Nutrition of Animal Organs

[Fullcrum]

I've been researching raw paleo diets - diets that are basically raw plants and raw animal foods in my quest to look at areas that tend to be weak in raw vegan diets. Most people know that vitamin B-12 is the most in contention of all the substances raw vegans are told they may not be getting enough of.

So I was doing research into the richest sources of these, and stumbled upon this: WHFoods: Calf's liver

Apparently, calf's liver is extremely nutritious. Going down the list of the vitamins and minerals most abundant in it are the vitamins and minerals most in contention in the raw vegan diet. This intrigued me.

I've read that organs digest more easily than muscle meats as some of them are considered "smooth" muscle in that they do not contract. This makes sense to me.

So I ask you - What do you guys know about animal organ nutrition?

[escapee]

I know that animal liver was used to treat iron/copper-deficient Anemia in olden days .


Blood -- Liver therapy in anemia: a motion picture by William P. Murphy

In 1900, Russell gave a full account of the spinal cord involvement in PA and coined the term "subacute combined degeneration of the spinal cord."2 It was noted that hematologic abnormalities in patients with tropical sprue improved with a diet containing milk, meat, cod-liver oil, and oranges.3 This observation led to successful use of similar treatments in patients with PA.3 The hematopoietic properties of liver and meat were demonstrated by Whipple while working on dogs that had been bled to produce anemia.4 Whipple demonstrated that the most effective dietary addition in chronic anemia was raw liver. Minot took detailed dietary histories from patients and noted that often his patients with PA excluded meat from their diets. Minot and Murphy started treating PA patients with liver. The diet recommended by Minot and Murphy consisted of 120 to 240 g cooked beef liver, 120 g or more of beef or mutton "muscle meat," and some vegetables, fruits, eggs, and milk taken daily.5 They documented improvement in the red blood cell count and a sharp rise in the reticulocyte count.6

So, if anybody bumps into similar problem, at least you know there is a natural solution for it.

[WanderingOak]

For me, liver is a rare treat. It has to be organic, as the liver is often where toxins are deposited, so when I do eat it, I pretty much have to know the farmer that raised the cow...

As far as the health claims are concerned, they might be right. All I know is that when it is cooked properly, seared on the outside while still purple in the center, with a bit of salt and pepper, it is quite delicious. Raw liver, for some reason, reminds me of Boss Hogg of 'The Dukes of Hazard'. He was always chowing down on it in the middle of some silly car chase. As Roscoe said "EEEWWW, that's Alive!!!!!". I don't want my supper to be still squirming while I'm eating it...

[Boreas]

In my mind the liver is a storage and filtration system, so while it is high in vitamins, it will also be high in anything else the liver has absorbed.

As a disclaimer, that is just my thoughts about it, with no backing that I know of whatsoever.

[JSB]

Liver is highly nutritious, but it's the filtration system of the body. I wouldn't eat liver unless I knew the animal had been raised naturally (e.g. organically raised, free range, grass-fed cattle or wild game) on unpolluted land.

[BalancedExistence]

Originally Posted by JSB

Liver is highly nutritious, but it's the filtration system of the body. I wouldn't eat liver unless I knew the animal had been raised naturally (e.g. organically raised, free range, grass-fed cattle or wild game) on unpolluted land.

I agree with what you say 100%.