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B vitamin challenge: Brewer's Yeast and Liver products

14K views 197 replies 51 participants last post by  mamameliaISback 
#1 ·
I wrote this post the other night about taking a lot of freeze dried liver for about three weeks. Anyone else in? My mom is in with brewer's yeast.

I used liver like this for depression but right now I just need some extra energy to meet deadlines.

Quote:
experiment

I've been trying to get you all on the liver regime (and I think the everyday approach should be fine firefaery) but some have asked on the other thread about desiccated liver and about other sources of B-vitamins.

I haven't taken desiccated liver before but just ordered Dr Ron's freeze-dried liver and am going to try a regimen. In the past I've tried high doses of brewer's yeast but didn't postpartum because I was concerned about the yeast.

My mom and I spoke last night at some length about her experiences with both desiccated liver and brewer's yeast and, apparently, she was schooled in them by Adelle Davis in the early 70s (not literally, just read the books and articles).

Mother Adelle apparently used brewer's yeast (BY) and desiccated liver(DL) to get her through stressful days in her life. She said they had an "anti-stress factor" -- a nutrient that had not yet been isolated. I wonder if there is anything on this. In any case, I now need to get all of her books and figure out where my mom read this. Basically, she would take high doses of one of these things to get her through a deadline or other stressful situation. She emphasized that you shouldn't use them that way in an on-going fashion because you would burn yourself out.

But in terms of handling depression a little better, having more patience, etc. it makes sense to at least try one of these supplements as a tool. The liver 3x week does something similar (and some of you should still do that), but for people who can't, the supplements could work.

The problem is the "how much" issue. These things are all going to affect us differently and if you find yourself cleaning your cupboards out at midnight, you've had too much. One thing Mother Adelle recommended was taking them early in the day. And since B-vitamins are better in multiple doses, it makes sense to take as many smaller doses as you can manage. I actually used BY to get through my dissertation revisions and kept tablets in my pocket and took a couple every hour until about 1 p.m.

So I am going to try Dr Ron's liver supplement. Freeze-dried is better than the desiccated liver. It's expensive but I'm off of pretty much everything at this point, so I can spare some money to try it. When it arrives I am going to take the equivalent of 2 oz liver a day and if I end up working on my book revisions until midnight, I'll say "thank you God, but I won't do it again." I'm going to spread out the capsules every hour or two from morning until about 1-2 p.m.

My reason for all of this is that I've got a whole lot of work to do and just lost nearly a week to a sick boy.
 
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#127 ·
Six weeks late. Ugh. And not even a baby to show for it. Have you had anovulatory cycles before?

On the B-vitamin challenge, I'm getting back on the wagon. It was great while it lasted but the madness of the holidays got me off of my routine (just when I needed it most).

Amanda
 
#129 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by caedmyn View Post
I'm confused--the amounts of the B vitamins in brewer's yeast and liver are a lot less than I can get from B complex capsules. Are the vitamins in the food sources more absorbable than that from capsules?
Post your B complex and we can look at the label. I'll look at my mom's Brewer's Yeast. A reason I like liver is the minerals and Omega-3s as well.
 
#130 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Metasequoia View Post
Ruth, could it be peri-meno? How old are you? I bookmarked this site for future use.
I'm 34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gale Force View Post
Six weeks late. Ugh. And not even a baby to show for it. Have you had anovulatory cycles before?
Yeah, I've skipped cycles before- the first time was when I was 18, my first month in college (and I had not been a "good girl" over the summer so I was terrified I was pg!)

I'm trying to think if I had too much soy in the last few weeks- that always seems to lead to screwed up (read: late, missed, etc) cycles for me. Things were so hectic getting ready for DD's Bat Mitzvah that I honestly can't remember what I'd been eating.
 
#132 ·
Caedmyn, I read over the supplement, and it just looks like high quality chemical vitamins to me. I wouldn't think they would be more absorbable. A food source would be better. I just read that B vitamins feed yeast (hence brewer's yeast. . . duh, me), so I would wonder if you could try not taking them for awhile? I take a Rainbow Light one, since it claims to be "food-based" and have complimentary nutrients in it, but really, I would prefer not to take them at all. But I'm breastfeeding a 7 month old giant baby, and a 3.5 year old (at least once a day) and I always question how I could get enough b vitamins from food. Sigh. And we have nearly chronic thrush as our yeast issue, and I can get rid of it totally with expensive yeast enzymes, but I can rarely afford those. I try to remember to quaff some kefir when I take the B complex, so the extra Bs feed the positive yeasts at least. Also, I just read that extra zinc can fight yeasts (especially positive in metals poisoning cases, since zinc is the primary component of metallothionen, which is hard to spell!). Trace minerals makes a cheap ionic zinc, and I got some this week so I'll report back if they help, but. . . . this was a long ramble, when I just came to say that I am so proud of the liver recipe I invented tonight I'm posting it in the main thread.
 
