Liver as Food

[Matt]

I'd been looking through the forum for such topic, but couldn't find any, so here I am starting one.

What is the current stance on eating liver? Since I was a kid I used to eat animal innards, such as fried livers, hearts, even stomachs, only from locally bred animals, by my great grandmother. Lately I only eat liver. The problem is, while liver contains valuable nutrients (that not all are lost while cooking), it also may accumulate impurities and toxins.

Sometimes I have cravings for liver, which I always understood as my organism telling me there is something I need, but I'd like to know what are your thoughts and opinions about that. It's my favorite food, and I would hate to stop eating it, but I don't want to fall into the trap of wishful thinking here.

 

[Cosmos]

I'd been looking through the forum for such topic, but couldn't find any, so here I am starting one.

What is the current stance on eating liver? Since I was a kid I used to eat animal innards, such as fried livers, hearts, even stomachs, only from locally bred animals, by my great grandmother. Lately I only eat liver. The problem is, while liver contains valuable nutrients (that not all are lost while cooking), it also may accumulate impurities and toxins.

Sometimes I have cravings for liver, which I always understood as my organism telling me there is something I need, but I'd like to know what are your thoughts and opinions about that. It's my favorite food, and I would hate to stop eating it, but I don't want to fall into the trap of wishful thinking here.

I'm always fascinated when people say they like innards.
because I really don't like the taste at all

tastes can be so different it's amazing

 

[Matt]

That is true, they tend to have very intense taste. It was in fact smell of liver that got me into eating it, and for heart and stomachs - I don't mind the taste, but I no longer like their stringy texture.

Fried liver has a texture that I can only describe as fresh crumbly pate, something like a brittle nougat. I yet have to meet a person with neutral feelings about liver, people either delight in, or hate, liver dishes.

 

[Renaissance]

Can you buy grass fed or organic liver? You wouldn't find the nasty toxins in the fat cells then. I just started eating liver, and since I've never eaten it, it's a little bit of an adjustment. Organ meats are supposed to be good because like you mention they have more nutrients and they usually have a higher fat content too.

 

[Matt]

I doubt such specification can be made, at least not in my area. Liver in the butchers usually comes from local farmers, and I doubt butcher will know the method of feeding, though I can ask.

Since I live in Ireland, I am certain all Lamb Liver I can buy is from grass fed animals; can't be so sure about pork/beef/chicken liver. Then again, air and water pollution are factors, too.

Issue is - can benefits of sporadic (once a month) consumption of liver outweigh it's potential threats? Are these threats serious or am I just being overly sensitive?

 

[mcb]

I'd been looking through the forum for such topic, but couldn't find any, so here I am starting one.

What is the current stance on eating liver? Since I was a kid I used to eat animal innards, such as fried livers, hearts, even stomachs, only from locally bred animals, by my great grandmother. Lately I only eat liver. The problem is, while liver contains valuable nutrients (that not all are lost while cooking), it also may accumulate impurities and toxins.

Sometimes I have cravings for liver, which I always understood as my organism telling me there is something I need, but I'd like to know what are your thoughts and opinions about that. It's my favorite food, and I would hate to stop eating it, but I don't want to fall into the trap of wishful thinking here.

One of the authors some of us have been reading, Gary Taubes (Why We Get Fat) mentions that

Hunter-gatherers, as these researchers explained, preferentially ate the fattest animals they could hunt; they preferentially ate the fattest parts of the animal, including organs, tongue, and bone marrow, and they would eat “virtually all” of the fat on the animal. In other words, they preferred fatty meat and organs to the kind of lean muscle meat that we now buy at the supermarket or order in restaurants.

Elsewhere in a footnote he says

Lions, for instance, will eat the fat organ meat of their kills and leave the “lean muscle meat” for scavengers.

It's pretty clear what the author is suggesting, but I don't recall that he takes it any further or makes a recommendation. There is a lot that nobody knows for sure right now. I am thinking about trying some "organ meat" (sounds better than "animal innards"), but it will certainly be from organic or naturally raised animals. More people ate such things when I was growing up, some decades ago, but my family did not.

Conventionally raised animals may already be near death when they are slaughtered, and I would not want to sample what they had accumulated in their fat or organs.

