04/21/2026
Researchers found that a single dose of 20 grams of brazil nuts dropped LDL cholesterol about 20% within 24 hours, and LDL stayed down for at least a month, suggesting that eating just four brazil nuts might be enough to improve LDL cholesterol levels for up to 30 days.
Not four brazil nuts once a day, but four brazil nuts once a month.
In fact, eating four every day may put you at risk for selenium toxicity. Even just one high-selenium brazil nut a day can increase the expression of pro-inflammatory genes. Instead, if you have just the single serving of four brazil nuts once a month, you get a nice drop in inflammatory markers in your bloodstream within 24 hours with the benefits still evident a month later.
Are there other nuts beneficial for lowering cholesterol? Cashews and walnuts may be best for lowering LDL, with peanuts being least likely to be helpful.
Learn more about evidence-based ways to lower your LDL cholesterol in the new book, Lower LDL Cholesterol Naturally with Food, at see.nf/portfolio
PMID: 23840948, 28805450, 31026738, 24607303, 38153311