Liver: THE Superfood
Of all of the steps we have taken towards a nourishing diet, eating organ meats has been the hardest. So hard, in fact, that we don’t really eat them at all. We’ve made and eaten our own fermented vegetables, homemade yogurt and kefir, kombucha and water kefir, and downed the cod liver oil daily. But still the offal eludes us.
Until now.
My husband and I have decided that we have to get over our preconceived notions and tastes and embrace liver, possibly the most nutrient dense food on the planet.
Nutrients Found In Liver
Just 4 oz of liver contains well over 100% of the RDA of vitamin B12, vitamin A, copper, folate, and B2. It also contains a highly absorbable form of iron, very necessary for women of child bearing age. (source)
| Calf’s liver, braised 4.00 oz-wt 113.40 grams 187.11 calories |
||||
| Nutrient | Amount | DV (%) |
Nutrient Density |
World’s Healthiest Foods Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| vitamin B12 (cobalamin) | 41.39 mcg | 689.8 | 66.4 | excellent |
| vitamin A | 30485.26 IU | 609.7 | 58.7 | excellent |
| copper | 9.01 mg | 450.5 | 43.3 | excellent |
| folate | 860.70 mcg | 215.2 | 20.7 | excellent |
| vitamin B2 (riboflavin) | 2.20 mg | 129.4 | 12.4 | excellent |
| selenium | 57.84 mcg | 82.6 | 7.9 | excellent |
| tryptophan | 0.25 g | 78.1 | 7.5 | excellent |
| zinc | 10.80 mg | 72.0 | 6.9 | very good |
| vitamin C | 35.16 mg | 58.6 | 5.6 | very good |
| protein | 24.53 g | 49.1 | 4.7 | very good |
| vitamin B3 (niacin) | 9.61 mg | 48.0 | 4.6 | very good |
| phosphorus | 361.75 mg | 36.2 | 3.5 | very good |
| vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) | 0.56 mg | 28.0 | 2.7 | good |
| vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid) | 2.59 mg | 25.9 | 2.5 | good |
| iron | 2.97 mg | 16.5 | 1.6 | good |
Liver: Healing, Frugal, and Traditional
Liver is considered a cure for anemia. Not only does it provide iron, but vitamin B12 – a nutrient whose deficit leads to pernicious anemia.
You can also purchase pastured liver for a fairly decent price. It is cheaper, and in fact more nutrient dense than meat from the same animal. I have read that the Native Americans, who were known for their good health as nomads, would eat the organs of an animal and feed the meat to their dogs.
Finally, liver has been eaten for thousands of years by those wishing to be in good health and avoid the fatigue that accompanies a lack of B12 and iron.(source)
Learning To Love Liver
I had the good fortune to be fed liver as a child. I remember dreading dinner on the nights when my mom would prepare liver with bacon and onions. Eventually I got it down with a good dollop of ketchup, though.
After our youngest was born and I was recovering from a good amount of blood loss and anemia, my mom came to visit and prepared liver for us. The flavor is not something I am used to, but I almost couldn’t get enough of it. In my anemic state, my body was telling me that I needed to be eating liver.
It has been tough to prepare liver in a way that my whole family will enjoy. My husband didn’t grow up eating it as I did, but he is a good sport and knows how beneficial it is. Perhaps over time we will all acquire a taste and eat it gladly. Until then, I will be attempting to bring it to our table once per week – in the forms of pates and sautes.
I know what we’re having for dinner tonight. Do you eat liver and how do you prepare it?
We have eaten liver weekly for over a year. I still can’t say we like it, but it gets easier all the time. This is our favorite, by far, way of eating liver:
http://completebody.wordpress.com/2010/03/09/superb-afghan-liver/
Yes! I have a bag of pastured chicken organs in my fridge that I just don’t know what to do with right now. I hate the taste of liver, so I’m not sure what to do to make it more tasty.
