Humans ate meat for thousands of years—so how could meat suddenly cause heart disease only in the last 100 years?

Prior to the widespread consumption of industrial seed oils and refined carbohydrates in the early 20th century, clinical cases of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease were exceptionally rare in human populations consuming diets high in animal fats.

Historical human populations consuming diets high in saturated fat from animal sources likely had higher circulating LDL cholesterol levels than contemporary populations, yet exhibited negligible rates of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.