Eating croissants regularly "silently" increases the risk of heart problems even if it does not lead to weight gain.
Croissants 'silently' raise the risk of heart problems
A group of volunteers ate a diet high in saturated fat for 24 days - including butter, croissants, sausages, cakes and chocolate - as part of an Oxford University trial where the alarming results were discovered.
Participants did not put on weight as the calories were controlled but their cholesterol increased by 10 per cent on average while there was also a 20 per cent rise in the fat in their liver - increasing the danger of type 2 diabetes and heart disease, which can lead to heart attacks and strokes.
Professor James Leiper, the associate medical director of the British Heart Foundation, said: "This study gives us evidence that saturated fat may silently start to pose a risk to heart health very quickly, without causing any changes to a person's weight.
"Longer studies with more participants are needed to confirm these findings and show whether these short-term changes increase people's risk of serious heart problems in the long term."