Does chicken lower your risk of high cholesterol? What about lean beef or eggs? And do beans, soy foods and whole grains actually help?
A new national survey suggests many Americans are unsure.
The Morning Consult poll of 2,200 U.S. adults found that one in five respondents did not know that diet affects blood cholesterol levels. Among people who recognized the connection, 52% said they learned about it from a health care provider. Others cited friends, family or social media.
The survey was commissioned by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a nonprofit organization that promotes plant-based diets. Its accompanying news release argued strongly for replacing meat, eggs and dairy products with plant foods. That perspective is worth understanding because the underlying topic is more nuanced than the release suggests.
Diet matters. Foods rich in soluble fiber, including beans and some whole grains, can help lower LDL cholesterol. Replacing foods high in saturated fat with foods containing unsaturated fats can also make a meaningful difference.
But individual foods do not fall neatly into two categories: protective or harmful.
Blood cholesterol is influenced by a mix of factors, including genetics, age, physical activity, body weight, health conditions and eating patterns. Some people can make substantial improvements through diet and lifestyle changes. Others may also need medication, particularly when LDL cholesterol remains high or their overall cardiovascular risk is elevated.
The survey arrived shortly after updated cholesterol-management guidelines placed renewed emphasis on earlier intervention. LDL cholesterol is often called “bad” cholesterol because elevated levels can contribute to plaque buildup in the arteries, increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke.
The most useful place to start is saturated fat.
Saturated fat can raise LDL cholesterol. It’s found in foods such as butter, full-fat dairy products, fatty cuts of meat and some tropical oils. Reducing saturated fat does not require eliminating every food that contains it. It means looking at the overall pattern and making realistic substitutions where they help.
Beans, lentils, nuts, seeds and soy foods can play an important role because they provide protein with little or no saturated fat. Many also provide fiber. Whole grains, fruits and vegetables add additional fiber and other nutrients.
That does not mean everyone needs to become vegan.
The American Heart Association recommends shifting toward plant-based protein sources such as beans, peas, lentils and nuts while regularly eating fish and seafood. For people who eat meat, it advises choosing skinless poultry and lean, unprocessed cuts in reasonable portions.
Chicken is a good example of why food debates often become too simplistic.
The Physicians Committee release states that chicken raises cholesterol as much as red meat. That claim draws on research showing that red and white meat produced similar LDL cholesterol levels when participants consumed diets matched for saturated fat.
The practical lesson is not that chicken and red meat are always identical. It’s that replacing a fatty cut of beef with chicken does not automatically create a heart-healthy meal, especially if the poultry is fried, served with the skin or prepared with ingredients high in saturated fat.
At the same time, skinless chicken breast and fatty red meat are not nutritionally interchangeable. A lean, minimally processed poultry option can fit into a heart-healthy pattern. What surrounds it on the plate matters too.
Eggs require similar context.
Egg yolks contain dietary cholesterol. For years, that made eggs a central target of heart-health advice. More recent guidance has become less rigid because dietary cholesterol does not affect everyone’s blood cholesterol in the same way, and the broader eating pattern matters.
For a healthy person with normal cholesterol levels, eggs can fit into a balanced diet. Someone with high LDL cholesterol may need to pay closer attention to both saturated fat and dietary cholesterol and discuss personalized guidance with a health care provider.
How eggs are eaten also matters. An egg served with vegetables and whole-grain toast is not nutritionally equivalent to eggs served with bacon, sausage, buttered biscuits and fried potatoes.
The survey found that 36% of respondents believed chicken decreases the risk of high cholesterol. Twenty-six percent said the same about lean cuts of red meat, and 18% selected eggs.
Those answers should not be interpreted as proof that Americans are simply uninformed. They may reflect the way nutrition advice is often presented.
People hear that poultry is leaner than red meat. They hear that eggs are nutritious after years of warnings about cholesterol. They see labels promoting high-protein foods. Then they encounter a headline telling them the advice was wrong all along.
The better message is not as tidy, but it is more useful.
A heart-healthy diet is built over time. It generally includes more vegetables, fruits, beans, lentils, whole grains, nuts and seeds. It favors unsaturated fats and limits foods high in saturated fat. It can include fish and seafood. It may also include eggs, skinless poultry and modest portions of lean, unprocessed meat, depending on a person’s preferences and health needs.
The most important changes are often the least dramatic.
Add beans to a soup or salad. Choose oatmeal or another whole-grain breakfast more often. Replace some meat-based meals with lentils, tofu or fish. Compare saturated fat on food labels. Pay attention to how foods are prepared, not only the protein source at the center of the plate.
It’s also important to get cholesterol checked. High cholesterol usually does not cause symptoms, and diet is only one part of the picture.
For people with elevated LDL cholesterol, a conversation with a health care provider can help clarify whether lifestyle changes are enough or medication should be part of the plan.
The survey is a useful reminder that nutrition advice can become confusing when it is reduced to sweeping claims about individual foods.
Diet affects cholesterol. Plant foods deserve a larger place on many plates. But the most evidence-based advice is not to fear a single ingredient. It is to build an eating pattern that supports heart health most of the time.
The Morning Consult survey was commissioned by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a nonprofit organization whose mission includes promoting plant-based diets. The survey included 2,200 U.S. adults questioned May 26-27, 2026.