JWSimpkins
Member
Walk into any health food store today and it's easy to become enamored with an overwhelming array of cutting edge nutritional supplements and so called “super foods”. The marketing that accompanies these products often times gives the false impression of bestowing some mystical health enhancing properties upon the consumer and that they’re somehow better for you than real food.
But despite all of our advances in the field of nutraceuticals, science still hasn’t trumped Mother Nature when it comes to nutrition. Of course as a nutritionist I’m frequently asked, if I could choose one food that gives the most nutritional bang for the buck, what would it be? My answer is always the same – liver.
Ancient Wisdom Revisited
If you take a look back at human history you will see that almost every culture incorporated some form of liver into their diet. Liver was regarded as a highly sacred food, fed to warriors before going into battle to enhance their strength and courage. It was also thought to contain special curative powers to heal the sick and lame. Some cultures revered liver so much that human hands were forbidden to touch it directly during preparation.
Although sirloin steak or fillet mignon are considered delicacies today, liver was one of the primary sources of protein for primitive peoples. Many cultures such as the Inuit of the Arctic, viewed muscle meats as nutritionally inferior to liver (as well as other organ meats) and fed them to their dogs as scraps. Gram for gram, liver and other organ meats are up to 100 times higher in nutrients than muscle meats!
The nutritional value of liver includes high amounts the following:
* Vitamins A, C, D and E
* Minerals zinc, copper, selenium and magnesium
* All of the B-complex vitamins, especially B12
* An excellent source of protein
* Highly absorbable form of iron
* Coenzyme Q10 and carnitine
Health Benefits
Because liver is such a nutrient rich food, it has diverse health promoting effects upon the entire body. In the past, bodybuilders and athletes consumed liver and/or desiccated liver tablets, with the belief that it enhanced strength, endurance and aided in speeding recovery from exercise.
Astute physicians with an understanding of the value of nutrition in healing would often recommend eating liver to their patients. It was viewed as a valuable adjunctive therapy to help treat a number of conditions such as pernicious anemia, chronic fatigue, tuberculosis, vision disorders and even cancer (the famous Gerson cancer therapy called for consuming liberal amounts of raw liver juice).
Learning to Love Liver
There’s no denying that liver has a unique taste that some people find objectionable. Changes in taste preferences favoring muscles meats over organ meats, along with a dwindling availability at the grocery store has made liver somewhat of a gastronomical pariah.
Others avoid liver because they mistakenly believe that it contains toxins due to its primary function of detoxifying the body. This may be true if you were to eat liver sourced from animals raised under factory farming conditions. However, animals that are pastured raised, grass fed and given no hormones or antibiotics produce a very clean and healthy liver. In fact, most toxins in the body are stored in the nervous system and in adipose (fat) tissue surrounding skeletal muscle. So by exclusively consuming muscle meats, you are increasing your exposure to higher amounts of toxins.
In order to get the maximum benefits and enjoyment from adding liver to your diet, here are some tips to follow:
Buying: Always purchase pasture raised, grass fed liver that is free from hormones or antibiotics. I’ve found farmer’s markets to be the best source for pasture raised, grass fed beef, bison or chicken liver free from hormones and antibiotics.
Preparation: Soaking liver overnight in lemon juice will help to reduce the “gamey” taste that some people find objectionable. Then cut the liver into desired portions, place them into a container and leave them in the freezer for 14 days to kill off any potentially pathogenic organisms (this step is only necessary if you wish to consume the liver raw).
Recipe: There are hundreds of recipes you can find online for cooking liver, so I’ll just include one of my favorites here:
Liver with Apples and Onions - Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 lb. fresh liver
1 cup of milk
5 tbsp. coconut oil
2 tbsp. butter
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 granny smith apple, peeled, seeded and chopped into 1 inch pieces
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp. parsley, chopped
Sea salt and ground black pepper
Directions:
1) Slice the liver into ½ inch thick pieces and soak in a bowl of milk for two hours.
2) In a large skillet, heat 3 tbsp. of coconut oil over medium heat and add the onions. Let the onions slightly brown and then add the apples. Cook for an additional 5 minutes until the apples soften, then season with salt and pepper.
3) Add the balsamic vinegar and let it reduce by half, then stir in the butter and parsley. Place to the side and keep warm.
4) Remove the liver from the milk and pat dry. Season with salt and pepper.
5) Heat 2 tbsp. of coconut oil and butter in the skillet over medium-high heat until it begins to foam. Add the liver pieces and cook for 2 minutes or so on each side.
6) Serve with the onion and apple mixture on top.
*Recipe from The Metabolic Blueprint Cookbook – Josh Rubin and Jeanne Rubin
Health Note: Even though liver is extremely nutritious, it does contain high amounts of vitamin A and iron, therefore it’s advisable that you only consume it once or twice a week. Too much vitamin A is inhibitory to thyroid function and too much iron (especially in men) becomes pro-oxidative and will accelerate aging due to cellular free radical damage.
Supplementation: Even the best gourmet liver dishes can’t please everyone’s palate. So if you find that you have a hard time getting cooked liver down, supplementation with desiccated liver tablets or freeze dried liver powder capsules can be another option. As with whole liver, choose supplements that have been sourced from pasture raised animals and only take them three days per week.
The Bottom Line
Despite the amazing advances that have been made in nutritional science, there is a lot we can learn about human health by looking to the past. Liver has always been considered a sacred food by primitive cultures, because they discovered through trial and error that eating it made them healthier, stronger and contributed to producing more robust offspring. They didn’t need scientists in lab coats with high-tech equipment to tell them what they already knew – liver truly is a super food!
J.W. Simpkins is a nutrition and exercise coach, specializing in men's health and performance. You can read more of his articles at his blog Fit Men Over 40.