 

[Laurentien2]

Since fat as to be added to the diet, one of my favorite is liver pate that I make. It as chicken liver and pork fat as main ingredient here is the recipe;http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=21014.msg217269#msg217269. I never like to eat neither fat or liver but I could never resist this family recipe and more so now that fat need to be add to the diet.

 

[Guardian]

Sometimes I have cravings for liver, which I always understood as my organism telling me there is something I need, but I'd like to know what are your thoughts and opinions about that. It's my favorite food, and I would hate to stop eating it, but I don't want to fall into the trap of wishful thinking here.

For what it's worth, I eat liver once or twice a week, and have for most of my life. I put big slabs of liver in the George Foreman Grill (I put big slabs of every meat in the George Foreman grill) let it sizzle just long enough to get warm all the way through, then eat it "not quite rare"

It's one of my favorites :)

 

[T.C.]

I know this has one foot in the recipes board, but my preferred method of cooking liver is to fry it up with chopped onions and bacon for around 6-7 mins. I tend to have it with mashed sweet potato.

I don't know about how toxic it may be, but I do know it contains B-vitamins, folic acid, iron etc.

(after a quick search)

Here's an article: http://thehealthyskeptic.org/natures-most-potent-superfood

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.

 

[Palinurus]

I am thinking about trying some "organ meat" (sounds better than "animal innards"), but it will certainly be from organic or naturally raised animals. More people ate such things when I was growing up, some decades ago, but my family did not.

Hi Megan,

Since you mentioned this now, a recollection came to mind. My father used to fancy kidneys of pork which he ate fairly regularly - about once a month. Although my parents didn't think this meat suitable for little kids (I was four or five at that time), I distinctly remember I always followed my fathers footsteps in eating the gravy of these kidneys with large slices of bread soaked in it and having a treat of my own comparable to his. Funny, I didn't think of this for decades but you revived the memories of it. Thanks for that.

 

[Matt]

(...)I put big slabs of liver in the George Foreman Grill (I put big slabs of every meat in the George Foreman grill) let it sizzle just long enough to get warm all the way through, then eat it "not quite rare"

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't George Foreman Grill coated with Teflon/non-stick surface?

I like my liver almost burnt to be honest. The longer, the better, as long as it's not carbonized.

Thank you all for the information in this thread, I will be sure to cherish my liver eating habits then - as my body didn't lie to me when it asked for some.

 

[RedFox]

(...)I put big slabs of liver in the George Foreman Grill (I put big slabs of every meat in the George Foreman grill) let it sizzle just long enough to get warm all the way through, then eat it "not quite rare"

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't George Foreman Grill coated with Teflon/non-stick surface?

_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Foreman_Grill

Each grilling surface is indented, angled and covered in a non-stick coating

If its not Teflon it'll be Thermolon which will leach silicon.
The other problem with the George forman grill is that it drains of all the fat, which you want to be eating.

I like my liver almost burnt to be honest. The longer, the better, as long as it's not carbonized.

It may be worth looking up cooking times, to see if the vitamins and minerals it contains are degraded if cooked for too long.

 

[Guardian]

If its not Teflon it'll be Thermolon which will leach silicon.

Oh no!

I suppose hoping the silicon will help block radiation or something like that is an excellent example of wishful thinking.

 

[Guardian]

The other problem with the George forman grill is that it drains of all the fat,

I don't think that part's a problem. I eat 4-5 lbs of meat a day, and there is still LOTS of fat left when the grill is done with it.

The silicone however is a problem, a BIG problem....I eat 2 out of 3 meals on that thing. :( :(

I did find this...I think it needs to go on the short list.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&ds=pr&sugexp=ldymls&pq=+cast+iron+grill&xhr=t&q=electric+cast+iron+grill&cp=9&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=11253829168694256185&sa=X&ei=PXPQTaijI5G8sQOzzbW3Cw&sqi=2&ved=0CKgBEPMCMAg&biw=1152&bih=602#

Thanks bunches for the heads up Redfox ...I didn't even think of that.

 

[Guardian]

Or maybe this one? Any opinions on these grills? For me food is a time thing. I take meat out of the fridge, throw it in the grill, and when it smells right, I eat it. I'm VERY defendant on the grill because I hate the microwave...it's always bothered me, makes me itch if I'm in the room.

http://www.buy.com/prod/waring-large-italian-style-panini-grill-tostato-supremo-flat-cast-iron/q/sellerid/16111072/loc/66357/212994478.html