A study that looked into saturated fats found that there is no evidence that it actually does cause heart disease.
Despite being told for decades that saturated fat is bad and should be avoided, a new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine journal found that people who consumed less saturated fat were not found to be any more heart-healthy than those who ate a lot, reports The New York Times. Though, that doesn't mean that it's alright to choke down highly fatty foods.
Lead author and cardiovascular epidemiologist at Cambridge University Dr. Rajiv Chowdhury said, "My take on this would be that it's not saturated fat that we should worry about."
For the study, Chowdhury and his team examined almost 80 studies and over 600,000 people worldwide and looked at the results of 27 randomly controlled trials.
The Daily Mail reports that the study also found that people who also included in their diet omega-3 fatty acid were not any better off than believed. There appeared to be no benefit in terms of lowering the chances of heart disease.
At best, the study believes that it could be useful in preventing heart attacks.
Chowdhury said, "These are interesting results that potentially stimulate new lines of scientific inquiry and encourage careful reappraisal of our current nutritional guidelines."
The study found that the relationship between saturated fats and the bad cholesterol LDL (low-density lipoprotein), which is known to be a factor in heart attacks isn't so cut and dry.
Chowdhury said that the real problem for people are diets that are rich in sugary foods and carbohydrates.