Plant-based oils are better than butter for your heart
Research we're watching
- Reviewed by Christopher P. Cannon, MD, Editor in Chief, Harvard Heart Letter; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
Using plant-based oils instead of butter may help your heart and promote longevity, new research shows. The findings come from a Harvard study of more than 221,000 people who were followed for 30 years and regularly answered questions about their health and diet. Those who consumed the most butter had a 15% higher risk of dying prematurely compared with those who ate the least amount of butter. The opposite effect was true for plant-based oils: those with the highest intakes had a 16% lower risk of premature death compared to those with the lowest intakes.
Researchers estimated that trading about a tablespoon of butter per day for about two teaspoons of olive, soybean, or canola oil was tied to a 17% lower risk of premature death. Each tablespoon of plant oil per day was linked to a 6% reduced risk of death from heart disease.
The findings published online March 6, 2025, by JAMA Internal Medicine, don't prove cause and effect. But the results jibe with other evidence about the cardiovascular benefits of plant-based oils (see "Seeding doubt: The truth about cooking oils" in the March 2025 Heart Letter).
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About the Author
Julie Corliss, Executive Editor, Harvard Heart Letter
About the Reviewer
Christopher P. Cannon, MD, Editor in Chief, Harvard Heart Letter; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
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