Has Anyone Hit Their Limit of Liver?

charlie

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I know Ray Peat says to eat around 4 ounces or so a week(is that the correct amount?) due to lowering of thyroid. Maybe excess iron is part of the reason why it should be limited. And I know we tell each other to watch for lower metabolism symptoms from too much liver. So, has anyone hit that limit? Have you lowered your metabolism from too much liver?

I have been eating 3 ounces every couple days for a week now, and if anything I am noticing higher metabolism. I think I will keep going to see if that limit can be reach. Of course I do eat my liver with coke, and then follow it up with coffee so I am doing iron mitigation strategies. I also donate blood every 2 months.

Does anyone see a problem with me carrying on this experiment? I just think due to old diet, I am completely undernourished and need maximum amount of nourishment at this point.

Your thoughts are appreciated.
 

jaguar43

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Charlie said:
I know Ray Peat says to eat around 4 ounces or so a week(is that the correct amount?) due to lowering of thyroid. Maybe excess iron is part of the reason why it should be limited. And I know we tell each other to watch for lower metabolism symptoms from too much liver. So, has anyone hit that limit? Have you lowered your metabolism from too much liver?

I have been eating 3 ounces every couple days for a week now, and if anything I am noticing higher metabolism. I think I will keep going to see if that limit can be reach. Of course I do eat my liver with coke, and then follow it up with coffee so I am doing iron mitigation strategies. I also donate blood every 2 months.

Does anyone see a problem with me carrying on this experiment? I just think due to old diet, I am completely undernourished and need maximum amount of nourishment at this point.

Your thoughts are appreciated.


Yea, I used to eat around a pound a week. Now its around a pound a month. I think consistency will replenish your nutrients to the point where its need less.
 
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charlie

charlie

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jag, how did you know you were reaching your limit?
 

Mittir

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I started with 4 oz liver cooked in one batch.
In a single meal i could not eat more than
2 oz . After few bites liver suddenly tastes horrible.
It seems like there is an internal mechanism that makes
it difficult to eat beyond a certain amount.
I would eat the other 2 oz in next meal or next day. Sometime i just ate
1 oz for consecutive 4 meals. It is mainly the excess vitamin A in liver
that causes thyroid inhibition. Iron is a minor issue now.
Liver is very low in heme iron, only 13 percent of liver iron is heme
where 65 percent of muscle meat is heme. Coffee can not block heme iron absorption.
In terms of iron, liver is way safer than meat.
For last few months i have increased liver intake to 8 oz and feeling increased
energy and well being. I think all the bright light has increased
My vitamin A need. Last week i tried 1 lb of liver in a week and felt great.
But i am going to stick to 8 oz for now . I can not donate blood and my iron storage
is bit high. If my next iron test shows declining trend i might increase liver intake.
You do not need to worry about iron if you are donating every 2 month.
Drinking coca cola might not be a good idea. Acidic food can increase iron absorption.
I think your body will tell you if you are getting too much vitamin A from liver.
For everyone else. RP recommends 3-6 oz liver weekly .
 

Swandattur

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Lately, I seem to be able to eat a little liver, but a two or three months ago eating a serving of liver put me into a torpor like state. Isn't too much vitamin A supposed to cause the problem? I'll look it up.

Edit: Oh, good! I don't have to look it up. Thanks Mittir! Interesting about the heme iron.
 

Swandattur

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I remember as a little kid I just loved liver, and then suddenly I got really sick of it, and never ate it again until I was in my twenties. Maybe the liver quality went down or maybe the distaste for liver corresponded with a time when I became shy and less healthy.
 

Peata

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For months I've only liked about one ounce of liver per week and I was good til the next week. Monday I wanted 2 oz. Today - Saturday, I am craving liver, and eating 2 oz. Mondays are normally liver day here, but I think my body wants some replenishment after the blood loss yesterday. I'm just going to go by how much I want to eat. Just like ice cream and other foods, I tear into it at first but after a bit it starts tasting bleh and I just don't want anymore. That's when I put the ice cream away or stop eating the liver or whatever. I would say Mittir is right, there is something self-limiting about liver.
 
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I go by feel. Sometimes I eat it just once every two weeks, and some rare weeks I might eat it 3 times. I think once you feel the sensation that you don't want it anymore, you should stop, and wait till the desire to eat it comes back.

I supplement vitamin A regardless, I think I might be one of those who need more for some reason. I'm still finding the right amount, I'll try to experiment with 10,000 IU daily.
 

Peata

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But I wonder if there's also a place where, if you're not wanting it at all - even 1x per month, that you should go ahead and have some?

Because honestly, I didn't like liver and wouldn't have started eating it if it wasn't one of the Peaty things, and I wanted to give this woe a fair shake. So I had no initial appetite to eat liver (or at least I wasn't craving it, but maybe my body was getting A from somewhere else), but once I got turned on to it, now my body does see it as a great source of nutrient, and I like having it every week.