#133 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Gale Force View Post
On the B-vitamin challenge, I'm getting back on the wagon. It was great while it lasted but the madness of the holidays got me off of my routine (just when I needed it most).

I got off my routine too. I just started back up because I have been really snappy with the kids lately. Hopefully the liver tablets can help even me out again
 
#134 ·
Amanda, which kind of freeze dried liver are you taking? I think I'd rather go for the liver as opposed to the BY because I'm afraid pf yeast issues. I am about to place an order from the local farmer & he sells chicken liver for $1/lb or beef liver for $4/lb. I'm super tight on money, so the first choice is certainly more appealing.

Is it safe to assume that fresh, raw chicken liver has more nutrients than dried liver?
 
#135 ·
I definitely feel better eating the actual liver, rather than the freeze dried. I bought Dr Ron's freeze dried liver which isn't such a good thing on a budget, but I am very tired of liver. The chicken livers sound like a really good deal.

caedmyn -- I've been thinking about the issue of the B-complex and I think one factor is what provocativa mentioned. With B-12 for instance, they have such high doses because it's so poorly absorbed. I don't know what the absorption rates are of the different forms of B-12, but it would be interesting to compare them. Without that info for the different vitamins, I guess we really can't come up with a good answer.

The other problem is that Adelle Davis, the inspiration for all of this in the first place, argued that BY and liver have an "anti-stress factor." Who knows what that is, if it really exists. If it does, the B-complex doesn't have that. I do know that for myself taking a lot of BY works better than a B-complex and liver (especially the real thing) works even better for giving me energy to get through rough times. I stopped the BY too because of candida scares -- there are so many opinions on that I didn't want to chance it.

My understanding with yeast and B-vitamins is that they do live on them which further depletes you. I don't think taking more will "feed" it like sugar does, it's just that your load is higher.

Amanda
 
#136 ·
Since I can't seem to find kosher liver anywhere right now, and I've been fatigued/stressed even while taking the B-complex, I'm thinking I may need to go with the yeast.

What kinds of brewer's/nutritional yeast do you recomend? Is there much difference from one brand to another, should I avoid the kind sold as "flakes" or does it not matter as long as I get some yeast into me? I almost bought a package today but I was simply overwhelmed with the choices and didn't want to buy the wrong thing.
 
#137 ·
Ruth,

I need to research this issue more but my mom takes a powder form and says that it should say "debittered." She just mixes it in water and chug-a-lugs.

Amanda
 
#138 ·
OK, I think I saw some powdered that said "debittered" at the store today, in a huge can for about $22. They had a smaller can with the same brand but it was flaked and it advertized that it wouldn't get soggy, so I wonder how it was processed and it it's such a good choice. I guess I'll pick up the huge can tomorrow morning- if I go early enough in the day the store isnt' crowded and I can get in and out of there quickly.

Alternatively I could go to the further away HFS and look at their selection while I pick up some bulk foods, but maybe I should just buy what I can get locally and research what the other store has for when it's time to replace the package.
 
#139 ·
I ended up going to the further away HFS today and they had "yeast buds" that were just pure brewer's yeast by Lewis Labs. It tastes pretty good.

How much should I be taking per day? The package suggests 2T per serving, but I noticed that's much lower in B vitamins than the B-complex I sometimes take. Should I be taking double or triple that per day, or is that enough because it's better absorbed?
 
#140 ·
Try about 4 tbs/day spread out through the morning to the degree that it's reasonable. If you get wired, cut the dose. If you don't even notice it, add a couple of tablespoons. Adelle Davis recommended very high doses to get you through tough times of stress, but not forever. So part of it too depends on what you need. If it's a maintenance amount, I'd just follow the label.

I got my dried liver and just in time.
 
#142 ·
I wanted to bump this thread--I didn't participate at the time because I knew we'd be traveling for most of December. December is always my most stressful time, quite aside from the holidays, and I felt like crud throughout--and was having real anger management problems, which is rare for me. To my horror, this continued even after all the holiday stress-inducers went away. So I tried some frozen raw liver and Oh. My. God., overnight I felt so much better. I've now been doing it for two weeks, and the energy and calm has been amazing. Interestingly, I forgot to do it for the first time this morning, and I feel strangely tense--though that could be psychosomatic.

I've been doing about an ounce (roughly; I just eyeball it) every morning. Should I worry about overdosing? Does it matter if I'm on a pre-TTC diet? Also, we've been out of CLO for the month, and so I haven't been taking that, but should I do both CLO and the liver, or would that be overkill?
 
#143 ·
That's great news, phroggies! My husband and I have been taking the freeze dried liver for a couple of weeks and it is making a big difference in energy and ability to handle stress.

I would think that liver plus some sunshine would be enough, but it's individual and hard to say.

Do you defrost the liver and then cut it into pieces?
 
#144 ·
Why we shouldnt use Brewer's Yeast

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If youre using NT for your bread recipes, then Im sure you have seen
this; but the conversation here gave me excuse to type it out for
another friend of mine anyway ) The following quotes are on pages 489
& 491 of Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon.

