Eating a lot of fatty foods like butter and red meat doesn't seem to make the arteries thicken more in older adults at risk for heart disease, once you account for how much they exercise, smoke, or their education level.

In older adults with heart disease risk factors, how much they exercise, smoke, or their education level matters more for artery health than how much saturated fat they eat.

People who eat more saturated fat in this group had higher inflammation and weight, but surprisingly lower bad cholesterol — which might explain why their arteries didn’t get thicker.

Eating foods high in saturated fat, like butter and red meat, doesn't appear to raise your risk of heart attacks, strokes, or other heart problems, according to a big review of long-term studies on thousands of people.

Overall, eating more saturated fat doesn't seem to increase your risk of having any kind of heart disease or stroke, according to a large review of 21 long-term studies.

Eating more saturated fat, like butter or fatty meat, doesn't seem to raise your risk of heart disease, according to a big review of 16 long-term studies of adults.