Could meat and cheese be good for your heart?

HAMILTON, Ontario -- Anyone who enjoys a good steak and a hunk of cheese is going to like this.

A new study claims the saturated fat in meat and dairy appears to "protect" the heart.

Scientists at McMaster University in Canada studied some 220,000 adults.

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The early death rates of people who ate 3 portions of dairy and 1.5 portions of meat a day were 25 percent lower than those who consumed less, the researchers found.

They also had 22 percent fewer heart attacks.

Scientists say the findings contradict decades of advice to cut down on full-fat dairy and red meat.