But I'm just wondering if there would come a point where someone didn't want it anymore, if that was a sign something is wrong?
 
J

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Yeah, if someone who doesn't consume it at least once a month, I don't think he would have any sense of craving liver.

It's probably safe to force yourself to eat 3 ounces a month.
 

jaguar43

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Charlie said:
jag, how did you know you were reaching your limit?

There is a serious distaste for it.
 

HDD

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jag2594 said:
Charlie said:
jag, how did you know you were reaching your limit?

There is a serious distaste for it.

Idk, I have a serious distaste for it and I know I have not eaten too much. The last time I ate some I felt a little nauseous after. Might be psychological or I had loaded it with salt so maybe the salt was the reason.
 

Mittir

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Haagendazendiane said:
Idk, I have a serious distaste for it and I know I have not eaten too much. The last time I ate some I felt a little nauseous after. Might be psychological or I had loaded it with salt so maybe the salt was the reason.
Liver degrades quickly. I get fresh liver from a butcher. They seem to know if the liver is going to be tasty or not.
Soaking in salt water or milk for longer time often make things tastier. It is possible the liver you had was not that good.
.
 

jaguar43

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Haagendazendiane said:
jag2594 said:
Charlie said:
jag, how did you know you were reaching your limit?

There is a serious distaste for it.

Idk, I have a serious distaste for it and I know I have not eaten too much. The last time I ate some I felt a little nauseous after. Might be psychological or I had loaded it with salt so maybe the salt was the reason.

Source is very important, if its hard when it isn't frozen means that it is fresh
 

HDD

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I have been soaking calf liver in milk. It is frozen from a grocery chain. The slices are thin but not firm at all. I have had fried chicken livers at a restaurant with a dipping sauce that were edible but of course not a good choice because of oils, etc. I thought I might fry some in coconut oil at home after rolling in masa harina.

We have local meat markets that I could check for fresh liver.

Would histamine make me nauseous?

Thanks for the tips.
 

marcar72

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Liver a time or two has made me a bit nauseous. I think for me it was just a part of getting used to it. I went 41 years without ever having even tried it. My first time trying it was like 5 months ago frying it lightly in coconut oil. The last couple of weeks I've been eating it raw and honestly it's better than cooked I think. First time raw was quite an experience, hehe. I basically cut/tear it into little chunks and swallow the chunks whole. I take care to insure that the liver has been frozen atleast 14 days to be safe. I've probably been getting the same grocery chain frozen liver as you Diane. It's "Skylark" brand liver, a pound of it cut into 4oz portions and individually wrapped.

I don't think histamine would make one nauseous. If anything I think it would make one get sinus congestion/allergic reaction type symptoms if anything.
 

HDD

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Yes, Skylark is the brand. I think I would vomit to eat it raw. Sorry, just a gut reaction. I have been cooking it and chicken livers for over a year and still haven't acquired a taste. I threw out and fed to my dogs more than I ate. I am going to try to find something fresher. I supplement Vitamin A but would like to be able to eat liver for the other nutrients.

My excessive amount of salt and soy sauce may have caused the reaction because I wasn't nauseated when I was eating it.
 

Peata

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I just ravenously ate another ounce of the liver I cooked earlier. Three ounces for me in one day, must be a record. I think my body is just craving it because of losing 2 cups of blood yesterday.

The way I make it is, I don't soak it in milk. I used to, but it seemed like it made it too soft. I just coat it in flour and fry it in coconut oil. I salt it. I let it get brown and crispy on each side, but don't want to overcook it. Then I stir in a pat of butter, letting it coat the pieces. I salt the heck out of it.

It's Skylark brand. I like the regular beef liver better than calf liver.
 

Mittir

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Haagendazendiane said:
My excessive amount of salt and soy sauce may have caused the reaction because I wasn't nauseated when I was eating it.

Soy sauce has histamine in it and amount of histamine varies a lot.
I do not think they have a target histamine level in their production process.
Tamari has a very high a content of histamine.
Chris Masterjohn recommends marinading liver in lemon or lime juice.
He believes it removes the bad taste. I never tried this method.
http://blog.cholesterol-and-health.com/ ... e-not.html
Another method i learned from a friend is to boil the liver in water for 5 minutes
and then quickly cook it in butter and onion. It totally removes the bad taste but
i am worried that lots of B vitamins is lost. I did some digging and it seems like
nutrient loss in animal product is not that high. I believe even with all that loss it is still a very
nutritious food. I do not think a lot of fat soluble vitamins are lost in boiling.
I think it is easier to get relatively fresh chicken liver than beef liver in
grocery stores. One down side of chicken liver is it is very low in copper compared to beef liver.
Iron content of chicken liver is twice the amount in beef.
Idea is to make liver palatable anyway you can ,even with loss of nutrient.
 

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