My mom and aunt always cooked with lard. Both had high cholesterol levels and died of heart issues, at 93 & 97 respectively.
When I was a teenager my mother rendered chicken fat and kept a jar in the fridge. I took chicken fat sandwiches (schmaltz) to school. Just delicious. A few years ago I had an angiogram because the Dr. saw a shadow on a stress test film. I swore it was all the fat. Turns out my arteries were perfect. My mom is almost is almost 100!