Eating less saturated fat doesn't seem to reliably help people live longer or avoid heart disease deaths, whether they're healthy or already have heart disease.

Some big studies that looked at lots of people who ate less saturated fat didn’t find that they lived longer or had fewer heart attacks, which makes people question why we’ve been told to avoid foods like butter and cheese for so long.

Eating less saturated fat—like butter or fatty meats—doesn’t seem to lower the risk of dying from heart problems or other causes, even after years of doing it, according to a review of nine big studies.

Multiple large-scale meta-analyses of prospective cohort studies demonstrate no statistically significant association between dietary saturated fat intake and incidence of coronary heart disease or cardiovascular disease.

Cutting back more on saturated fat doesn't seem to give you extra protection against heart problems—whether you cut a little or a lot, the benefit stays about the same.

Eating foods with saturated fat, like butter or meat, doesn't seem to raise your risk of heart disease or dying from it, based on the studies reviewed.