Health experts weigh in on benefits of beef, butter and other saturated fat foods

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Good news America, beef, eggs, butter and tropical oils are back on the menu with a thumbs up from many experts.

"What we haven't done until recently is realize that saturated fat got blamed for a lot of things that it doesn't really cause," said nutrition expert Dr. Jonny Bowden.

The low-fat revolution demonized saturated fat, but cutting it out was, in most part, a bust.

"The low-fat movement really is a colossal failure. Every single study that's looked at it over a long time: People don't lose weight and keep it off, their triglycerides are higher. I mean, there's really no health benefit to a low-fat diet at all," said Bowden. "People who eat full-fat dairy have less rates of diabetes and a number of metabolic markers improve."

The studies on these foods were done on grass-fed and organic foods, so you want to make sure you get those. This is very important, here's why:

"Remember what really makes fat bad is it stores toxins. So if you're eating feedlot farmed meat, that's got antibiotics, it's got steroids, it's got bovine growth hormones, it's got all kinds of pesticides from the non-organic grain that they're fed," explained Bowden.

But dietitian Cynthia Sass isn't convinced.

"I think, not all saturated fats are created equal," said Sass.

She's a fan of coconut and palm oils, even dark chocolate.

"They've been shown to up the good cholesterol, lower the bad cholesterol, reduce inflammation," said Sass.

These foods also contain anti-oxidants.

But she is not on board with animal fats like full-fat cheese.

"When you look at something like cheese, in many cases it can have more fat than protein. So I think if you're going to include those foods, do it in moderation and make sure you have plenty of plant-based foods to help balance them out," said Sass.

Both experts agree high-fat food is small dose food. Calories still count. And you will pay more for grass-fed and organics, so Bowden suggests, "if it is too expensive, eat less. But eat the good stuff."