Growing up we ate calf liver on a regular basis. As I recall this is how my mother would prepare the recipe for Liver with Tomatoes and Onions. It was an inexpensive dish for a family of seven.
– Saute some onion rings and set aside
– Coat liver pieces into liver and then pan fry them on both sides.
– Place liver and onion rings in a oven safe dish, cover with some tomatoes (my mom would use canned tomatoes). season as well, cover with foil and place in oven to warm all ingredients together. I’m thinking this wouldn’t stay long in the oven, maybe 30 minutes at 250. I’m sure this could be done in a skillet.
I loved this dish. Since being married we have not eaten much liver.
blessings
carmen
Poultry liver is about the only kind we can get ourselves to eat….so far. I sautee them with onion and bay leaf, let cool a while and then puree with equal parts pasture butter. I make a big batch at a time and freeze small portions. It’s fnny I find myself craving this like crazy during my moon cycle. I’m sure that’s telling but I’d bet I wouldn’t crave it at certain times as much if I were eating it more often.
I am a liver fanatic, but if I were going to prepare it for someone who is not, I would make Diane Kennedy’s Chicken Livers in Chipotle Sauce. There is a version of it here: http://eatmovethrive.blogspot.com/2008/12/eat-your-organs.html
SO delicious with guacamole and cultured cabbage.
I guess I’m lucky – I love liver. Unfortunately, my husband does not, so I don’t make it nearly as often as I might otherwise. I like to just sear it in a frying pan and serve it with caramelized onions, maybe make a little gravy from the pan juices. Yum.
Much of the nutrition is lost when you cook liver especially b vitamins. I so hoping this post would be about how to prepare and eat raw liver. I have plenty of grass-fed liver in my freezer but I want to only eat it raw. We won’t eat a lb of raw liver so I need to thaw it and then puree it and make it into really small pieces so that it’s easy to digest for my children who won’t chew it.
I’ve been a vegetarian for the past 10.5 years but have been seriously considering adding some meat into my diet. Like you mentioned with your post-childbirth cravings for iron, I’ve been feeling extreme cravings for animal protein. I feel like my body must be telling me something. I had no idea about the nutrient density of liver. Thanks for the informative post. This is something that I’ll have to eventually try.
Somewhere I read that you can freeze beef liver for two weeks (to kill any harmful pathogens), and then cut it into pill-sized pieces and re-freeze them on a sheet pan. Then you swallow the small “pills” whole like you would any pill. This is helpful because raw is better. The freezing for two weeks is important, though. I have not tried this, but I plan to now that I’ve found a source for pastured beef liver.
I too have grown up eating liver, my dad still prepares it the same way: sauted in a frypan with lots of garlic and cumin, yummo! we then eat it with flat bread with our hands like a dip (owing to my Egyptian heritage)
Funny timing. I just snuck quite a bit of ground liver in our chili tonight. All I heard was requests for seconds… 😉
I’ve found it’s easy to sneak liver into dishes that traditional include a lot of spices. It really masks the flavor of the liver, especially if you do a liver/ground meat combo. I don’t think I’ll have any luck convincing my family to eat liver, so “sneaking” is the best way to get the nutrition in for now.
Hi, first time here at your blog. I am watching my weight and have been following the Mediterranean Diet for a while. My last post is about calf’s liver if you would like to check out a new recipe I made. http://kopiaste.org/2010/05/calf-liver-ladorigani-with-sauteed-vegetables/
I prefer chicken livers than calf’s liver and here is a recipe I made last summer. You can skip the grapes if they are not in season where you live. http://kopiaste.org/2009/10/braised-chicken-livers-with-poached-grapes/
For Tara, Our mothers favorite recipe for chicken organs was to simmer them in water,
make a gravy with the broth, season. With boiled potatoes it was delicious. I am sure it would be good with brown rice. The organ texture is chewy, but good benefits may be
a little odd, like getting used to Red River cereal.
