Organ Meat to eat or not to eat?

zerocarb
newbies
nutrition
(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #14

By that logic you should not eat any meat from the U.S.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #15

Organ meats are great if you can get them. Liver is a delicious food if you don’t overcook it. Bread it with coconut flour and pan fry it for about 90 seconds on each side, depending on the thickness, and you’re done. And don’t forget steak and kidney pie—I’ll bet there’s a way to serve it that’s keto!

A lot of the foods people my age hated as children were greatly overcooked. I suspect it was a defense against diseases such as typhoid, for which vaccines didn’t exist back then. Broccoli cooked for forty minutes is inedible in my book, but the concept of al dente did not exist in my grandmother’s lexicon. Likewise with liver cooked ten or fifteen minutes on each side—it tasted and felt like sandpaper!

In addition to organ meats marrow is a great source of nutrients. I know the thought of pigs’ feet probably makes most of you youngsters squeamish, but I bet you’d eat a dish of osso bucco at a fancy Italian place. Unfortunately, oxtail became trendy a couple of decades ago and the price shot up, but it used to be dead cheap, and it makes a delicious and nutritious soup or stew.

Don’t forget all the lovely preserved foods that come from organs: head cheese, blood sausage—any sausage, really—most of them are unobtainable these days because we’ve gotten all squeamish, but the disgust factor is all in our heads, the foods are delicious.

Dr. Phinney says that Stefansson used to joke that it was a good thing the other folks in his New England village were afraid of fat and organ meat, because the local butcher would save it all for him and give it to him practically for free! At one point during the famous experiment at Bellevue Hospital in 1927, Stefansson and Andersen were convinced to eat exclusively muscle meat. They quickly began to feel ill, but a little organ meat made them better almost at once.

(Chris) #16

You’re right, and I apologize for forgetting this exchange. It’s funny because I read the following shortly after we spoke.

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#17

Interesting. It sounds like there are a lot of folks that disagree with his telling of things - in particular around the raw/cooked question - but even in this bit that you posted, they’re not just eating muscle meat.

Also - and I think this is important - sea mammals and fish have a different nutritional profile than land mammals. I don’t know the details but my guess is that it does matter (i.e. if you’re going to use Inuit eating as a model, then your diet should probably include whale blubber, seal kidneys, etc - also I guess Inuit genes would come in handy :slight_smile: ).

I don’t disagree with you overall about ZC and I’m really curious about that way of eating - and for the people who thrive on it, it’s exponentially better than most of what’s out there - but muscle meat of cows =/= anybody’s ancestral diet.

#18

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This is probably what meat eating looks like for many traditional humans (though I’m sure there was plenty of cooking/curing/fermenting involved at later stages…)

(These are Nenet, not Inuit, children, feasting at the open belly of a freshly-killed deer.)

(Erica) #20

They were fed lean muscle meat. They were explaining how a lack of fat made them sick, not the lack of organ meat.

(Ken) #21

Organ meats provide vitamins and minerals, and often are very fatty. It’s a matter of finding a way to prepare them that you enjoy.

I feed my dogs a natural diet of meat and fat, with an additional 10% of organs added at the end. Doggie-Paleo. One benefit, besides them being healthy and long lived, is that I never have to scoop my yard. Their poop quickly turns white and dissolves.

(Chris) #22

Correct, and rabbit starvation should only occur once bodyfat has been lowered to the point that it’s in short supply as energy, one would assume. Actual starving. True the liver contains many vitamins, but if one is only eating muscle meat and shows no deficiency, do they still need it?

(Erica) #23

Conventionally processed meat aside, eating the parts that store the most nutrients are beneficial, but considering that they also store the most toxins as well, for me, personally the small benefit of a few extra nutrients are not worth the risk.

#24

I love that photo - and have seen others. Raw meat and blood taste very different from cooked, more like a mild delicacy from what I hear. I’ve only had raw fish sushi myself.

The community meal of raw meat/organs/fat along with using most every part of the seal/goat/reindeer was and is about relationship, and there is a huge cultural context within a cultural heritage of ancestors who likewise had such relationships.

(sandra) #25

Might sound weird Mary but I add ACV and that works great for me to cut the taste. I just add it while cooking. It is in a KETO cookbook I have for PATE.

#26

I have heard of that - will have to try it. The French use milk marination as well as red wine cooking for. I’d love to figure out a way to cook it and have it taste as good as it smells when cooking with the onions :wink:

(sandra) #27

I have heard that the storing the toxins is not an issue, I will have to look deeper into that :wink:

(Celeste Le Tard) #28

Please give tongue a try. If prepared correctly, and if you had no idea what you were eating, you would think it was the tender, most tasty beef ever…

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #29

Tongue is hard to find, but it is delicious. As much as I love pastrami, give me tongue any day!

(Sophie) #30

I’ve seen it at my Walmart recently.

(Richard Hanson) #31

We witness a lot of posts of those new to keto talk about eating mostly fish and chicken. For decades, we have been inundated with propaganda not to eat red meat or meats high in saturated fat and it is hard for people to abandon this bias after many years of reflexively choosing lean protein options.

It is fun to go to the grocer and search out the highest fat ground beef while others are spending a fortune on the lowest fat version they can find.

I would love to add fresh organ meets to my diet but Mrs. Hanson keeps saying NO!

Keto for Life!

Best Regards,
Richard

(VLC.MD) #32

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I’ll bet $1000 this kid doesn’t know what Quinoa is.

Just saying !

I also like the meat enthusiasm. Why use a fork that only can hold so much ?

(Chris) #33

Having no use of my hand, agreed. My wife cuts strips and I eat with my good hand (injured, not missing).

#34

I definitely do liver whenever I feel like it. Chicken liver is great sauteed in butter with mushrooms. Tip, eat it right out of the pan, while it’s hot. Calf liver is great if you soak it in milk first, then cook with bacon, onions, mushrooms, and Worcestershire sauce. Don’t overcook, get it to quasi-medium. If you do it well done it’s like eating shoe leather. I have never eaten shoe leather. Eat it (the liver) while it’s hot.