Read the article. It fairly clearly demonstrates that it is not nearly the risk factor it has been made out to be. Controversy is not science, and just because there is controversy does not make scientific results less valid.
On your second point, they are very much linked issues if X is something that does not need to be treated or prevented. That's what the article is really getting at: high cholesterol is not the primary risk factor for heart disease. They are correlated, sure, but there's not a causal link.
Saturated fat has been demonised since the 1970s when a landmark study concluded that there was a correlation between incidence of coronary heart disease and total cholesterol, which then correlated with the percentage of calories provided by saturated fat, explains Malhotra. “But correlation is not causation,” he says. Nevertheless, we were advised to “reduce fat intake to 30% of total energy and a fall in saturated fat intake to 10%.”
He points out that recent studies “have not supported any significant association between saturated fat intake and risk of CVD.” Instead, saturated fat has been found to be protective.
The wikipedia article I linked references about a dozen studies or meta-analyses, most of which establish a link between dietary saturated fat, and heart disease.
All of them were done after the 1970's.
Seriously, get back to me when you have read all of them.
A causal link, or a correlation? Because it matters, and that's what the article is making clear. Those correlation links lead to bad guidelines because the cause is not understood.
On your second point, they are very much linked issues if X is something that does not need to be treated or prevented. That's what the article is really getting at: high cholesterol is not the primary risk factor for heart disease. They are correlated, sure, but there's not a causal link.
Saturated fat has been demonised since the 1970s when a landmark study concluded that there was a correlation between incidence of coronary heart disease and total cholesterol, which then correlated with the percentage of calories provided by saturated fat, explains Malhotra. “But correlation is not causation,” he says. Nevertheless, we were advised to “reduce fat intake to 30% of total energy and a fall in saturated fat intake to 10%.”
He points out that recent studies “have not supported any significant association between saturated fat intake and risk of CVD.” Instead, saturated fat has been found to be protective.
Seriously, read the whole article.