I did not grow up eating liver, although my parents liked liver and did eat it. Unfortunately my husband does not like liver, nor is he willing at this point to eat any of the the organ meats. I fix bison liver for breakfast for my three year old and myself. I thinly slice, coat in sprouted spelt flour with spices, pan fry in coconut oil and then when the liver is done I make a gravy to serve with it. We both enjoy it. My little guy will grow up eating organ meats. We enjoy bison liver, heart, and even tongue.
Hi–
I found you (on twitter) and look forward to reading more. I grew up eating liver and so actually like it, and also find that I crave it after serious health situations, like stress or surgery. But I haven’t been eaten any recently because I’ve read that, since the liver is the body’s way of de-toxifying, the liver you buy now is full of the toxins included in most animals’ diets. Is pastured liver the equivalent of organic? I haven’t been able to find any yet, but will be on the lookout!
Thanks
🙂
ps–Not lo-fat, but small pieces of liver wrapped in nitrate-free bacon and sauteed (no additional fat nec.) make yYUMMY little bites.
We love chicken liver in our house, it’s one meal we know that even our 2 1/2 year old will eat. I Started eating it because I was pregnant with my first child and didn’t want to become anemic, something I had always dealt with in the past. I actually just did a post on my blog on eating liver and included my favorite way to prepare it.
http://artistta.blogspot.com/2010/05/chicken-hearts-and-liver-they-really.html
I have never tried liver in my entire life. But, I have read about the benefits of it over the past few months. I never knew it had THAT MUCH nutrition! This makes me want to dive in and try it even more. I have no idea how it tastes so we shall see soon!
I ordered a half cow a week ago and will be getting it within 2 weeks I am guessing. We are getting some liver and I will no doubt try it. I just received The Primal Blueprint cookbook and found a liver recipe – I will be trying that one. Hopefully I like it!
How does the nutrition content of chicken liver compare with cow liver?
Such great suggestions in the comments! I’ve been considering trying liver – I’ve never had it beyond pates. I actually have some chix livers in my freezer, and some chicken fat from making stock, so I’m all set for making chopped liver. I’m still squeamish, though. I wish it weren’t so! However, a lot of the suggestions in the comments have inspired me, so perhaps liver will be on the menu soon.
I would love to eat more liver! Where do you get REAL liver though? I know they have chicken livers at the grocery store, but those are the kind we feed to my dog, and I don’t think they are good for people consumption? They probably come from conventionally raised chickens..
Meagan – Another great question, which I need to answer in a separate post. Thanks!
New to your blog . . . I grew up eating liver – it started after I had mono and became anemic. I actually like it! I have some (grass fed) in my freezer, but can’t convince my husband of the health benefits. I’m planning to sneak it into some meatballs next week. Can you help me understand how it’s so good for us – – after all, toxins are filtered through the liver, right?
Barbara – Great question! I have some research to do on this one in order to give a thorough answer, which I will in a separate post.
I just made a big jump and tried liver for the first time after finally finding a grass-fed source. WOW. I’ve never had it before, and it was SOO different. I put it in a big casserole with sauteed vegetables, raw cheese, pureed liver and ground turkey done in my cast iron pan placed under the broiler topped with almond flour and parmesan cheese, also with spicy spicy spices to cover up the liver flavor. It is definitely better after it was in the fridge for day 🙂 My mom has NO desire to eat liver, but I feel like it is important of our families diet. I will definitely try more liver recipes but they HAVE to be non-liver tasting. OOF!
Hi everyone I have anemia and it’s been really bad lately cuz I have shortness of breath. I hate liver but my mom manages to boil it for me w/ onions and tomato and I drink the liver broth. Is that still ok. I guess my question is if I get the same effect/vitamin. Can someone answer that for me plz.
You guys have some good recipes and takes on making liver..I’ve never heard of eating liver with tomatoes or ketchup..coming from an African American background and family our liver was always made with onions and gravy and rice on the side.as I kid I hated liver and onions but as an adult I love it! 😀