Conventional dietary wisdom holds that the micronutrients (vitamins, minerals and trace elements) we need from foods are most highly concentrated in fruits and vegetables. While it’s true that fresh fruits and veggies are full of vitamins and minerals, their micronutrient content doesn’t always hold up to what is found in meats and organ meats—especially liver.
The chart below lists the micronutrient content of apples, carrots, red meat and beef liver. Note that every nutrient in red meat except for vitamin C surpasses those in apples and carrots, and every nutrient—including vitamin C—in beef liver occurs in exceedingly higher levels in beef liver compared to apple and carrots.
In fact, you might be surprised to learn that in some traditional cultures, only the organ meats were consumed. The lean muscle meats, which are what we mostly eat in the U.S. today, were discarded or perhaps given to the dogs.
A popular objection to eating liver is the belief that the liver is a storage organ for toxins in the body. While it is true that one of the liver’s role is to neutralize toxins (such as drugs, chemical agents and poisons), it does not store these toxins. Toxins the body cannot eliminate are likely to accumulate in the body’s fatty tissues and nervous systems. On the other hand, the liver is a is a storage organ for many important nutrients (vitamins A, D, E, K, B12 and folic acid, and minerals such as copper and iron). These nutrients provide the body with some of the tools it needs to get rid of toxins.
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For example, meat from pasture-raised animals has 2-4 times more omega-3 fatty acids than meat from commercially-raised animals. And pasture-raised eggs have been shown to contain up to 19 times more omega-3 fatty acids than supermarket eggs! In addition to these nutritional advantages, pasture-raised animal products benefit farmers, local communities and the environment.
There’s no question that liver and other organ meats are among the most nutrient-dense foods we can eat. Sadly, they have fallen out of favor and are no longer staples in the modern diet.
If you like organ meats, I suggest eating one 3-4 ounce serving of them per week. They are so nutrient dense that you don’t need more than this to benefit.
If you don’t care for the taste or texture of organ meats, or you don’t have the time to prepare them properly, an organ meat supplement may be a good option.
The easiest way to eat your organs.
Bio-Avail Organ from Adapt Naturals.
A blend of 5 freeze-dried organs from 100% pasture-raised cows.
For more information on the incredible nutritional benefits of liver and some suggestions for how to prepare it, click here.
| APPLE (100 g) | CARROTS (100 g) | RED MEAT (100 g) | BEEF LIVER (100 g) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calcium | 3.0 mg | 3.3 mg | 11.0 mg | 11.0 mg |
| Phosphorus | 6.0 mg | 31.0 mg | 140.0 mg | 476.0 mg |
| Magnesium | 4.8 mg | 6.2 mg | 15.0 mg | 18.0 mg |
| Potassium | 139.0 mg | 222.0 mg | 370.0 mg | 380.0 mg |
| Iron | .1 mg | .6 mg | 3.3 mg | 8.8 mg |
| Zinc | .05 mg | .3 mg | 4.4 mg | 4.0 mg |
| Copper | .04 mg | .08 mg | .18 mg | 12.0 mg |
| Vitamin A | None | None | 40 IU | 53,400 IU |
| Vitamin D | None | None | Trace | 19 IU |
| Vitamin E | .37 mg | .11 mg | 1.7 mg | .63 mg |
| Vitamin C | 7.0 mg | 6.0 mg | None | 27.0 mg |
| Thiamin | .03 mg | .05 mg | .05 mg | .26 mg |
| Riboflavin | .02 mg | .05 mg | .20 mg | 4.19 mg |
| Niacin | .10 mg | .60 mg | 4.0 mg | 16.5 mg |
| Pantothenic Acid | .11 mg | .19 mg | .42 mg | 8.8 mg |
| Vitamin B6 | .03 mg | .10 mg | .07 mg | .73 mg |
| Folate | 8.0 mcg | 24.0 mcg | 4.0 mcg | 145.0 mcg |
| Biotin | None | .42 mcg | 2.08 mcg | 96.0 mcg |
| Vitamin B12 | None | None | 1.84 mcg | 111.3 mcg |
What about the danger of consuming excess copper if eating over a quarter pound of beef or lamb liver a week as found in “Perfect Health Diet” page 309?
I agree. Liver is very high in copper, way out of balance with iron and zinc. I’d also be curious to hear what Chris thinks about this issue.
???
