Are the "cholesteral deniers" talking "Butter Nonsense?"

A vocal minority of scientists are challenging the current medical orthodoxy on the subject of saturated fats and cholesterol.

The majority view among doctors, scientists and dieticians is that, although eating butter and cheese in moderation is OK as part of a balanced diet, to quote Professor Louis Levy who is head of nutrition science at Public Health England,

 "There is good evidence that a high intake of saturated fats increases your risk of heart disease. We need to think about where the sources of saturated fats are and how we can reduce them. The largest contributions are dairy products, including butter, and meat and meat products."

Public Health England, the World Health Organisation, the British Heart Foundation and the great majority of medical experts and organisations all say that moderate amount of the above products can form part of a healthy, balanced diet, too much of the above can cause the liver to produce excess amounts of LDL "bad cholesterol" which can clog the arteries and increase your risk of heart disease.

There is a fierce debate going on among the professionals; I've given the majority view above but you can find a summary of the arguments of both sides here.

Worth mentioning that there are a few things both sides appear to agree on.

1) For most people it would be a very good idea to cut down your sugar intake, don't eat a lot of junk food, and take regular exercise

2) Too much of anything is bad for you: keep the overall amount you eat under control (watch your portion sizes!)