Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

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In order to get the healty benefits of bowels, I will eat some Liver the next days. As it is not possible for me to become a nice and clean liver from grass fed cattle, I have to buy convetional beef liver.

Luckily it is also possible to buy calf´s liver. I am sure, that a calf is by far not that messed up with chemicals, antibiotics etc, as their adult relatives and so their liver should be much more clean....

But! Does it already contain those healty nutrients? Or does a liver, like a good whiskey,(hopefully not consumed by the calf) has to mature and grow to develop "the good stuff"?

ByeBye

flag	asked Mar 10 2011 at 11:37 Butternut11 125●2●9

Interesting question. The USDA nutrient tables don't seem to separate out calf vs beef liver (at least not when accessed the nutritiondata.com) I eat calves liver because of taste - I'm more likely to eat it than beef liver. I'd buy it from an organic producer if at all possible since if from veal calves (pretty much certain) it may be over loaded with antibiotics. – Karen Mar 10 2011 at 14:04

There is one nutrient that beef liver has that calf's liver doesn't- but I can't remember what it is! I do remember from the chart, that some things beef liver was higher in and calf's liver was higher in others. Ditto with poultry livers and pig/lamb livers. Best scenario would be to vary your sources, but calf liver is generally more palatable than beef liver. Any liver is better than no liver, so if you're more comfortable with calf, go with that. – WordVixen Mar 10 2011 at 20:16

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Karen, calf's liver is listed in the USDA database under "veal, variety meats and by-products, liver." – Rob from ketocure.com Mar 10 2011 at 22:01

Thank you RobS. – Karen Mar 11 2011 at 12:37

Lee · Answer 1 · 2011-03-10 19:17:37Z UTC

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I personally wouldn't eat liver from a conventionally-raised cow or calf. The liver is, after all, a filtering organ, and I try hard to avoid the stuff in conventional animals.

I'm no scientist, so I don't know whether that's a valid concern, but it concerns me enough to stick with grass-fed, organic beef.

answered Mar 10 2011 at 19:17

Lee
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There aren't any leftover toxins in the liver. At least that's what they say at the Westin Price site. – Chris Palmquist Mar 10 2011 at 23:10

themobiustrip · Answer 2 · 2011-03-30 01:12:55Z UTC

I just had grass-fed beef liver for the first time, after eating conventionally raised calf liver for the last couple of months. I noticed that the grass-fed beef liver had a noticeably more "pungent" smell and taste, which wasn't very appealing... I hope this isn't always the case!

Travis Culp · Answer 3 · 2011-03-10 21:05:56Z UTC

An animal with a correct diet would have, within a normal range, an appropriate quantity of the various micronutrients in their organs and would excrete the excess. As such, a calf or lamb have sufficient quantities: http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/lamb-veal-and-game-products/4669/2

That said, I would recommend no more than 1/2 lb of liver a week as a result of the significant levels of copper and particularly preformed vitamin A. If you want to get the other micros the rest of the week, you could do 1/4lb of liver twice a week and 1/4lb of kidney every day for the remaining 5 without risk of toxicity.

Calf´s liver vs. Beef liver

3 Answers