Organ meats are the most nutrient dense foods on the planet, not vegetables. Vegetables are great, but organ meats are higher in nutrients across the board. Liver, heart, and kidney may be the most valuable, but all are helpful for certain things. When our ancestors went hunting, they did not just eat muscle meat, that would be a waste. They most often gave the muscle meat to the dogs. When you see a lion hunt, the organs are the first thing they go for.

Benefits of Organ Meats

Liver-

Liver is ranked the number 1 most nutrient dense food above all. It contains folate, iron, B12, A, D, E, K2, DHA and EPA, Potassium, copper, Vitamin C, CoQ10, and zinc. People want to do the ketogenic diet for ketones, but you can also consume them in liver because it’s the number 1 place where ketones are made. There is also about 30 grams of protein in a 4 ounce serving with all 9 essential amino acids.

Heart-

Beef heart is rich in CoQ10, magnesium B12, phosphorous, niacin, thiamine, folate, choline, copper, zinc, and iron. The heart is actually the most concentrated part of the body with magnesium. It’s also has about 30 grams of protein in 4 ounces with all 9 essential amino acids.

Kidney-

Kidney is a great source of A, D, K2, E, selenium, riboflavin, choline, zinc, phosphorous, B12, B6, Niacin, calcium, and iron. Kidney tends to be more water soluble which means you can have it more often because water soluble vitamins pass though the body easier. It contains about 30 grams of protein in 4 ounces with all 9 essential amino acids.

Notes

1. Bioavailable nutrition

All meat contains preformed nutrients. This means that the nutrients in meat are more usable. For example, plants don’t contain vitamin A, they contain betacarotene, which is a pre curser to vitamin A. Betacarotene has to be converted into Vitamin A. The problem is that not all of it gets converted, and not everyone can convert well. Meat has vitamin A in it naturally and will be absorbed better.

2. Sourcing

Sourcing really matters with organ meats. There is notably more toxins in factory farmed meat than in pasture raised. Pasture raised also contains a lot more nutrients because the animals are consuming more nutrient dense foods and living a healthier lifestyle themselves. Also, we want to be mindful that if the animal lived a stressed, unhappy life, we will consume that.

Bone Broth

This is technically not at organ meat, but I want to talk about it because it has great value. Bone broth is the process of simmering animal bones to create broth. This broth is full of collagen, gelatin, minerals, and proteoglycans. If you have painful joints, this can help rebuild them with collagen. Collagen is a primary component that makes up the bones and joints. This paper shows a meta analysis that proves collagen to beneficial for joint regeneration. You can make it yourself, or get it at the store. Kettle and Fire is a great brand because they use reverse osmosis to filter the water and simmer the bones for 20 hours.

Organ Meat Supplementation

If organ meats are not for you, you can always supplement. There are a lot of high quality supplements out there when it comes to organ meats. Ancestral supplements and Paleo valley are great companies.