Eating Liver - How Long Before You Notice Benefits?

[lindsay]

I'm curious, for those of you who eat liver regularly - how long did it take before you began noticing benefits/feeling better as a result of eating liver?

I've never eaten liver - maybe a couple times in the past I tried to grill it and make pate - I never really liked it. Recently, when listening to Danny Roddy's podcast, he said something to the effect of "I don't know people do it without regular liver and oysters." This kind of struck me because I realize I have been spending a ton of money on supplements to replace foods that I have access to locally - and really high quality too. All because I don't like liver and am lazy about oysters.

So I've been on a mission to try to incorporate these foods and today was my first attempt at liver recently. I soaked it in lemon juice for a few hours and then cooked up half a small onion in some Coconut Oil & a little white wine. Then I added the liver and seasoned with salt. The key for me was eating it with a generous supply of organic Ketchup, along with the onions. Voila. I ate almost a whole beef liver!! (Can you see me beaming with pride? )

The question is, if I continue to eat liver weekly, how long before I might notice benefits of eating it? Especially considering I've never really eaten liver in the past.....

Any thoughts and experiences greatly appreciated. I'm contemplating buying a 16 pack of Wellshire Farms Liverwurst for convenience when my weeks are busier (they used to sell the singles at Wholefoods, but no longer sadly) - but today I had time for liver & onions.

Also, I'd love to hear your experience with oysters as well. I live in an area of the country that is plentiful with fresh oysters, it's just that when I bought them in the past, it took me FOREVER to pry them open and I nearly cut off a few fingers. So I have to go and get them at a local restaurant, which I always cop out of. But I do love oysters.

Anyhow, enough of me blabbing about liver and oysters. Would love to hear how including them in your diet has benefited you (or if it hasn't). Thanks!!

 

[bobbybobbob]

I have sometimes felt better from eating liver almost immediately, as in 20 minutes.

I used to go through the hassle of making my own pâté but I don't really bother anymore. There's a place down the street that sells very tasty liver mousse and pâté products from Les Trois Petits Cochons™ - The Three Little Pigs . It's pig liver and pork shoulder meat presumably raised on soybeans and other crap, and has some gums and other additives in it, but I really don't care. It works fine. I'd recommend it to anyone. Eat a
Pâté de Campagne sandwich with mustard as a meal two or three times a week.

For oysters and shrimp there's a fishmarket on a river wharf near me in the ghetto. Once a week or so I'll go out on a bike ride and shoot some cheap fresh shucked raw oysters, or down a half pound of cooked shrimp with my brothers and sisters. I'll also have a couple cokes. A lot of the restaurants actually buy from this particular market. By going directly to wholesale specialty fish markets in industrial areas you can get a prepped shell fish meal fresher and cheaper than at the restaurants.

Organ meat, high quality beef or lamb, and shell fish are the sin qua non of adequate nutrition in my experience. Plants are just for the calories. Don't pretend like the fruits or potatoes you eat matter all that much. They're mostly just for energy.

 

[mayweatherking]

right away... it contains like every vitamin... it suppresses thyroid though all that vitamin A

 

[tara]

I'm curious, for those of you who eat liver regularly - how long did it take before you began noticing benefits/feeling better as a result of eating liver?

About two minutes. :) My stomach says thank-you when I eat it. If I go few days without it requests more. I can't tell what health benefits it has for me - always too many changing factors. I'm just trusting that since it has lots of useful nutrients and I seem to crave it and feel satisfied by a little of it, it is probably doing me good.

Key factor in tasting good is freshness. Fresh raw liver should be red not grey. Also cooking it enough but not to dry leather.
When I first tried it, I tried to eat 150-200g at once, once a week. I never enjoyed the second half. If I eat a smaller portion more often, I enjoy it.
These days I just fry up a smaller amount 3-5 times a week and eat with salt.

There are lots of pate recipes, so you could try looking up a few and seeing which ones have ingredients you think you could enjoy. There are lots of methods, too. I did it about three times, two of them successful, one of them I didn't like much - may have been too little salt and some spices I regretted. I made a big batch and then parcelled it up into 30-50g blocks in the freezer. Cut tough stringy bits out (I learned this the hard way - by tying my blender blades up), blend with whatever ingredients you want. Possible inclusions: salt, sugar, egg, milk powder, spices, herbs, capsicum, mushrooms, ....Pour into baking dish. Bake.
Spread on rice crackers (or bread) and add optional extras - I like cucumber or tomato.

 

[lindsay]

I have sometimes felt better from eating liver almost immediately, as in 20 minutes.

I used to go through the hassle of making my own pâté but I don't really bother anymore. There's a place down the street that sells very tasty liver mousse and pâté products from Les Trois Petits Cochons™ - The Three Little Pigs . It's pig liver and pork shoulder meat presumably raised on soybeans and other crap, and has some gums and other additives in it, but I really don't care. It works fine. I'd recommend it to anyone. Eat a
Pâté de Campagne sandwich with mustard as a meal two or three times a week.

