The debate over the amount of fat in our diet has just become more confusing thanks to a new report.
After a study released earlier this week suggested that low fat diets are doing more harm than good, many people who thought they were health conscious are now contemplating an entirely new eating plan embracing the very ingredient they believed was the enemy.
So which fats should we embrace, and which are still no-nos? FEMAIL talked to the experts to find out.
The report by the National Obesity Forum and the Public Health Collaboration said the advice to cut back on butter, cream, cheese and other types of fatty foods is wrong.
It states: ‘Eating a diet rich in full-fat dairy – such as cheese, milk and yoghurt – can actually lower the chance of obesity.
‘The most natural and nutritious foods available – meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, nuts, seeds, olives, avocados – all contain saturated fat.’
The authors behind the report say saturated fat does not cause heart disease, while full fat dairy can actually protect the heart.
But nutritionist Sarah Flower told FEMAIL that the report does not give us a free pass to eat all fatty foods.
‘We have all been conditioned to avoid fats since the 1970s so to suddenly hear that fat is good, causes confusion,’ she said.