The team from Cambridge University say cutting fats found in butter, meat and cakes out of a diet doesn't lower the risk of heart attacks.

The team found no overall association between saturated fat consumption, such as the use of butter, and heart disease, contrary to current advice.

And the research suggests omega supplements are not as good at preventing heart disease as had previously been thought.

While two types of omega-3 fatty acid found in oily fish and the omega-6 fat arachidonic acid were linked to a lower risk of heart disease, their supplement counterparts appeared to have no benefit.

The study, which was published in Annals of Internal Medicine, was made of 72 studies involving more than 600,000 participants from 18 different countries.

A key finding was that total saturated fat, whether measured in the diet or the bloodstream, showed no association with heart disease.

Nutritionist Amanda Ursell says, rather than focusing on one nutrient, we should think about our overall lifestyle when it comes to reducing heart disease.