
Why LDL Might Be Too Low
LDL cholesterol can drop below normal ranges for several reasons. The most common are aggressive cholesterol-lowering medications, very low-fat diets, hyperthyroidism, and malnutrition. In rarer cases, a genetic condition called familial hypobetalipoproteinemia (FHBL) causes the body to produce defective versions of the protein that carries cholesterol through the bloodstream. People who are heterozygous (carrying one copy of the gene) typically have LDL levels less than half of normal. Homozygous carriers can have LDL below 50 mg/dL, sometimes dramatically so.
An even rarer condition, abetalipoproteinemia, essentially eliminates LDL and VLDL from the blood entirely. This causes severe fat malabsorption, progressive nerve damage, abnormally shaped red blood cells, and vision problems. Secondary causes of very low LDL include certain cancers, chronic liver disease, chronic alcoholism, and severe malnutrition or wasting disorders. If your LDL is unexpectedly low and you’re not on a statin or eating an extremely restricted diet, these possibilities are worth investigating with your doctor.
Risks of Extremely Low LDL
For most people, low LDL is a good thing. Population studies of people with naturally low LDL from genetic variants show dramatically reduced heart disease risk with no increase in cancer. One large study following nearly 13,000 people over 15 years found that a genetic mutation causing naturally low LDL was associated with an 88% reduction in coronary artery disease among Black participants and 47% among white participants, with no rise in hemorrhagic stroke or cancer.
That said, some clinical trials have flagged potential concerns at very low levels, including increased rates of hemorrhagic stroke, depression, and blood in the urine. A meta-analysis found a higher risk of hemorrhagic stroke in people with very low LDL compared to moderately low levels. These findings remain debated, and the overall evidence suggests the benefits of low LDL outweigh the risks for most people. One concern that doesn’t appear to hold up: extremely low LDL does not seem to impair the body’s ability to produce cortisol and other steroid hormones. A study of people with LDL below 70 mg/dL found no measurable difference in adrenal function compared to controls.
Where extremely low LDL does cause clear harm is in genetic conditions that impair fat absorption. Without adequate fat-soluble vitamin uptake, people with these conditions face progressive neurological damage, vision loss, and growth problems if untreated.
Dietary Changes That Raise LDL
If your goal is to increase LDL through diet, the most reliable lever is saturated fat. Saturated fatty acids raise LDL by affecting how the liver processes cholesterol. Specifically, they influence a family of proteins that regulate both cholesterol production and the receptors that pull LDL out of the bloodstream. When you eat more saturated fat, the liver clears less LDL from circulation, and blood levels rise. Common sources include butter, cheese, red meat, coconut oil, and full-fat dairy.
In controlled trials, switching from a diet rich in unsaturated fats to one high in saturated fat raised LDL by roughly 18 mg/dL. Trans fats have a similar LDL-raising effect (about 14 mg/dL higher than an equivalent unsaturated fat diet), but they simultaneously lower HDL cholesterol by about 7 mg/dL, making them a poor choice for anyone trying to improve their lipid profile.
Simply increasing total fat intake also shifts LDL composition. Multiple six-week dietary trials have shown that high-fat diets (around 40 to 46% of calories from fat) increase large, buoyant LDL particles while decreasing small, dense ones. Conversely, very low-fat diets (around 10% of calories from fat) do the opposite, increasing the smaller, denser LDL particles that are more strongly linked to cardiovascular risk. This pattern is consistent across studies and appears driven by both total fat and saturated fat intake.
Low-Carb and Ketogenic Diets
Carbohydrate-restricted diets, particularly ketogenic diets, can produce significant LDL increases in some people. This is especially pronounced in lean individuals, a pattern researchers call the “lean mass hyper-responder” phenotype. The working theory is that when carbohydrates are severely restricted, the body relies more heavily on fat for fuel. The liver ramps up production of fat-carrying lipoproteins (including VLDL, which converts to LDL) to shuttle energy to tissues. In leaner people with less stored body fat to draw from, this mechanism appears to be amplified. BMI seems to be a more important predictor of this LDL spike than the amount of saturated fat consumed.
Managing Genetically Low LDL
For people with genetic conditions that cause pathologically low LDL, the strategy isn’t simply “eat more fat.” In fact, for those with abetalipoproteinemia or homozygous FHBL, total fat intake is typically restricted to less than 30% of calories, and sometimes as low as 5 grams per day in children, because the body can’t properly absorb long-chain fats. Eating more fat just worsens gastrointestinal symptoms without improving nutrition.
Instead, the treatment centers on several targeted interventions. Medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs), found in coconut oil and available as supplements, can bypass the normal fat absorption pathway and enter the bloodstream directly. These provide calories and some fatty acid nutrition, though long-term use requires liver monitoring due to a risk of liver damage. Small daily amounts of oils rich in polyunsaturated fats (one to three teaspoons of soybean or olive oil) help ensure adequate essential fatty acid intake.
The most critical piece is aggressive supplementation of fat-soluble vitamins. Vitamin E is the highest priority, with doses ranging from 1,000 mg per day in infants to 5,000 to 10,000 mg per day in older children and adults. These doses are far higher than what healthy people need, because absorption is so impaired. High-dose vitamin E can delay or even reverse the neurological complications of these conditions. Vitamin A supplementation (with careful monitoring to avoid toxicity) helps protect vision, and vitamin D is added when deficiency is present. One important complication: high-dose vitamin E can interfere with absorption of vitamin K, which is essential for blood clotting, so all of these supplements need to be balanced carefully.
Practical Steps if Your LDL Is Low
If your LDL is between 50 and 100 mg/dL and you’re otherwise healthy, this is generally considered favorable. Standard LDL targets for low-risk individuals are below 130 mg/dL, and for high-risk patients, guidelines recommend keeping LDL below 70 or even 55 mg/dL. Having naturally low LDL in this range is not something that typically requires correction.
If your LDL is below 50 mg/dL, or if low LDL is accompanied by digestive problems, unexplained weight loss, fatigue, numbness or tingling, or vision changes, the priority is identifying the cause rather than simply eating more saturated fat. Increasing dietary fat will raise LDL in most healthy people, but if the underlying issue is malabsorption, liver disease, or a genetic condition, dietary fat alone won’t fix the problem and may make symptoms worse.
For healthy people whose LDL has dropped due to a very restrictive diet, adding moderate amounts of dietary fat from whole food sources (eggs, full-fat dairy, nuts, avocado, olive oil, fatty fish) is a straightforward way to bring levels up. Shifting from a very low-fat diet (under 20% of calories from fat) to a moderate-fat diet (30 to 40% of calories) will typically raise LDL and shift particle size toward larger, more buoyant forms.