Is raw liver safe? Freezing it will kill all the bacteria? What are my chances of getting sick from eating it?
Carlene, I eat raw liver but I make sure it is from a butcher and I show up on delivery day. I like the way Muslims & Jews clean and bleed the meat. See my previous post on MMS. I think that should take care of bacteria and pathogens. Look up the story of Jim Humble and his findings. Truly fascinating.
I soak all my meats in cold water and MMS and my home made Iodine for about five minutes and then pat it dry with clothes I have for that purpose.
Freezing is often recommended but it must be in a deep freeze for 20? days—not in the refrigerator’s deep freeze which is not cold enough and fluctuates more in temperature.
Even before using my MMS I never got ill. I then quickly light fried the outside of the pieces leaving it raw in the middle. Don’t really know if that is safer, but I never did get sick but then as an O blood, I have a very acidic stomach.
Please never eat any liver from a supermarket. The whole livers are processed (cut up) at the factory. The livers are tossed on a belt and travel up automatic cutter blades to be sliced. Many different livers are stuffed into large bags, automatically—with no visual inspection. The bags are visually examined, when they arrive down the belt, for cancerous bits and other anomalies. Suspect bags are sent to rendering for dog food. Who knows if there are cysts in the middle of any bag.
Do hunt down a proper butcher and find out the delivery day.
Namaste and care,
mhikl
Carlene I have been raising organic beef for about 10 years now along with milk cows all for personal use an I mix my raw liver in with a smoothie from home made yogurt as long as the liver is in a freezer for 25 days it’s safe been doing it for years.
How about non-organic chicken liver? If there is nothing else, that is.
I have come to love raw beef and lamb. Liver took a little time getting used to but I worked down from lightly flash fried liver (pre cut into thin strips) in coconut oil or beef fat. The end result was lightly cooked outer shell and inside succulently raw. A little oyster sauce, drop of sesame oil, as sprinkle of salt and pepper and shadows of nirvana flash across the subconscious. Well, maybe a little extreme but I do love the flavour of raw meat and was truly moved to prayer to thank the givers of their lives for my benefit. Not even a thanksgiving pray in church has ever been so hear-felt and definitely not as spiritually moving.
Our ancient ancestors must have eaten meat in its raw form and cooked over some fire got by lightning. The flavour of cooked meat is divine but so is the flavour of raw but the understatement of warm raw meat and the light, invigorating flavour of animal fat just as intoxicating, in a mellower manner.
On a high fat (ketogenic) diet with some protein and very few carbohydrates my health has improved, body odour is gone and my skin I’m told looks refreshing and youthful for a man twenty years my junior. As a male, other than an expression of health, I don’t really care. But signs are good and I will take them as they come. My bowels and the results of their labours are as they were in my twenties now. Another good sign. Skin, bowels and odour says a lot about one’s health.
Does this mean such a diet will work for everyone? I doubt it. I have followed Dr D’Adamo since his book came out in the late 90s and I have seen his declarations in work. A bloods do seem to prefer carbs and abhor fat. O’s the exact opposite once addictions to sugars are overcome. However, a very good friend at the time had been adopted and all other family members are O blood types. She was A and yet relished liver like the carnivore I am. Still, we disliked and liked opposite foods, in the vegetable family in particular, and eating out was fun and more filling as we scoffed the veggies the other held disinterest.
Gary Taubes is a little younger than I, looks to be in better shape than I yet his specs he published are not as good as mine, by a long shot, actually. Maybe Mr Taubes needs a little less fat and some extra carbs in his diet? But who’s to say. We must each treat our body as our personal laboratory and from that point of view, only the truth can be found by an honest wo/man.
Very well said mhikl, I totally agree with you! Being an O type myself, I know the non-guilty pleasures of raw meats and the benefits to my health!
Harbinger 62
You are only partially correct, toxins are filtered in the liver but not stored. Toxins are mostly stored in the fat tissues of the body. That said I would 100% agree on eating only organic, pastured liver, also as an ethical principle!
Vivica, I forgot to mention Jim Humble’s MMS in my post. I soak my sliced raw meat in a cup of good water for four or five minutes (I use a Natural Action Water Unit) and add 8 drops of homemade iodine and 10 drops of MMS. Then pat it dry with cloth. This way I am hoping any pathogens etc. will be eliminated. (I use it three times a day along with iodine so I think I am safe from illness. But, as O bloods, we do have very strong stomach acids.)
