If you’ve taken any interest in your health and what foods you put into your body, then you may already be aware of the nutritional powerhouses that are organs. Adding organs into your diet is a simple way to continue improving your overall well-being. Eating organs isn’t as simple as opening a bag of chips; below are 4 different ways you may implement organs into your diet. We’ll take into account time, money and convenience so you can choose the most appropriate option for your life.

Why Organs? 

Eating a few oz of organ meat a day will provide you with a much-needed vitamin and mineral boost. Organ meats are often pound-for-pound more nutritious than muscle meats. If you do a little research, you’ll find there is a significant amount of Vitamin B12, Vitamin A, Riboflavin, Folate, Iron and Choline in beef liver. All of these are necessary for the formation of red blood cells, immune and kidney function, cellular development and energy production. Below is a great graphic showing how the nutrients in beef liver stack up to other foods.

Options 

Option 1. Supplementation. For some, finding and purchasing organ meat can be difficult. Not to mention it can get a little messy in the kitchen. Or perhaps you just can’t stand the sight of a stinky piece of liver. Not a problem. There are some great companies out there who provide organ supplements. Below is a link to Heart & Soil, who’s organ supplements are 100% animal based and derived from regenerative farms. Desiccated organs in capsule form don’t need to be refrigerated and you can travel with them. These are definitely the easiest way to set it and forget it. Take six capsules and move on with your day.

Pros- Fast, simple and convenient. Just open and swallow.

Cons-If you want to take them all, as we do, it can be expensive.

Option 2. Cook and eat it. I’m sure there are dozens of ways you can cook organs and enjoy them. Personally, I can only stomach the organs if they are mixed with other meats and mask the flavor, like beef liverwurst. Here is a link to US Wellness Meats. Their pages offer some interesting recipes and are a good option for ordering organ meats. Pictured below is some beef liverwurst I made with squash.

Pros- Usually cheaper than supplementation depending on how much you’re eating. You may learn more about the organs by way of experimenting and cooking or pairing accordingly.

Cons- Makes your house smell, tastes “unique”, and could potentially diminish the nutrition.

Option 3. Eat it raw. Well, swallow it raw anyway. If you think it tastes bad after you cook it, you’ll probably feel the same if you try it raw. The best way to consume it raw is by cutting it up into tiny pieces and chasing a spoonful with some water. Here’s how.

1. Cut the liver into small 1oz pieces and place in the freezer.

2. Take a piece out of the freezer when you are ready to eat it and chop it up into tiny pieces.

3. Put some water in your mouth, put the organs in your mouth and swallow! Pro tip, if you sprinkle some lemon juice over your little pile of organs it reduces the strong iron flavor.

Pros. This is relatively simple and you can barely taste it. It’s also cheap and easy. Further, you know all of the nutritional qualities are still complete.

Cons. This approach may be a little difficult to keep consistent.

Option 4. Dehydrate and Encapsulate. Personally I prefer this option as it’s the cheapest way to ensure your whole family gets more organs in their diet consistently. I completed the following with 1.78 lbs of liver, that’s about 28 ounces. This process can be done with any organ.

1. Slice the Liver into 1/4 inch pieces

2.     Place the pieces onto a dehydrator rack and cook for approximately 6 hours at 160 degrees. We use a Cosori. It was $150

3. Blend the pieces into a fine powder. If the organs are not dry enough, they won’t blend down to an appropriate size.

4. Next, we like to place our gelatin capsules and encapsulator on a large baking tray to contain the potential mess. We prefer to use a small capsule press as it reduces the chance of breaking some of the capsules. With a little bit of trial and error this is actually a fairly quick process. Don’t get frustrated when you break a few at the start. Here is a link to the capsule machine, size 00 https://capsuleconnection.com/the-capsule-machine.html Here is a link to the Gelatin Capsules, also size 00. https://xprsnutra.com/products/size-00-clear-empty-vegan-capsules?variant=41230126448834

5. Place the capsules in the press and fill them with your organs. We suggest doing this over your bowl of blended organs. Use the equipment provided to remove excess organs and press your capsules together!

6. Store your capsules in a large jar (darker the better) with a moisture absorbent pack and place in a cool dry place. We like to use the fridge, but it’s probably not necessary.

28 ounces of liver made 312 capsules. That means about 11 capsules was 1oz of liver prior to dehydrating. Now you can pop open the jar and crush some organs whenever your heart desires. The prep time was about 15 mins, the dehydrator ran for 6 hours and the capsules took me 1 hour to fill. So, in an hour and fifteen minutes I made one months supply of organs. I often listen to a podcast while pressing the capsules and the time flys. Before you know it, you’ll have a few large jars with several months-worth of organs.

Pros- Cheap, you know exactly how much is in each batch and convenient to eat every day.

Cons- An Initial investment of $175 and time consuming.

Choose Your Option 

Organ meat is the most nutritious and bioavailable food on the planet.
You will notice a difference and or improvement in some facet of your health, be it physically or mentally.

-If you have money and no time, buy supplements.

-If you have no money but you have time, encapsulate.

-If you have no money and no time, eat it raw or cook it.

Experiment, have fun, and Rewild!

Nothing in this post is medical or nutrition advice. Always speak with your doctor before making changes to your health and diet.

Bonus - Check out this cool article in Scientific American.
“Killer whales rip open the bellies of sharks to snag the liver. Other predators also have dietary preferences for organs, brains and additional rich body parts”