The short answer
If you have high cholesterol, aim for less than 6% of your calories from saturated fat: about 13g a day or less if you eat 2,000 calories. That's the American Heart Association (AHA) recommendation. In the UK, the NHS says men should eat no more than 30g a day and women no more than 20g, but those are upper limits for everyone, so when you're trying to bring your LDL down, the lower AHA figure is the better target.
General information, not medical advice
If your doctor or dietitian has given you your own targets, follow those. This is especially important if you have familial hypercholesterolaemia, diabetes, heart or kidney disease, or you take cholesterol medication.
Your daily saturated fat limit by calories
Fat has 9 calories per gram, so 6% of your calories works out as calories × 0.06 ÷ 9. The table also shows 10% of calories, the upper limit in the US Dietary Guidelines for the general population.
| Calories | AHA (under 6%) | 10% limit |
|---|---|---|
| 1,600 | 11g | 18g |
| 1,800 | 12g | 20g |
| 2,000 | 13g | 22g |
| 2,200 | 15g | 24g |
| 2,500 | 17g | 28g |
If you don't know your calorie intake, 13g a day is a reasonable starting point for most adults, and the NHS limits (20g for women, 30g for men) are the most you should be eating on any given day.
What the guidelines say
- American Heart Association: a dietary pattern with less than 6% of calories from saturated fat, which is about 13g or less on 2,000 calories.
- 2026 ACC/AHA dyslipidemia guideline: for adults with or without heart disease, a diet built on fruit, vegetables, nuts, legumes, whole grains and fibre, replacing saturated and trans fats with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, to lower LDL. It doesn't set a gram target; the emphasis is on the swap.
- NHS (UK): no more than 30g a day for men and 20g for women, and less for children. It also lists the foods to cut down on: fatty meat, sausages and pies, butter, lard and ghee, cream and cheese, cakes and biscuits, and anything made with coconut or palm oil.
- US Dietary Guidelines 2025–2030: they keep the long-standing upper limit of 10% of calories for the general population, even though some of the accompanying messaging promotes full-fat foods.
Why saturated fat matters more than the cholesterol in food
Your liver clears LDL from your blood using LDL receptors on its cells. Eating a lot of saturated fat reduces the activity of those receptors, so more LDL stays in circulation. That's why the 2026 guideline describes a graded link between saturated fat intake and LDL, and notes that eating patterns that limit saturated fat while adding unsaturated fat lower LDL more consistently than cutting dietary cholesterol does. (For the egg question specifically, see how many eggs a day you can eat with high cholesterol.)
It also matters for heart outcomes, not just numbers. A Cochrane review of 15 randomised trials with over 56,000 people found that cutting saturated fat for at least two years reduced combined cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks and strokes, by 17%. It had little effect on deaths over that timescale. The benefit came when saturated fat was replaced with polyunsaturated fat or starchy foods, and the bigger the reduction, the bigger the benefit.
Where saturated fat comes from
Most saturated fat comes from a handful of foods. Approximate values per portion:
| Food | Portion | Saturated fat |
|---|---|---|
| Pork and beef sausage, cooked | 100g | 13g |
| Coconut oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 11.5g |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 7.2g |
| Butter croissant | 1 (60g) | 7.0g |
| Palm oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 6.9g |
| Double (heavy) cream | 2 tbsp (30g) | 6.9g |
| Beef mince, 20% fat, cooked | 100g | 6.6g |
| Cheddar | 30g | 5.8g |
| Whole milk | 250ml | 4.8g |
| Bacon, cooked | 30g | 4.3g |
| Salmon (farmed), cooked | 100g | 2.4g, mostly unsaturated fat overall |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 1.9g |
| Egg | 1 large | 1.6g |
| Almonds | 30g | 1.1g |
| Chicken breast, skinless, roasted | 100g | 1.0g |
| Rapeseed (canola) oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 1.0g |
A single tablespoon of coconut oil uses up nearly a whole day's AHA allowance, and one sausage-and-bacon breakfast can go over it before lunch.