My liver comes from a Muslim store near by and I know they are very finicky about quality meat, so here’s hoping. Beef heart and pork fat for rendering lard comes from a Chinese SuperMarket and they cut all their own meat fresh and they too, as a culture, are particular on fresh. I am fortunate to get my Beef fat for free from our local grocery store. I freeze it for ten days, hoping for the best.
Oh, and I have taken to eating beef tendons/ligaments
raw. I store three days supply in the fridge with added MMS, cut up. Then I just swallow a few chunks at each of my daily two meals. They’re tough guys to chew. I really like them cooked so when I make my Vietnamese styled soup I do add beef bone and tendon broth from my crockpot. I tore my hip while working in Sarawak in my very early thirties and since I have taken up the both and especially the raw tendons my hip is mostly pain free. The same goes for my thirteen year old Corgi. She no longer needs help up or down the stairs. She bolts to them now.
We live in wonderful times. The internet, used wisely, is such an amazing resource from health to understanding the Electric Universe (Thunderbolts Project) and our connectivity to every living being on our planet (and possibly beyond?). Check out Rupert Sheldrake and morphic resonance on youtube. Stunning stuff.
Namaste and care,
Michael (mhikl)- I’m a bit of a yapper. 🙂
I’ve never tasted liver, but I LOVE liverwurst. Is that as good as plain liver?
In France, I was raised eating organ meat once a week. When I moved to the US 8 years ago, at the local farmers’ market, they were giving us the liver for free. (It took us some times to realize that it was because they thought we were looking for cheap stuff to feed pets.) Now, the liver price at the farmers market has raised crazy and I sometimes selfishly regret the days when Americans were disgusted by organ meat…!
Chris,
I think it is important to mention that the liver is where waste products and toxins from the animal are filtered through. I would buy only organic, grass fed, not grain fed liver. Thank you for all you do to help us to improve our health and well being!
I’ve seen that turkey liver is much higher in vitamin A and B12 than beef liver……..could this be true?
Turkey liver is higher in Vitamin A than beef liver (about 27,000 IU compared to about 17,000 IU), but it is not higher in B12 (about 20 mcg compared to 60 mcg).
Note: All numbers per 100g raw liver (USDA Food DB Ids: 05177 and 13325)
Besides: When comparing all essential nutrients, raw beef liver is about twice “as good” as raw turkey liver. Beef liver has about 1.4 times the amino acid, 1.5 times the vitamin and about 3.5 times the mineral content. It only has 1/3 the essential fatty acid content, but both are poor there. That said, the distribution of nutrients is significantly better in turkey liver when it comes to vitamins and minerals (but not when it comes to amino acids, where both are close to perfect).
Bottom line: It shouldn’t really matter. Both are pretty damn nutrient dense. And even beef liver has like 5.5 times the RDA for Vitamin A per 100g. So even 100g/3.5oz of beef liver per week would give you about 80% of your RDA.
As a Certified Technician In Whole Food Nutrition I am only too aware of the importance of organ meats. I am lucky enough to have grown up in Italy, in a food culture that considered feeding liver and brains to your kids a staple diet, not pizza and hotdogs. having grown up with those flavors I do love them now, but as an educator and cook I have also learned to make my organ meats so tasty that nobody can object to them. Even kids.
I have many liver and heart recipes on my blog The Nourished Caveman, if it can help anybody get some love for them as good food!!
I grew up eating liver as a kid, but now I have a hard time stomaching it. So I obtain a frozen grass fed liver and dice it up and swallow it whole. It gives me lots of energy!
For those who hate the taste of liver. Try this: make an emulsion (aka smoothie) by chopping up 3 oz. of raw liver with a blender, then add one cup of carrot juice, and blend. Then drink it. It is quite palatable. Tastes like carrot juice, the liver is not noticeable to any significant degree.
In India, we don’t eat beef as the meat is largely taboo among Hindus and even other religions. But goat, lamb and sheep meat is widely available. I was wondering if goat/lamb liver offers the same nutrition density as beef liver. BTW, goat liver is very delicious and it really packs a punch when you’re hungry and craving something meaty.
