Your Grandmother Ate It, And Why You Should Too

Writen by Naomi Whittel | Published on: December 18, 2018

I’ve always loved adventure. Especially when it comes to food. When I first started traveling to Asia over 15 years ago to understand how traditional food and health practices gave women such flawless complexions and ageless beauty, even I was surprised to learn about their native superfoods. For example, In Beijing’s hutong food stalls there was an abundance of animal foods from the whole animal, from donkey hide to fried duck head and chicken feet. It opened my mind to how cultures around the world have always utilized and eaten the whole animal.

Knowing collagen, and how important it is for our health, there is a reason why Asian women experience such beautiful, glowing skin, and abundant health. Collagen-rich foods from bone broth and chicken feet support the supple, youthful, wrinkle-free appearance that most women eating these traditional foods enjoy. Thankfully, if you don’t have easy access to these foods, you can supplement with specific peptide whole-food collagen.

I love bringing the health and beauty practices, and know-how from cultures around the world, in an easy and accessible way that helps us all live a better life. As a busy mother and business owner I’m always looking for ways to get more out of the things that I invest my time and energy in.

This is exactly why I wrote my bestselling New York Times book, Glow 15. It combines the best of what traditional people once practiced (like fasting and a polyphenol-rich diet) with what leading science reveals about the healthiest and easiest way to activate your youth in order to live your best life. If you’re interested in learning more about how you can use your innate cellular detox system called autophagy, to unlock the youth in every one of your cells, start living with increased energy, more radiance and beauty, while at the same time slashing your risk of chronic neurodegenerative and inflammatory illnesses, join me because you’re just 15 days away!

In the meantime, here’s another one of my favorite foods that will give you a huge payback for your investment. This nutrient-dense, powerhouse of a food will support beautiful skin, healthy metabolism and sustained energy levels. The food I’m referring to was probably a staple food for your grandmother. I know it was for mine.

Liver

I can remember the distinct and strong aroma of my wise 80-year-old grandmother’s kitchen whom I affectionately refer to as “Mutti,” (which is German for mother) while she prepared her liver and onions. Along with probiotic-rich sauerkraut and sauerbraten, my grandmother honored her German roots and food culture by enjoying her liver in a traditional dish known as leberkäse, a sort of liver meatloaf. If your grandmother is still alive today, ask her if she ate liver as a child, chances are she did. For many, our grandmothers represent part of a generation that still honored more traditional eating practices like eating the organs of an animal, as opposed to just the muscle meat.

Thank goodness that liver seems to be one of those organ meats that is making a comeback today as people understand the connection between nutritional status and health. Science verifies what people eating a more traditional diet intuitively knew, that there are precious vitamins and minerals in liver that are hard to find in such concentrated form in other foods, making it a bit of a superfood in its own right.

Liver has a weird reputation but don’t worry, I have a delicious recipe that will dispel all rumors and leave you wanting more! The adversity to liver may come from the confusion around what it does. Our livers—and those of the animals that we eat, work to filter out harmful toxins. And while purchasing the highest quality, organic, pasture-raised liver that you can find is a top priority (as the healthier the animal the more nutrition it will contain), liver itself doesn’t store these toxins. These toxins are more likely to be stored in fat and nervous system tissue of the animal. Liver is however, a storage organ for all the valuable nutrients that our bodies need to function at its highest level.

Below I’ll share with you a chart of beef liver compared to ground beef and some common healthy foods, but here are some highlights to get you excited about this powerhouse of nutrients (even if your taste buds aren’t quite on board yet).

Liver is:

• An excellent source of high-quality protein and amino acids to balance out the amino acids found in muscle meat. It’s so important to eat high-quality protein in proper amounts, that’s why I practice protein cycling for health and longevity benefits.

• A concentrated source of vitamin A, vital for immune and skin health.

• A potent source of B vitamins, especially B-12 and folate, crucial for strong energy levels and cellular health and repair.

• Rich in trace minerals like iron, zinc, copper and chromium, contributing to endless enzymatic reactions in the body.

• An important food source of CoQ10, an antioxidant essential for healthy cells and especially important for cardiac function.

	Beef Liver (100g)	Ground Beef (100g)	Black Beans (100g)	Kale (100g)	Quinoa (100g)
Protein	26.5g	23.9g	8.9g	3.3g	4.4g
Calcium	6mg	33.0mg	27mg	135mg	17.0mg
Magnesium	22mg	17.0mg	70mg	34mg	64.0mg
Iron	6.2mg	2.3mg	2.1mg	1.7mg	1.5mg
Zinc	5.2mg	5.8mg	1.1mg	.4mg	1.1mg
Vitamin A	26,091IU	0	6.0IU	15,376IU	5.0IU
Vitamin E	.5mg	.4mg	—	—	.6mg
Vitamin C	.7mg	0	0	120mg	—
Folate	260mcg	7.0mcg	149mcg	29mcg	42mcg
Vitamin B12	83.1mcg	2.5mcg	0	—	—
Vitamin B6	1.0mg	.3mg	.1mg	.3mg	.1mg

If you’re looking for a way to maximize the nutrition from your food, then consider adding some liver to your diet. Tap into the wisdom of what our grandmothers knew, that eating organ meats like liver will give you a concentrated source of precious nutrients that will boost your energy levels, support a healthy immune system and contribute to beautiful, glowing skin.