There is no settled science on dietary fat and cardiovascular disease except in the case of the familial hyperlipidemias. However, in those cases, the hyperlipidemia is generated by the liver far more than by diet. The liver is the main controller of blood lipids.
A high-fat meal, or any meal, produces a temporary surge of blood lipids just as a high-sugar or high-carb meal produces a surge in blood sugar. That is normal.
The low saturated fat craze was triggered by a 1950 study by Ancel Keys, a study which is now generally accepted as fraudulent. It spurred many further studies over the years but, as yet, there is no proven causal relationship between dietary fat and cardiovascular disease. In fact, there are very high saturated fat cultures (Eskimos, Masai) with very low cardiovascular disease rates.
Does your cholesterol level matter? Other than in familial hypercholesterolemia, probably not. So why check them on your every-3 year physical exams? Medical advice is conservative, slow to change, and fearful of being wrong so too-often adopts the precautionary principle. Thus when articles like this one comes out: Popular belief that saturated fat clogs up arteries is a myth, experts say, there is always pushback like "Don't tell people that, they'll get confused."
While it is established that arterial disease is related to inflammation in arterial walls, the cause of that is elusive. The known risk factors for arterial disease seem to be smoking, overweight, diabetes, familial hyperlipidemia, and sedentary life style. Almost forgot the biggest one: age. Avoid ageing at all costs because it has a 100% mortality rate.
We are far from settled science with cardiovascular diseases. In recent years, we were advised to eat margarine not butter. Now advised to eat butter and avoid margarine. Now advised to eat olive oil. It's all a shot in the dark and it could be that diet has little or nothing at all do do with it.
