The Surprising Superfood You Need to Get in Your Diet

is it a bird? is it a plane? is it a superfood?

For a while there I thought that so-called ‘superfoods’ had to be fruits or vegetables.

I mean, as far as nutrition is concerned, it’s plants that win all the golds, right? (an Olympics reference, weeks after the Olympics are actually over? I so have my finger on the pulse).

Wrong.

The superfood I’m referring to in the title is about as meaty as it gets – liver.

a steaming pile of liver

Specifically calf’s liver, from grass-fed cows.

It’s rare that a superfood is so unashamedly gross – on the one hand we have blueberries: sweet, plump and delicious. Then there’s liver: gelatinous, bloody and ewww squishy.

And don’t even get me started on that chalky, bitter taste.

don’t feed your expensive grass fed liver to the cat, unless you really really love it

But I got over my initial feelings of repulsion because it’s so damn healthy.

Liver contains B-vitamins in abundance, it’s a great source of iron, boosts energy, improves immunity and is great for the libido (wink, wink).

Organ meats such as liver are between ten and a hundred times higher in nutrients than muscle meats and check out this handy chart which shows that liver outperforms apples, carrots and red meat in terms of nutrient density.

If, like me, you’re wondering about the liver’s role in processing toxins and wondering why we should be eating the organ that every other organ dumps on, fear not.

liver meatballs….recipe coming soon!

Liver is more a processing plant than a junkyard. Yes, it clears out toxins but it doesn’t store them.

When buying liver look for organic and/or grass-fed. It should look healthy ie dark red and juicy rather than grey and dried-up like a slab of shoe leather.

If you can’t get it in your area, I’d recommend ordering from US Wellness Meats which sells beef, chicken and bison livers (they don’t pay me to promote them, I have no affiliation with the company at all).

I’ll be posting a liver recipe next week and, trust me, nothing will make it onto this site unless I can eat it without gagging (and, coming from an ex-vegetarian, that guarantee means a lot).

In the meantime, here’s a round-up of my favourite ones from the ‘net. And by ‘favourite’ I mean ‘they don’t make me want to hurl’.

• Balanced Bites has a really tasty sounding chicken liver pate – and it’s probably not that high on the gag scale since chicken livers are milder than cow’s.
• Get two superfoods in one sitting with The Primalist’s creative Blueberry Liver dish.
• I might be converted on tasting Jan’s Sushi Bar’s gorgeous looking barbequed beef liver. She also has a Crispy Lemon Liver I’d like to try. Girl knows her organ meats!
• A good creamy stroganoff is one of my favourite meals. Try it with liver over at Easy Natural Food.

Weigh in: Do you eat liver? What’s your favourite way to cook it? Are you convinced of the health benefits?

This post also appeared at the Healthy Home Economist’s Monday Mania.