Beef Liver Benefits & Preparation.

I always disliked buzzwords. In meetings upon meetings while in the Corps, a good chunk of the words being said were buzzwords. They were often used to either try and ease the concerns of the commander before an operation or signal to everyone else that you knew what you were talking about. Dig deep enough, most buzzwords and slogans have no meaning to them. 

“Superfood” is one of those terms I hear thrown around a great deal. And given that our current dietetics system has an anti-animal product bias to it you can bet your bottom dollar what it will most likely be. 

The Roots Of Institutions & Ideas #1

As I mentioned elsewhere most of the things that claim to give us superpowers are just bringing us back to baseline. Living on this planet had never been a walk in the park but something definitely happened over a century ago that guided us down this path we are now on. Your average teenager to 40-year-old is dealing with issues that historically were never present. I chose this specific demographic as some(not all) believe our health problems are due to us living longer. Just in case any of you people are in here…

Forget, “Superfood” I’m going to create my own slogan and weaponize it. 

How about, “Baseline Food?” Dang…I’m so proud of myself. 

One of the baseline foods that have been a part of my diet for a few years now is liver, specifically beef liver.

Nose To Tail

This concept I stumbled on during my short journey into the carnivore diet. This phrase is meant to guide a person towards using all the parts of an animal for a purpose like a modern-day or olden-day hunter-gatherer. 

But in this case, this is mainly in the realm of nutrition. I grew up mainly eating the meats the supermarket or the restaurant gave me, particularly muscle meats. It was only a few years ago did I understood that there was value in eating organ meats.

Before this, there was one occasion in which I prepared organ meats. When I was in Okinawa I befriended a restaurant owner and got into cooking some of my own Japanese food. One of the recipes I tried out was called, “Reba Nira” which is a pork liver/garlic chives stir fry. 

My attempt at Reba Nira

Now I cook mainly beef liver. I get it from the farmer's market as I like to support as many local farmers as I can. These days farmers are getting pressured by most governments around the world. There’s been this trend toward centralized food control that’s been increasing over the past few decades which is weird¹. The only other times in history in which the food of a population was being controlled by those in power…

I’m sure it’s nothing. (: But I like to support as many local farmers as I can. Vote with your dollars.

Nutrient Dense

The “Nutrient Dense” buzzword can be a good sign depending on who is using it and it's used to describe food items that are a one-stop shop. You focus on a handful of nutrient-dense foods and you’re set and will be brought back to baseline. They contain a higher concentration of the right vitamins so you don’t have to spend hours of math calculating the amounts of magnesium you’ll get from x and vitamin B12 you’ll get from y as you write your grocery list. 

Compared to most plant-based foods advocated by our overlords beef liver contains higher amounts of 

• Protein (Cell Repair) 

• Vitamin A (Vision, Immune Function)

• Thiamin (Energy Metabolism, Prevents degeneration of the heart)

• Niacin (Energy Metabolism, fights dementia) 

• Folate (DNA & RNA Synthesis, Red Blood Cell Synthesis, Prevention in Cancer) 

• Viatmin B12 (Energy Metabolism, Nerve Signaling) 

• Iron ( Energy Metabolism, Transport of Oxygen) 

• Zinc (Wound Healing, Immune Health) 

• Copper (Energy Metabolism, Iron Absorption) 

• And many more 

Now how much of each is necessary for a healthy lifestyle? I’m a little jaded from my time in the gym as a trainer forcing people to buy supplements and knowing the daily amounts of each vitamin. 

Part of me wants to ask, “Who established these daily amounts and what was their worldview/goals? Were any of their homeboy’s oligarchs?”

But anyway beef liver will help you to feel more energetic and on top of the world. Whatever course of action you take with food or your workouts should leave you feeling better over a long period of time. I’ve known family members who inserted beef liver into their diet to get their iron levels back on track. True story bro. 

I don’t prepare much I usually buy a pound from my farmer and make it last three to four days within my week.

Where To Buy

The best place to buy liver is straight from a farmer for the reasons I talked about prior to. Buying them from your local grocery store might be a toss-up. I prefer Wild Folk (They aren’t paying me for this) as an alternative to buying it straight from a farmer. Not sure how legit they are though I do need to look into that sometime soon. I once bought liver from Walmart but parts of it turned blue as I was cooking it but it turns out that that’s just oxidized bile. I don’t like going inside Walmart anyway so that narrows down my decision-making.

Preparation 

The texture of the meat when I made that Reba Nire way back when was very weird for me. It didn’t taste too bad which can relate to any organ meats you prepare. Due to their strong taste, some organ meats might be difficult to eat on the first try. Therefore, I recommend either soaking it in some of your favorite BBQ sauces or showering it with some of your favorite spices. I can’t tell you the exact amount. Your tastes and preferences are different than mine. And our tastes are definitely different from someone who enjoys Jimmy Johns…

After a while, you will be able to eat it with very little spices and sauces. Sometimes I just throw it on the skillet and let it brown for a minute, turn it over for about the same time, and then take it off to eat. Usually, I prepare it with something else. I like to make a beans and rice base with beef liver and some other type of meat(ground beef, chuck roast, etc) and throw it all together. 

Preparing beef liver is very simple. If you can cook an egg you can cook a piece of beef liver. 

Wrap Up

“Each one of the substances of a man’s diet acts upon his body and changes it in some way and upon these changes, his whole life depends, whether he be in health, in sickness, or convalescent.” (pg 78 Hippocratic Writings)

Folks back in the 5th century BC did not have to deal with some of the environmental problems we have today. But, I still believe food is an important component of one’s health though not as much as in the past. Listen to enough carnivore gurus they’ll tell you how carbs are the enemy and if you’re not careful you’ll get sucked into this paradigm. There is truth in some of the things they say and I believe having a “Nose to tail” focus can be part of the equation in bringing us back to baseline. 

Thank you for making it to the end and the comments are below.

Until next time….

The Centralization of Food Systems and Political Power https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1556-486x.2009.01013.x

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