Scientists have found replacing saturated fats - found in butter, lard, palm oil, palm kernel oil and coconut oil - with poly and mono-unsaturated vegetable oil found in sunflower oil and olive oil could prevent heart disease.
Researchers found eating more healthy fats could reduced cardiovascular disease by approximately 30 per cent - similar to that achieved by cholesterol-lowering statins.
However, they said the switch should be part of an overall healthy diet.
This could be the Dietary Approaches To Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet or a Mediterranean-style diet.
Both of these are rich in unsaturated vegetable oils, nuts, fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy products, whole grains, fish and poultry and small amounts of red meat, as well as foods and drinks high in added sugars and salt.
Professor Frank Sacks, of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in the US who led the new study, said: “We want to set the record straight on why well-conducted scientific research overwhelmingly supports limiting saturated fat in the diet to prevent diseases of the heart and blood vessels
“Saturated fat increases LDL - bad cholesterol - which is a major cause of artery-clogging plaque and cardiovascular disease.”
Cardiovascular disease - a general term for conditions affecting the heart or blood vessels usually associated with a build-up of fatty deposits inside the arteries and an increased risk of blood clots - is one of the main causes of death in the UK.
But it can often largely be prevented with a healthy lifestyle.
In the UK, heart disease remains the biggest killer, claiming the lives of 155,000 people a year.
Last night, the British Heart Foundation welcomed the findings of the new study.
Victoria Taylor, Senior Dietician at the BHF, said: “To eat well for your heart health it is not just about reducing fat but reducing specific types of fat and taking care over what these are replaced with.
“Unsaturated fats and wholegrains rather than sugars and refined carbohydrates. However, any change should be viewed in the context of a whole diet approach.
“The traditional Mediterranean diet has benefits for a range of risk factors for heart disease, not just cholesterol levels.”
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