Beef liver isn't everyone's favorite food. We’d probably guess that the majority of people out there don't eat beef liver more than once a year, and typically when they do, it's smothered in onions. Whether it is the distinctive taste of liver that turns people off or the complicated and rather smelly method of preparing the organ, it's quite easy for most people to skip it.
However, beef liver contains more nutrients, vitamins, and essential minerals than muscle meat and offers better nutritional value than practically anything you'll find. The easiest way to get the benefits of beef liver without actually eating beef liver is to take advantage of supplements. It's important to note that not all supplements are the same, so making the right choices are important.
Benefits of Beef Liver Supplements
We've mentioned that beef liver supplements contain lots of vitamins, nutrients, and minerals, but what does that mean for healthy lifestyles? Well, let's get into it one step at a time.
Key Vitamins in Beef Liver
Raw beef liver is higher in vitamins than cooked beef liver because some of the key fat-soluble vitamins will break down during the cooking process. Now, eating raw beef liver is probably the least common way to consume this nutrient-dense food and has some significant risks associated with it. A benefit of beef liver supplements is that you get more of the raw nutrient levels than you will from cooked grass-fed beef liver.
In only 100 grams of raw fresh liver, you'll get 552% of your daily Vitamin A, 84% of B6, 2,471% B12, and small amounts of Vitamins C, D, E, and K. Each of these vitamins contributes to your bodies ability to function properly and provide energy and digestive benefits. This means that beef liver is one of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet.
Key Minerals in Beef Liver
Grass-fed beef liver contains some of the most essential minerals that your body relies on to function properly. Beef liver has iron, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, manganese, selenium, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, folate, and choline. These minerals all play a part in the way the cells of your body work which directly leads to feeling better and being healthier.
Why People Don't Eat Beef Liver
Beef liver is a funny thing. We've already mentioned that most people don't care for the flavor and that cooking beef liver is a smelly and time-consuming process. But finding fresh, good-quality beef liver available for sale is also not nearly as easy as it could be.
Who Can Benefit From Beef Liver Supplements
There are two main groups of people who will benefit from taking beef liver supplements: people who are trying to lose weight and build muscle while gaining energy and women who are pregnant or are trying to get pregnant. There are some simple reasons for this. The nutrient density of beef liver provides the optimal conditions to enhance your body's natural ability to grow and develop properly.
A Brief History of Beef Liver as a Supplement
Ancient humans used every bit of an animal they could, not necessarily for the overall benefits, but because catching and killing animals was hard work. Over time, these ancient humans discovered through trial and error that certain parts provided benefits for health. One of the parts that came to be of huge importance was the liver. We know that as distant as ancient Greece, beef liver was used as a supplement for athletes and pregnant women even if they didn't know why.
Once humanity understood the role that vitamins and minerals play in the body's function, beef liver came back into popularity. It turns out that our ancient ancestors figured out the secrets to health without the knowledge to understand why. Numerous studies beginning in the 1970s showed that liver offered tons of health benefits.
Today, liver supplements are often used by athletes to boost muscle building, folks who are trying for healthy skin, joint health, and better hair, and of course, women who are pregnant or trying to get pregnant. There is so much information out there that shows how beneficial beef liver supplements are that it is surprising more people aren't regularly using beef liver supplements for better health.
How Beef Liver Supplements Help
Adding beef liver to your diet is a great way to improve all sorts of aspects of your body from promoting healthy teeth and skin, to helping you lose weight. The health benefits come from how the nutrients and vitamins can influence your body's function. The combination of vitamins and minerals can improve the way your cells make and use energy, how your cells repair themselves, and even the way your digestive system processes the other foods you eat.
Pregnancy and Beef Liver
Beef liver was used as ancestral supplements by women who were looking to get pregnant and also while pregnant to improve the health of both mother and baby. As we learned more about the health benefits of liver, it turns out that this was another "old wives tale" that actually had some merit.
The nutrients and vitamins in beef liver can improve fertility and help to replace the vitamins and nutrients many pregnant women are deficient in that improve the growth of the baby and protect the mother's health.
Male Fertility
Not only does high-quality beef liver help women but it can also improve a man's fertility. The vitamins and minerals in beef liver can improve blood flow which is key to the proper function of the reproductive organs.
