You’ll almost certainly be having more saturated fat than the officially recommended amount if you’re doing one of the popular low carbohydrate regimens, like the keto or paleo diet, or if you’re following the trend of spooning a butter or fat into your coffee each morning. Eat much more than 100g of fatty meat, pastries, or cheese each day and you’ll also easily get beyond the limit, given by UK dietary guidelines as 20g for women or 30g for men.

Mainstream nutrition science says too much saturated fat raises cholesterol levels in the blood, which can lead to arteries becoming "furred up" and an increased chance of having a heart attack or stroke. But a few scientists argue that saturated fat isn't the issue in heart disease, pointing to chronic inflammation instead.

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Low carbohydrate, high fat (LCHF) proponents also – controversially – suggest that the current “low fat, high carb” dietary guidelines are wrong and that obesity and diabetes would be better tackled by eating fat, including saturated fat, alongside reducing carbohydrates and avoiding snacking – a position that’s been challenged by experts at the British Dietetic Association and others, who believe it’s less that the guidelines are wrong, and more that we aren’t following them.

For the general population, most countries’ health organisations recommend limiting fat, particularly saturated fat. UK dietary guidelines, for example, advocate up to 35% of our dietary energy (calories) should come from fat and about 50% from carbohydrates. (It’s worth noting that this could actually be considered a moderate fat, moderate carbohydrate diet, not a low fat, high carbohydrate one).

For saturated fat specifically, the numbers are even lower. The UK recommends that it should comprise no more than 11% of our food and drink calories, while the US and the World Health Organization recommend less than 10%. That would be roughly 20g a day in women (the equivalent of 2.5 tablespoons butter or four supermarket sausages) and 30g a day in men (a quarter-pounder hamburger with cheese, plus four tablespoons of double cream).