What else is in liver?

[Ruthla]

I know (from the big "B Vitamin Challenge" thread) that liver is high in B vitamins.

What else is in there? I'm guessing iron and protein, but how rich in iron is it- does it compare to B vitamins as an "iron supplement replacement" the way it does for B vitamins?

[Ruthla]

I'm also curious how the nutrient profiles for nutritional yeast and liver compare.

[yitlan]

From this page:
http://www.westonaprice.org/foodfeatures/liver.html

So what makes liver so wonderful? Quite simply, it contains more nutrients, gram for gram, than any other food. In summary, liver provides:

* An excellent source of high-quality protein
* Nature’s most concentrated source of vitamin A
* All the B vitamins in abundance, particularly vitamin B12
* One of our best sources of folic acid
* A highly usable form of iron
* Trace elements such as copper, zinc and chromium; liver is our best source of copper
* An unidentified anti-fatigue factor
* CoQ10, a nutrient that is especially important for cardio-vascular function
* A good source of purines, nitrogen-containing compounds that serve as precursors for DNA and RNA.

[yllek]

I refer to this site a lot for nutritional info:

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?t...dbid=129#descr
This one is on calf's liver, but I think the nutritional profile is similar for beef liver.

For even more detail, try this site for braised beef liver (1 oz.):
http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-C00001-01c20tx.html

This one for raw beef liver:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-C00001-01c20tw.html

I keep popping in on the liver challenge thread, but I've got to psych myself up to actually do it.

[Ruthla]

Thanks for that 3rd link- I was able to find chicken liver on that site and compare it to beef liver. The only kosher liver I can find is Empire frozen chicken livers, so that's what I've been eating.

I still wish I could find the profile for broiled livers (the only kosher way to prepare liver is to broil first and then sautee or bake or whatever you want after it's broiled.) I wonder if I'm losing any of the essential nutrients when I broil it.

[Ruthla]

:bump

[425lisamarie]

I wonder the same. And I LOVE chopped liver, but beef liver gives me the creeps. I wish I like it I eat it anyways, but more as medicine not for dinner

[tamagotchi]

Liver is also one of the best sources of choline which is important for brain development and memory function.

[phroggies]

Re: cooking the liver. I think the rationale for the raw liver is that some of the B vitamins (B6, maybe?) are supposed to be heat sensitive.

[Gale Force]

It's still packed with nutrients when it's cooked

It's also got a whole lot more of a lot of things than brewer's yeast. Adelle Davis recommended BY and liver because of an "anti-stress factor" but I haven't heard of anybody else mentioning this "factor." I wonder if it's real and, if so, what it is.

[Ruthla]

Originally Posted by Gale Force

It's still packed with nutrients when it's cooked

It's also got a whole lot more of a lot of things than brewer's yeast. Adelle Davis recommended BY and liver because of an "anti-stress factor" but I haven't heard of anybody else mentioning this "factor." I wonder if it's real and, if so, what it is.

My personal guess is that the B vitamins, in their natural state, form the "anti-stress factor" since stress increases the need for B vitamins.