Raw Beef Liver

[klowcarb]

I'm so proud of myself. I finally ate an ounce of raw beef liver without gagging.

I've been ZC for over a year (March 2009) and raw since September 2009. I eat raw steaks, raw ground beef, raw bone marrow and raw fat with NO problems. But I know liver is a great nutritious source, and I wanted to incorporate raw liver into my diet.

Here is what I did and here is what you need:

1 beef liver
1 lemon.

I cut the beef liver into 1 ounce strips, roughly, and put in the fridge for eating until it runs out.
I decided to start with 1 ounce and build up a few times a week.
I took one ounce and sliced it VERY thin into swallowable pieces. I put the pieces in a small tupperware container.
I took a slice of raw lemon and squeezed it into the container until lemon juice covered the 5 or 6 pieces of raw liver that equaled the oz.

[klowcarb]

I let the container sit out of the fridge for about 1 hour to let the beef liver warm up a bit and absorb some lemon.

Then I got my fork and tined each piece, shaking off any excess lemon and swallowed each piece whole.

What I discovered:

1) I need very little lemon juice--not even worth tracking. Almost none was used, just a topping for flavor.
2) The lemon juice has a pleasant flavor, and the cool juice made it easy to swallow the pieces whole without chewing. 

I am excited because I can easily see myself doing this 3 or 4 times a week now. I can finally get in some Vitamin A and other nutrients that are inherent in liver, and cheaply. I was contemplating buying expensive cod liver oil, but wanted to "man up" and just eat the damn liver raw, lol. And I found a way that works very well and very inexpensively!

[goodsamaritan]

Once you are used to liver, your body will tell you when you need it.

[William]

Isn't Tupperware plastic?
Might be better to put the liver & juice in a glass container.

[KD]

makes sense. I found when I get it cut as frozen cross-sections it is easier to eat then when it is a big jello blob. At first it wasn't my favorite but I actually like the taste now ok, the only thing is whatever skin or rind is around it is difficult to chew or even cut sometimes.

[TylerDurden]

While I applaud your enthusiasm for raw organs, I should mention a minor caveat. I and a few other RPDers have sometimes greatly overdone the raw liver-consumption in the past. This has resulted in the raw liver passing out quickly the other end via very liquid stools, without it being properly absorbed by the body, but nothing else. I took this to mean that my body had had enough of the specific nutrients from raw liver so got rid of it as quickly as possible.

Mind you, I was consuming a hell of a lot of raw liver at the time due to a very foolish experiment I was trying in order to see if I could get away with spending next to nothing on food - I was eating only raw (grassfed/organic) liver the whole of every alternate week plus alkaline mineral-water(and maybe a little fruit?), and the raw liver I'd got was absolutely free as no one else wanted it. So, I think the above really only applies if one really overdoes raw liver consumption over a period of time.

[klowcarb]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I had another 1.5 oz. tonight, prepared in the same manner. I don't think I will have to worry about overconsumption! It is still not my favorite. But I feel good knowing I'm getting some organs in now, and liver is definitely one of the most nutritious foods on the planet. I only plan on 3 oz. a week or so, raw. Would that be too much?

[TylerDurden]

Sounds fine.

[Inger]

While I applaud your enthusiasm for raw organs, I should mention a minor caveat. I and a few other RPDers have sometimes greatly overdone the raw liver-consumption in the past. This has resulted in the raw liver passing out quickly the other end via very liquid stools, without it being properly absorbed by the body, but nothing else. I took this to mean that my body had had enough of the specific nutrients from raw liver so got rid of it as quickly as possible.

Mind you, I was consuming a hell of a lot of raw liver at the time due to a very foolish experiment I was trying in order to see if I could get away with spending next to nothing on food - I was eating only raw (grassfed/organic) liver the whole of every alternate week plus alkaline mineral-water(and maybe a little fruit?), and the raw liver I'd got was absolutely free as no one else wanted it. So, I think the above really only applies if one really overdoes raw liver consumption over a period of time.

This is intresting Tyler. Could it be, when eating liver raw, you cannot really over dose it? I have sometimes noticed after eating raw liver in larger quantities(200-300 gram), it came out somehow unarbsorbed.
Never felt bad in connection to higher liver consumption eather.

Inger

[TylerDurden]

I think the body has a better overall control over what nutrients it needs/wants when on a raw, palaeolithic diet. For example, I note that on those social occasions when I have to eat a little cooked food, that my stools afterwards are much larger than when eating rawpalaeo foods. Similiarly, when I overindulge in some foods such as raw mussels, I too find they don't get absorbed well  and just quickly go out the other end.

[klowcarb]

Yes, I think eating raw very low carb or zero carb is as healthy as the body can be, and it will regulate vitamin and mineral absorption to a higher degree than SAD or higher carb paleo diets.  Liver is not my favorite so I don't fear eating too much of it. I'm just relieved that I found a way to eat it raw, since I feel great eating 99% raw, excepting the few occasions I eat meat at a restaurant.

[Sully]

By the way guys, Im not sure if this was covered before in another topic, but some animal livers and organs are toxic.
For example, the Inuit/Eskimos knew polar bear, seal, and sled dog liver was toxic.
I guess because of the amount of vitamin A they had?

But anyway, I once watched old footage from Nanook of the North, and the Inuit people were gutting a seal and were throwing shiny looking organs, I assume liver, to the sled dogs.

[sven]

Klowcarb is the liver you are eating grassfed/grainfed.  Previously frozen?   I've noticed a lot of taste difference in the variations.  Also noticed a lot of variation in my bodys reaction to the different types of liver.  

[klowcarb]

Klowcarb is the liver you are eating grassfed/grainfed.  Previously frozen?   I've noticed a lot of taste difference in the variations.  Also noticed a lot of variation in my bodys reaction to the different types of liver.  

It is grainfed. I am planning on getting grassfed/pastured pork liver from the local farm where I previously got lard (before I decided to stick to only raw meats and raw fat). I saw raw liver at Whole Foods; it was grassfed and frozen, but expensive. I actually do not fear grainfed as many do, as I'm eating only the PUFAs that are in meat and not eating any oxidizing and damaging carbohydrates. I feel fantastic. I do not have access to inexpensive grassfed meat, but I'll eat any meat over other "foods."

[alpha78]

I blend my liver in smoothie :-) 1oz

and has been freezed then it blend well

Alpha

[sven]

I blend my liver in smoothie :-) 1oz

and has been freezed then it blend well

Alpha

That sounds terrible lol.  What else is in the shake?

[raw]

i just like to eat plain liver without mixing with anything. most of the time i consume grassfed veal liver about one handfull a day. those days when i consume liver, i don't eat usually other organs except ground meat or muscle meat. i also consume a good amount of fresh thyroid glands and other glands and i  find that tastety. my all source of meats and organs come from grassfed animals. i'd love to try some game animals in the future.