For oysters and shrimp there's a fishmarket on a river wharf near me in the ghetto. Once a week or so I'll go out on a bike ride and shoot some cheap fresh shucked raw oysters, or down a half pound of cooked shrimp with my brothers and sisters. I'll also have a couple cokes. A lot of the restaurants actually buy from this particular market. By going directly to wholesale specialty fish markets in industrial areas you can get a prepped shell fish meal fresher and cheaper than at the restaurants.

Organ meat, high quality beef or lamb, and shell fish are the sin qua non of adequate nutrition in my experience. Plants are just for the calories. Don't pretend like the fruits or potatoes you eat matter all that much. They're mostly just for energy.

Thank you so much for your input! I do eat shrimp regularly when they are on sale - and sometimes muscles too. But I do not eat them weekly for sure. I really like oysters, so I guess I should just go to a restaurant solo and order them up at the bar. I will look up the pork liver you mentioned - sounds delicious! I actually liked the liverwurst from Wellshire Farms, but I'm not sure I can freeze the 16 portions for safe-keeping..... It's super cheap though - $60 for 16 large rolls of it. Which is appealing. But I think I'm going to look into the website you mentioned - they have venison pate! Cool :)

The only fruit I notice making a solid difference is oranges. I could do without the rest. And I'm a cheese-a-holic. Which has also made a difference, along with daily Eggs. But I was actually craving liver yesterday and felt immediately better after eating it, so I guess my body is saying something. And on Mondays, the local oyster bar has $1 oysters.

Anyhoo, thanks for your input!!

About two minutes. :) My stomach says thank-you when I eat it. If I go few days without it requests more. I can't tell what health benefits it has for me - always too many changing factors. I'm just trusting that since it has lots of useful nutrients and I seem to crave it and feel satisfied by a little of it, it is probably doing me good.

Key factor in tasting good is freshness. Fresh raw liver should be red not grey. Also cooking it enough but not to dry leather.
When I first tried it, I tried to eat 150-200g at once, once a week. I never enjoyed the second half. If I eat a smaller portion more often, I enjoy it.
These days I just fry up a smaller amount 3-5 times a week and eat with salt.

There are lots of pate recipes, so you could try looking up a few and seeing which ones have ingredients you think you could enjoy. There are lots of methods, too. I did it about three times, two of them successful, one of them I didn't like much - may have been too little salt and some spices I regretted. I made a big batch and then parcelled it up into 30-50g blocks in the freezer. Cut tough stringy bits out (I learned this the hard way - by tying my blender blades up), blend with whatever ingredients you want. Possible inclusions: salt, sugar, egg, milk powder, spices, herbs, capsicum, mushrooms, ....Pour into baking dish. Bake.
Spread on rice crackers (or bread) and add optional extras - I like cucumber or tomato.

This is great info. Thank you so much!! I think I need to eat it regularly, which means pates are going to be the best option. Although, once a month we pick up our order of pork and beef from the local farm and last time she just gave me liver because no one ever wants it - super fresh too. I fed most of it to my dog, but yesterday I really was craving it. So I cooked some up real quick.

I think pate with mushrooms would be delicious :) Maybe I will give that one a try when I get more liver from the farm.

Thank you so much for your input! Greatly appreciated :)

right away... it contains like every vitamin... it suppresses thyroid though all that vitamin A

Yes - I did notice feeling better immediately after eating it. But what do you mean it suppresses thyroid? I thought Vitamin A was super important for thyroid function?

 

[Stryker]

instantly , like a boost of energy which feels very androgenic also makes the skin immediately more supple and effects its tone.. which i also get that tone like effect from 4-6mg of copper (bisglycinate)

i just flash sear small pieces of it in a little bit of butter and top with salt and pepper

 

[scarlettsmum]

Me too, I feel the difference instantly. I like what Tara said about eating it little and often. I too find it difficult to then eat so much in one sitting. I buy lamb liver, much tastier than beef, in my opinion, quickly sear it till pink in the middle and eat with mash. What is everyone's view on chicken liver? These are by far my favourite and i think too many people avoid eating livers because they restrict themselves to beef livers which have the strongest flavour and they soon get sick of eating it when they have to force it down. You can do so much more with chicken liver. I chop it up small, fry some onion and garlic in butter, then add liver, fry a bit longer, add some cream, combine with pasta.

 

[EIRE24]

instantly , like a boost of energy which feels very androgenic also makes the skin immediately more supple and effects its tone.. which i also get that tone like effect from 4-6mg of copper (bisglycinate)

i just flash sear small pieces of it in a little bit of butter and top with salt and pepper

For dry, dull and flaky skin you would think liver would really help it be more supple and moist? I thought it would make my dry and flaky skin worse?

 

[Richiebogie]

I buy this delicious chicken liver pate from South Australia. The ingredients will give you an idea of the recipe. (Thickener 441 is gelatine - a small layer of wine coloured jelly above the pate)...

