Liver Q&A: Why Liver is NOT Full of Toxins and Where To Find Good Liver
NEWS: Tomorrow I will be announcing the winner of the $85 US Wellness Meats giveaway and give everyone a discount code. You won’t want to miss it!
The liver talk continues today as I answer the two most-asked questions following my Liver: The Superfood article and beef liver with bacon and onions recipe.
Is Liver Full of Toxins?
I should preface this answer with my philosophy on why eating liver makes sense.
- It is a part of the whole animal. If we are to eat animal products, which I believe add a nutrient density to our diet not otherwise found in plant foods, then we need to consider the animal as a whole when we consume it.
- It is a traditional food. I do not believe this to be a sole reason to choose any food, but in combination with other factors it makes sense to consider. If you look back hundreds or thousands of years you will see that animal organs were treasured for their nutrients, and prized more than even the meat of the animal. Moreover, every part of the animal was to be used in the context of good stewardship and frugality.
So, does animal liver contain toxins due to it’s role as a filtering organ? The short answer is no. The long answer is it depends on the animal. The Weston A Price Foundation has this to say:
One of the roles of the liver is to neutralize toxins (such as drugs, chemical agents and poisons); but the liver does not store toxins. Poisonous compounds that the body cannot neutralize and eliminate are likely to lodge in the fatty tissues and the nervous system. The liver is not a storage organ for toxins but it 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. (source)
The article goes on to say that you need to seek out liver from pastured, healthy animals.
Liver Sources, From Best to Worst
Like all foods there are ideal sources, acceptable sources, and questionable sources.
- Ideal: from your own animals, raised on pasture.
- Ideal: from a local farmer, raised on pasture.
- Okay: from a health food store, organically certified.
- Questionable: from a regular grocery store – calves liver only.
- Wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole: conventional beef, chicken, and pork livers.
Where To Find Good Liver
If you’re looking for liver raised locally and sustainably my two favorite resources are:
- Local Harvest – just enter your zipcode and find local farmers.
- Weston A Price Foundation – when you get in touch with local chapters they give you tons of resources for local, sustainable food.
There is one online company that I trust to order pastured animal products from online. US Wellness Meats supplies liver and liver sausages from healthy, pastured animals. In their own words:
Our mission is simple: Do what’s good for our animals, good for our planet and good for you.
Those are my thoughts on the eating and sourcing of liver. On the liver eating front: this week we tried chicken liver pate and it turned out delicious. In fact I will be enjoying some for lunch today and sharing the recipe next week.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on eating and sourcing liver!
Thanks for the information on liver. I myself always thought it contained the toxins, poisons, etc. that it filtered.
Good information. I love this site.
Janet
This post answered a bunch of questions for me…now to find a good source of liver and give it a try.
Jana
I enjoyed eating liver while growing up near my grandfather’s farm but haven’t had any in YEARS due to concern about toxins.
So I am guessing you like the Bell and Evans brand. I have a friend who doesn’t like them, but I didn’t get around to asking her why. I know where I can get that brand, in fact I think I have some of their chicken livers in my freezer now.
Thanks for this. I have been torn about whether or not to add it to my family’s diet. This aritcle was very helpful.
My blood tests from the doctor show I have low iron and despite taking vitamin supplements, the levels still seem to be low. The best indicator for me of how well iron is absorbed into my system, is how I feel after I’ve eaten it. Every time I eat liver, I would say within the hour I feel great and my energy level is up. Iron supplements constipate me and have to be taken with B12 and vitamin C and some other vitamins I can’t recall right now in order to be absorbed optimally into your system. So I say to those who are skeptics and need to take iron, go by how you feel after you’ve ingested the iron source. My aim is to eat liver once a week for my iron deficiency and I still have yet to go back for more blood tests to see if they are still low but I am pretty sure they won’t be.
It’s a national disaster that the great benefits of eating liver are
missed due to the popular misconception that it is full of cow toxins.
Lightly fried with onions and mushrooms, it is delicious with
poached eggs for breakfast.
I agree that liver may be a huge benefit to be introduced into ones diet. While it may be true that the liver does not ‘store’ toxins, it is continually filtering toxins, this process never stops while the amal is alive. So when the animal dies, unless the toxins that the liver is filtering at that specific point in time are dumped out, I believe that there would be toxins in the liver. Which is why the source of liver would be so important.
Emily – I agree! I don’t think I could bring myself to eat grocery store liver.
Hello! 🙂 Are you a Christian? What are your thoughts on different verses in the bible saying not to consume blood from animals. Do you eat liver raw? I just started cutting it into small raw, frozen pieces and swallowing it down as quick as possible. this is an amazing stretch for me!!! I read that freezing it for 2 weeks kills any parasites. ugh. what am I doing???? lol!!! what are your thoughts?