"The history of breadmaking is a good example of the industrialization &
standardization of a technique that was formerly empiric....It was
simpler to replace natural leavening with Brewers Yeast. There are
numerous practical advantages: the fermentation is more regular, more
rapid and the bread rises better. But the fermentation becomes mainly
alcoholic fermentation and the acidification is greatly lessened. The
bread (with Brewers Yeast) is less digestable, less tasty and spoils
more easily." ~ Claude Aubert Les Aliments Fermente's Traditionnels

"In books on baking and even in nutritional/medical writings, the two
techniques {for making bread}, natural leaven (sourdough) and baker's
yeast, are often mingled and confounded....baking with natural leaven is
in harmony with nature and maintains the integrity and nutrition of the
cereal grains used....The process helps to increase and reinforce our
body's absorption of the cereal nutrients. Unlike yeasted bread that
diminishes, even destroys, much of the grains nutritional value,
naturally leavened bread does not stale and, as it ages, maintains its
original moisture much longer. Alot of that information was known
pragmatically for centuries; and thus when yeast was first intorduced in
France at the court of louis XIV in March 1668, because at that time the
scientists already knew that the use of yeast would imperil the peoples
health, it was strongly rejected. Today, yeast is used almost
universally, without any testing; and the recent scientific evidence and
clinical findings are confirming the ancient taboos with biochemical and
bioelectronic valid proofs that wholly support that age old common sense
decision. " ~ Jaques DeLangre
 
#146 ·
If you're allergic to brewer's yeast then it's obviously not a good thing for you to be taking! I'm pretty sure that "brewer's yeast' and "nutritional yeast" are pretty much the same thing.

Farmschooler- that's interesting about the yeast, but I still wonder if it's truly applicable to the way we're talking about using yeast on this thread. We're not talking about baking with yeast, we're just talking about consuming plain yeast as a nutritional supplement/superfood, so it's not going to affect the digestability of the nutrients in bread or anything else. The link you quoted didn't talk about the nutritional qualities of the yeast itself, when used plain or sprinkled onto already cooked foods.

I've been taking my yeast most days, but I finally found some kosher liver again!! I bought 4 1lb packages, but I won't cook any of them until next week when the kids are back at school (well, 2 of them anyway.
)
 
#148 ·
Can I jump in here with a question or two? I have been lurking in this thread for a while and contemplating starting to eat liver.

DH and I just purchased a lamb, and I discovered that the lamb liver is quite large. How does lamb liver compare to chicken and/or beef, which I assume are the two most common livers eaten among this group?

Can/Should I eat this liver while newly pregnant?

Thanks!
 
#149 ·
Susan,

I've been looking at research on beef and lamb liver lately and lamb is at least as good, if not a little bit better.

I would eat it pregnant.

Amanda
 
#150 ·
Nutrition Facts for cooked Lamb Liver

Amount Per 1 oz, cooked
Calories 61.09
Calories from Fat 22.02

% Daily Value *

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Total Fat 2.45g 4%

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Saturated Fat 0.947g 5%

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Polyunsaturated Fat 0.364g

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Monounsaturated Fat 0.511g

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Cholesterol 139.11mg 46%

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Sodium 105.95mg 4%

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Potassium 61.38mg 2%

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Total Carbohydrate 0.702g 0%

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Dietary Fiber 0g 0%

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Protein 8.49g 17%

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Alcohol 0g

Vitamin A 139 % Vitamin C 2 %

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Calcium 0 % Iron 13 %

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Vitamin D 0 % Vitamin E 0 %

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Thiamin 3 % Riboflavin 56 %

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Niacin 17 % Folate 5 %

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Vitamin B-6 7 % Vitamin B-12 354 %

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Phosphorus 12 % Magnesium 2 %

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Zinc 15 % Copper 98 %

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*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Ingredients
Ingredient Name Amount Units Processing
Lamb, variety meats and by-products, liver, cooked, braised 28 grams No Processing
Salt, table 0.235 grams No Processing
 
#151 ·
Nutrition Facts

Amount Per 1 cup, cooked, diced
Calories 385.25
Calories from Fat 133.66

% Daily Value *

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Total Fat 14.85g 23%

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Saturated Fat 4.15g 21%

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Polyunsaturated Fat 3.37g

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Monounsaturated Fat 4.85g

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Cholesterol 980.03mg 327%

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Sodium 886.97mg 37%

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Potassium 448.18mg 13%

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Total Carbohydrate 18.61g 6%

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Dietary Fiber 0.388g 2%

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Protein 41.6g 83%

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Alcohol 0g

Vitamin A 688 % Vitamin C 101 %

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Calcium 3 % Iron 105 %

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Vitamin D 0 % Vitamin E 9 %

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Thiamin 15 % Riboflavin 200 %

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Niacin 86 % Folate 354 %

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Vitamin B-6 51 % Vitamin B-12 684 %

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Phosphorus 56 % Magnesium 10 %

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Zinc 46 % Copper 45 %

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*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
 
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