Those are very healthy meats, Sahil. When dining out and wanting food from the East, I prefer Pakistani food. A Hindu friend told me Indian food was mostly vegetarian and so they do not have the preparation experience of their more carnivorous neighbours to the north. My first dining on goat is a memory still alive in my salivary glands. I can’t cook it worth eating so a jaunt to the Kabob Hut in NE Calgary is a must go when the urge set upon me with furry.
If your going to eat liver eat organic liver. liver is the organ that filters toxins. If its not organic all the antibiotics and steroids they give livestock is in it. In addition meat is bad for you and it will never be a better source of protein vitamins and minerals than vegetables. Combine the creamy pink texture of pinto beans with a whole grain such as brown rice and you have a virtually fat-free high quality protein meal
Dear Jack,
You’re sorely mistaken
A Beatle wife and a main member died of cancers from vegan diets. Sadly, we wait to see how Paul fares. A famous Japanese microbiologist had cancer but seemed to recover though neither his wife nor daughter were so fortunate. Many are moved by their hearts and beliefs to the detriment of clear thinking and longer lives. They like to twist the truth by comparing their life styes to the general diet of their culture, claiming meat to be the evil difference. Dreams alone do not save the body or soul.
So wrong on so many levels.
This article is false, on the chart it says that carrots have NO VITAMIN A… but carrots are rather high in vitamin A… this article isn’t full of facts, although Liver, I’m sure is very valuable in nutrients, since its one of the first things wild animals go for when they’ve made a kill.
Whoever wrote this needs more education or needs more FACTS.
Yes from what I understand the vitamin A in carrots or any vegetables aren’t actually the same vitamin A from meat,its rather a precursor to vitamin A,its converted in the body,but humans aren’t good convertors of vitamin A,we leave that to the animals,so animals provided a better source of Vitamin A.
SO Even though carrots may have vitamin A. It’s not the actually vitamin A,does that make sense?
Carrots have beta carotene type vitamin A. Liver has retinol type vitamin A. I’m not sure if the latter would turn you orange if you got to much, that’s what beta carotene would do. Too much retinol would lead to headaches, vomiting and skin rashes…peeling. I eat beef liver several times a week to keep my chronic bronchitis under control and no signs of overdosing yet.
All forms of vitamin a convert to retinol, liver is the most pure form of retinol that we can assimilate immediately. It is the ultimate source of vitamin a.
Ref: http://empoweredsustenance.com/true-vitamin-a-foods/
I have a 10 yr old boy and an 8 yr old girl. They take cod liver oil, one pill a day. How much liver and how often do you recommend for them? I’m going to try the freezing method but I read you have to let if freeze for 14 days to kill parasites. Also, I’ve asked by butcher to ground the liver (looks really bad) and I mix it with grassfed beef and make burgers. Kids don’t notice. How much is recommended for kids? Thanks!
Here in Taiwan where I live locals eat liver….pretty much pork or goose….with lots of ginger. I also get my liver fix from imported cans of pork liver at the French owned supermarkets here. This combined with lots of green vegetables…..lots of mustard greens here….garlic…..hot peppers….liver once or twice a week…keeps my anemia improved…..I do make use of their national health insurance and this includes Chinese herbal medicine….anyways, just speaking for myself….I know liver is fatty….but after a year of living here I have lost thirty pounds….more to go but heh….
I eat 100 grams of raw liver for breakfast. I make it into a pate with garlic, coconut cream, tahini and lime juice… blend it in a magic bullet blender.
Abbey… You used to offer food preparation classes in my area. You are still on Gold Coast, Australia?? Would love to attend one of your classes and learn to make and taste your ways of making such foods palatable.
Chris, I know you know this: Folate, not Folic Acid.
Yes, I think it would be helpful to change references to “folic acid” to “folate”. I was going to share a link to this entry with a friend but didn’t want to confuse her with incorrect information stating that liver is a source of folic acid.
Interesting read.Would you kindly advise on nutrition facts for Kidney and heart ( cow or goat).I always have kidney after a heavy day of drinking and it does amazing things with a hangover.
Bridget
Soak the liver in milk before cooking, it takes away the aftertaste, smell. I immediately put the liver in a bowl and pour milk to cover before cooking – even if I’m eating it right away, it takes the bitterness out too. Wonderful!
“Inuit populations often consume high levels of vitamin A in the livers of seals, sharks, and predatory mammals, resulting in the phenomenon termed “pibloktoq,” also known as “arctic hysteria”
http://ebm.sagepub.com/content/233/3/251.full