Studies have shown that decreasing blood cholesterol levels can reduce the risk of heart disease. Getting less cholesterol from foods may help lower blood cholesterol levels. Usually getting less than 300 mg of cholesterol a day from food is recommended if you are trying to lower your blood cholesterol. However, decreasing saturated fats may have a bigger effect on blood cholesterol. And, unfortunately, some people will have high blood cholesterol levels even if they eat low cholesterol diets because their body makes too much cholesterol.
Foods are a mixture of fats.
Saturated fats are one type of fat. Fats that are solid at room temperature are usually made of mostly saturated fats. Animal products such as meat, butter, lard and milkfat contain predominantly saturated fats. Some vegetable fats are also saturated. Saturated fats may raise the level of cholesterol in the blood, so people with heart disease are urged to decrease their saturated fat intake.