Building Muscle and Burning Fat
Beef liver has all the essential minerals and vitamins that will get you the most from your workout. Whether you are trying to get a six-pack out of your keg belly or simply toning your physique, adding beef liver to your dietary regimen can improve your results.
Liver can also improve your muscles’ ability to heal after a tough workout. It boosts the ability of the cells to repair themselves, making it easier to get back to the gym without the aches and pains associated with working out.
Energy Boosting
A little-discussed benefit of beef liver is one of the original reasons for athletes using it as a supplement. One of the things that Ancient Greece is known for is the Olympics. Competing is all about having the strength and stamina to outlast and out-muscle other athletes, and in Ancient Greece, athletes were superheroes. One of the secret weapons was consuming lots of beef liver.
Today, you can use a supplement that provides that nutrition and performance enhancement without having to eat a lot of liver. Many people report feeling higher levels of energy right after eating liver and it's because of the extremely high levels of B vitamins.
What to Look For in a Beef Liver Supplement
One of the first terms you'll hear when looking into beef liver supplements is the term "desiccated beef liver." All this means is that the original raw liver has been freeze-dried. Freeze-drying removes moisture and reduces a product to a powder without significantly changing the nutritional value the way that cooking it will. Desiccation lets the product be put in capsules to make it simple to take the supplement.
You'll also see terms like grass-fed beef liver and pasture-raised beef liver. What this indicates is that the cow was not fed grains and lived its life in a field rather than in a feedlot. Cows raised this way are generally healthier and more nutritious. Here is the thing about the liver: the liver is like a filter for the body that removes unhealthy things from the blood. Now, a cow that is raised on bad food will have a less-desirable liver which results in a less healthy final product.
Our Favorite Beef Liver Capsules
Here are a few products that we think hit all the points you are looking for and provide the maximum health benefits from desiccated beef liver supplements.
Wholesome Wellness Beef Liver Supplements
This is a great product because it checks all the boxes. It is made from 100% grass-fed and grass-finished, pasture-raised cows from New Zealand. It is pure desiccated liver and is made in the US. It contains absolutely no fillers, additives, or flow agents. It's just a high-quality liver supplement that optimally preserves nutritional factors. Each tablet offers 750 mg of pure, non-defatted supplemental liver.
Ancestral Supplements Grass Fed Beef Organs
Here is another product that provides New Zealand grass-fed and finished high-quality beef liver. But that's not all it gives. This supplement also includes other organ meats like beef heart, kidney, spleen, and pancreas to give you the best nutrition possible. Ancestral Supplements has absolutely no fillers, additives, or artificial ingredients. Each tablet provides 600 mg of natural beef liver.
Optimal Carnivore Beef Liver Supplement
This supplement provides high-quality New Zealand grass-fed beef liver product that has no artificial colors, fillers, or other ingredients. It's just all-natural, cold desiccated beef liver that offers excellent nutritional benefits in an easy-to-swallow tablet. Each tablet provides 500 mg of beef liver.
Ready to Try Beef Liver?
A high-quality and all-natural liver supplement gives you a wide range of benefits to your health. Liver contains all of the essential vitamins your body needs to function at its best. It's been used by humans since ancient times to improve blood flow, boost energy, and enhance fertility. It also has been proven to offer tons of benefits through scientific testing that backs up the ancient uses.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Picking the right supplement for your body means you'll need to understand the differences between a good-quality supplement and those that are just a waste of money. The keys are to find supplements that don't have any fillers, artificial colors, or preservatives. Properly freeze-dried liver is also shelf-stable.
If you've been looking for a way to get more from your workout, if you are trying to get pregnant or want to give your growing baby the best nutrition possible, or if you want to bulk up without taking artificial supplements –– quality beef liver might just be the answer you've been searching for.
***
The Bearded Butchers are dedicated to providing as much information as we possibly can to help you understand how to best process and prepare meats of all kinds. To help you, we maintain a blog and Youtube channel with lots of free, high-quality information. The Bearded Butchers and Beardedbutchers.com are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. This means that The Bearded Butchers may receive a commission if you click on a link above and make a purchase on Amazon.com.