Swaps that save the most
| Instead of | Try | Saturated fat saved |
|---|---|---|
| 2 tbsp double cream | 2 tbsp 0% Greek yoghurt | About 7g |
| A butter croissant | Porridge made with 40g oats | About 6.5g |
| 1 tbsp butter for cooking | 1 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil | 5–6g |
| 100g beef mince (20% fat) | 100g skinless chicken breast, or half the mince swapped for lentils | Up to 5.5g |
| 30g cheddar in a sandwich | 100g low-fat (1%) cottage cheese | About 5g |
Replace rather than remove. The 2026 guideline points out that the benefit of cutting saturated fat can be cancelled out by filling the gap with processed sugar and ultra-processed foods. Swap towards olive or rapeseed oil, nuts, seeds, avocado, oily fish, beans and whole grains. For 100 more ideas, see our cholesterol-lowering food swaps.
How to stay under your limit day to day
- Read the saturates line on labels. Under UK labelling, more than 5g of saturates per 100g is high and 1.5g or less per 100g is low. Our guide to reading a heart-healthy food label walks through it.
- Find your biggest source. For most people it's one or two habits: cheese, butter, processed meat or pastries. Track for a week, then fix the biggest one first.
- Keep treats, change the recipe. You don't have to give up dessert. Try our heart-healthy desserts, low-cholesterol snacks, and guides to chocolate and ice cream, which all keep saturated fat low.
- Check the result. How much your LDL falls varies from person to person. Compare your next lipid panel with the last one: our guide to reading your cholesterol test results explains each number in mg/dL and mmol/L.
When saturated fat affects you more
The 2026 guideline notes that people's LDL responds to saturated fat differently, partly because of genetics. Some people see LDL climb sharply on very-low-carb or ketogenic diets that swap carbohydrate for mostly saturated fat; we cover this in hyper-responders and genetics. If your LDL is 190 mg/dL (4.9 mmol/L) or higher, the guideline treats that as severe hypercholesterolaemia, which usually needs medication as well as diet, so speak to your doctor rather than relying on food changes alone.
If you want an app to keep count, our roundup of the best cholesterol tracking apps compares which ones show saturated fat per meal.
Find out where your saturated fat comes from
Heart Tracker adds up saturated fat as you log meals by barcode, search or voice, shows your daily total against your goal, and lines it up with your next LDL result. Free, with no account needed.
Download Heart Tracker FreeSaturated fat and cholesterol: quick answers
How many grams of saturated fat should I have a day with high cholesterol?
The American Heart Association recommends less than 6% of calories from saturated fat, which is about 13g a day or less on a 2,000-calorie diet. The NHS upper limit is 20g a day for women and 30g for men. Follow any specific target your doctor or dietitian gives you.
Is 20g of saturated fat a day too much?
It's the NHS maximum for women and the US 10% limit on about 1,800 calories, so it's not excessive for the general population. If you're trying to lower your LDL, though, it's above the AHA target of about 13g a day on 2,000 calories.
Is coconut oil OK if you have high cholesterol?
It's best kept to a minimum. One tablespoon has about 11.5g of saturated fat, close to a full day's AHA allowance, and both the NHS and the 2026 ACC/AHA guideline list coconut and palm oil among the foods to cut down on. Olive or rapeseed oil are better everyday choices.
What should I replace saturated fat with?
Unsaturated fats: olive, rapeseed and sunflower oils, nuts, seeds, avocado and oily fish, plus beans and whole grains. Replacing saturated fat with sugar or refined carbohydrates doesn't bring the same benefit.
Is saturated fat worse than dietary cholesterol?
For most people, yes. The 2026 ACC/AHA guideline says eating patterns that limit saturated fat and add unsaturated fat lower LDL more consistently than restricting dietary cholesterol. Some people are more sensitive to dietary cholesterol, so it still makes sense to check your results.
Does everyone's cholesterol go up with saturated fat?
Saturated fat raises LDL on average, but the size of the effect varies from person to person, partly because of genetics. The only way to know how you respond is to compare your lipid results before and after a change.
Sources
- American Heart Association: Saturated fats
- NHS: Fat, the facts
- NHS: How to lower your cholesterol (reviewed March 2026)
- 2026 ACC/AHA/multisociety Guideline on the Management of Dyslipidemia. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. March 2026.
- Hooper L, et al. Reduction in saturated fat intake for cardiovascular disease. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2020.
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2025–2030 (January 2026)
- USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy values for each food, scaled to the portion shown)