Pheasant Farm Pate - Maggie Beer

 

[tyler]

Like everyone else, I also feel the effects of liver instantly. It manifests as a heightened sense of energy and well being. It is actually the only food that produces noticeable biofeedback for me. If I eat it at night I have trouble falling asleep. I have only tried beef liver but plan to try out some others.
As for shrimp, Trader Joes sells bags of wild caught frozen shrimp that are super affordable and a great option when fresh shrimp isn't an option. Allows me to eat a meal with shrimp regularly without drying out my wallet.

 

[Peater Piper]

Are we talking about beef liver here, or all liver? I ate a dozen chicken livers in a week, hoping to notice some big improvement, but nothing happened. Maybe it needs to be beef liver.

 

[lindsay]

Are we talking about beef liver here, or all liver? I ate a dozen chicken livers in a week, hoping to notice some big improvement, but nothing happened. Maybe it needs to be beef liver.

I had beef liver - it definitely was good. All liver should be beneficial, though they all have variations in amounts of nutrients. Beef liver has almost twice the nutrients of chicken liver - more than twice the amount of Vitamin A, Zinc, Copper, etc. Chicken liver has twice as much Selenium, which is notable.

 

[bobbybobbob]

Pig and venison livers definitely tastes the best. There's a slew of arguments against pork around here but I don't bother to take them very seriously. It's not like you eat pounds of the stuff a week. It's more of a supplement. If I get pig virus induced cancer, whatever, I don't care.

The French and Italians figured this whole thing out with their pig liver pate recipes, with the pig liver mixed into pork meat. It's super delicious. Just spread a thin layer on bread as part of sandwich.

 

[Stryker]

For dry, dull and flaky skin you would think liver would really help it be more supple and moist? I thought it would make my dry and flaky skin worse?

for me liver just about abolishes any skin issue i might have at the time such itchyness , dry and flaky , red spots , uneven tone etc..

i think it depends alot on the person eating it and how much you are eating , the shear amount of vitamin a in beef liver might be a problem for some people

smaller portions or trying lamb liver could help , good luck

 

[Stryker]

Yes - I did notice feeling better immediately after eating it. But what do you mean it suppresses thyroid? I thought Vitamin A was super important for thyroid function?

it is but i think it also shares a transporter for the thryoid hormone t4

"The vitamin is secreted from these organs bound to a protein termed serum retinol-binding protein (RBP), which associates in blood with another plasma protein, transthyretin (TTR), to form a ternary RBP-ROH-TTR complex"

 

[EIRE24]

I have sometimes felt better from eating liver almost immediately, as in 20 minutes.

I used to go through the hassle of making my own pâté but I don't really bother anymore. There's a place down the street that sells very tasty liver mousse and pâté products from Les Trois Petits Cochons™ - The Three Little Pigs . It's pig liver and pork shoulder meat presumably raised on soybeans and other crap, and has some gums and other additives in it, but I really don't care. It works fine. I'd recommend it to anyone. Eat a
Pâté de Campagne sandwich with mustard as a meal two or three times a week.

For oysters and shrimp there's a fishmarket on a river wharf near me in the ghetto. Once a week or so I'll go out on a bike ride and shoot some cheap fresh shucked raw oysters, or down a half pound of cooked shrimp with my brothers and sisters. I'll also have a couple cokes. A lot of the restaurants actually buy from this particular market. By going directly to wholesale specialty fish markets in industrial areas you can get a prepped shell fish meal fresher and cheaper than at the restaurants.

Organ meat, high quality beef or lamb, and shell fish are the sin qua non of adequate nutrition in my experience. Plants are just for the calories. Don't pretend like the fruits or potatoes you eat matter all that much. They're mostly just for energy.

How many times a week do you eat liver and oysters and how much?

 

[docall18]

I never notice any benefit from liver and often wonder if it is having a negative effect. I have estrogen dominance and the copper in liver could just make it worse..

 

[Ewelina]

My eyesight is getting better. I see sharper with better colour definition. Unfortunately it lasts only till the next day.

 

[Velve921]

it is but i think it also shares a transporter for the thryoid hormone t4

"The vitamin is secreted from these organs bound to a protein termed serum retinol-binding protein (RBP), which associates in blood with another plasma protein, transthyretin (TTR), to form a ternary RBP-ROH-TTR complex"

I thought beef liver suppressed thyroid temporarily due to high iron content? Drinking coffee, milk, sugar, aspirin, thyroid with beef liver I thought was the main reason for opposing iron and keeping thyroid high?

 

[Stryker]

I thought beef liver suppressed thyroid temporarily due to high iron content? Drinking coffee, milk, sugar, aspirin, thyroid with beef liver I thought was the main reason for opposing iron and keeping thyroid high?

it probably contibutes , but i think the iron in the liver isnt as much of a problem as a normal muscle cut of beef as the liver is loaded with highly available copper.