Eating fatty foods such as steak, cheese and butter can make you healthier and slimmer, study reveals

Eating fatty foods such as red meat, cheese and butter could actually be good for your health, a new study suggests.

Researchers from the University of Ireland found that overweight middle-aged men who switched to a diet high in natural saturated fats and low in carbohydrates grew slimmer and healthier.

The diet also led to a reduction in blood pressure and glucose levels, which are associated with a lower risk of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and cancer.

Professor Sherif Sultan, a heart specialist, said: “We urgently need to overturn current dietary guidelines.

“People should not be eating high carbohydrate diets as they have been told over the past decade.

“Instead our diets should be largely based on good quality high-fat foods. This will prevent the rising epidemic of Type 2 diabetes and reverse the growing numbers of people suffering weight-related heart problems.

“High carbohydrate diets and refined sugars, both are the critical mass in cardiovascular deaths and a major disaster for the 21st century.”

The study, published in the American journal of Clinical Nutrition, saw the men given unprocessed fats as opposed to the manufactured fats in margarine and processed food.