Eating saturated fat might quickly change how your liver handles fat and how your body controls blood sugar — not just over years, but within a short time.

Eating a lot of saturated fat just once might quickly mess with how your liver and body handle sugar and fat, possibly increasing the risk of fatty liver and insulin problems.

Eating a lot of saturated fat might make your body less responsive to insulin and cause fat to build up in your liver. If you also eat a lot of protein, it could push your body to make more sugar, which might raise your blood sugar—especially if you're prone to it.

Giving mice a big dose of saturated fat all at once seems to turn on genes that are tied to fatty liver disease, which might mean even short-term fat intake can kickstart liver damage.

Eating saturated fat doesn’t always make you more likely to get heart disease or diabetes—it depends on what foods contain the fat and what you eat instead of it.

Eating saturated fat doesn’t always make you more likely to get heart disease or diabetes—it depends on what foods you’re getting it from and what you’re eating instead.