Research review
Does plant protein help with cholesterol? What the research does and doesn't show
The trial evidence for a cholesterol effect is almost entirely specific to soy protein at 25 g/day; it doesn't establish an effect for plant protein as a category, including fava bean or fermented yeast protein.
The evidence doesn't support plant protein as a category as a cholesterol treatment — the research on protein and cholesterol is almost entirely about soy protein at 25 g a day, a different ingredient than pea, fava bean or fermented yeast protein, which most plant protein tubs actually contain.
What the evidence doesn't support
It doesn't support plant protein as a category — pea, fava bean, rice, hemp or fermented yeast protein — as having demonstrated cholesterol effects. Nearly every controlled trial in this literature tested soy protein isolate specifically, not plant protein generally, and the FDA itself has questioned whether soy protein's effect is consistent enough to justify a heart-health claim. A label without soy protein on it isn't covered by this research, even where the research shows a soy-specific benefit.
What the trials found
A 2019 meta-analysis pooled the 46 controlled trials the FDA identified when reconsidering soy protein's heart-health claim. At a median dose of 25 g of soy protein a day for a median of 6 weeks, soy protein lowered LDL cholesterol by about 4.76 mg/dL and total cholesterol by about 6.41 mg/dL compared with non-soy protein controls — roughly a 3-4% reduction. About three-quarters of the individual trials showed some LDL reduction, though only a minority reached statistical significance on their own, and there was no dose-response relationship detected across the trials. This is the largest and most direct trial evidence in the plant-protein-and-cholesterol literature, and it's specific to isolated soy protein, not plant protein as a category.
A broader 2021 systematic review of guidelines, systematic reviews and trials on foods and LDL cholesterol, through mid-2019, rated soy protein as causing a small LDL reduction with high-quality evidence, and rated pulses (the food category that includes whole fava beans, alongside lentils, chickpeas and other beans) as causing a small-to-moderate reduction with moderate-quality evidence. That's whole pulses eaten as food, not an isolated fava bean protein isolate extracted from them and used in a powder — a meaningfully different thing to test, and one this review didn't cover.
Fava bean protein isolate and fermented nutritional yeast protein — two ingredients common in non-soy plant protein blends — have no published trial measuring their effect on LDL or total cholesterol. The soy protein and whole-pulse research above is the closest available evidence in the plant-protein category, and neither describes what these specific, isolated ingredients do once extracted and processed into a powder.
Questions people ask
Does plant protein powder lower cholesterol?
The clearest evidence is for soy protein specifically — about a 4-6% reduction in LDL and total cholesterol at 25 g/day over about six weeks in a meta-analysis of 46 trials. That result doesn't automatically apply to other plant protein sources like pea, fava bean, rice or fermented yeast protein, which haven't been tested the same way.
Is plant protein better than whey for cholesterol?
We didn't find a head-to-head trial comparing a specific plant protein powder against whey protein for cholesterol outcomes. The soy protein trials above compared soy protein to "non-soy protein" controls broadly, which included some animal protein sources, but that isn't the same as a direct plant-vs-whey comparison.
Does plant protein powder lower cholesterol the way statins do?
No. The soy protein trials above found a single-digit percentage reduction in LDL cholesterol over weeks, in people whose baseline levels varied widely — a different magnitude and mechanism from a prescription cholesterol medication. Nothing here substitutes for a doctor's evaluation of cholesterol that's high enough to need treatment.
When to talk to a doctor
High cholesterol, or a cholesterol level a doctor has flagged as a concern, is worth managing with medical guidance rather than a supplement search. Plant protein is not a treatment for high cholesterol, and the most direct evidence in this category — soy protein at 25 g/day — describes an ingredient different from what pea, fava bean or fermented yeast protein tubs contain. If you take cholesterol medication or are pregnant or nursing, talk to a doctor before adding any supplement.
Related reading: plant protein benefits, plant protein vs whey, and plant protein: what the research shows.
Sources
- A Meta-Analysis of 46 Studies Identified by the FDA Demonstrates that Soy Protein Decreases Circulating LDL and Total Cholesterol Concentrations in Adults A meta-analysis of 46 FDA-identified trials found 25 g/day of soy protein for about 6 weeks lowered LDL cholesterol by roughly 3-4% and total cholesterol similarly, compared with non-soy protein.
- The effects of foods on LDL cholesterol levels: A systematic review of the accumulated evidence from systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials A 2021 review of foods and LDL cholesterol rated soy protein's LDL-lowering effect as small with high-quality evidence, and whole pulses (the food category that includes fava beans) as a small-to-moderate reduction with moderate-quality evidence — both food-form effects, not isolated protein powder.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.