The Demise of Lard

[WildAboutHarry]

Gumby,

Thanks for the link.  I'd forgotten about Braunschweiger.

I understand the high Vitamin A content in liver, etc., but where would the "C" come from?

[Gumby]

How about good old liver and onions?

Liver is excellent. Liver is the most nutrient dense food in the entire universe. Wvery ancestral diet I've read about recommends eating liver twice a week.

To summarize... When we eat too much muscle meat, we get lots of methionine and it's converted to homocysteine. When you have too much homocysteine, it can lead to oxidative stress. Our bodies have the ability to metabolize and neutralize excess homocysteine if we give it the proper nutrients (vitamins B6, B12, folate, betaine, choline and the amino acid glycine). Glycine is the crucial key for this homocysteine-detoxification process. Glycine is found in skins, and traditional broths. Betaine (found in spinach, and wheat) is useful for generating glycine for the liver and kidney, but it doesn't really help detoxify the rest of the body. Folate is really more important for detoxifying because it can be used to generate glycine throughout the body. [Source]

Folate is found in liver, beans as well as large quantities of leafy greens. So, it's just easier to eat liver and beans a few times a week. Just make sure to soak the beans properly first!

Of course, liver needs to be prepared properly if you want it to taste good. You have to slice it to 1/4 inch steaks and soak it in milk for about an hour or two to get rid of the awful taste and then cook it in bacon fat. I did this recipe today, with a milk soak, and you could barely tell that it was liver. It was quite good...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/liver ... with_94841

Liver and onions is very tasty to me, but I've had a tough time finding grass fed liver.  Perhaps I'm too paranoid, but I worry about toxins in the liver of feedlot animals.

The easiest thing to do is buy calf's liver. Nearly all calfs in the US are pastured (for humane reasons). Whole Foods sells a frozen veal calfs liver (by Strauss Brands I believe) already cut down to 1/4 inch slices. But, any calf liver should do.

Gumby,

Thanks for the link.  I'd forgotten about Braunschweiger.

I understand the high Vitamin A content in liver, etc., but where would the "C" come from?

Braunschweiger is quite good. I bought some from US Wellness Meats a few months ago. Tasted like gamey hot dog.

Most animals have the ability to make their own Vitamin C. We are one of the few that have lost that ability!

http://www.truefalse.co.nz/articles/tru ... aminc.html

[MachineGhost]

Of course, liver needs to be prepared properly if you want it to taste good. You have to slice it to 1/4 inch steaks and soak it in milk for about an hour or two to get rid of the awful taste and then cook it in bacon fat. I did this recipe today, with a milk soak, and you could barely tell that it was liver. It was quite good...

If it has such an awful taste, that's an argument against it being healthy and consumed in the natural state.  Why would animals in the wild eat it when it tastes so off-putting?

The easiest thing to do is buy calf's liver. Nearly all calfs in the US are pastured (for humane reasons). Whole Foods sells a frozen veal calfs liver (by Strauss Brands I believe) already cut down to 1/4 inch slices. But, any calf liver should do.

So pastured calves/veal don't spend their lives inhumanely hanging up in a small cage they can't move around in only to be slaughtered before they've lived out a full life?  I'm confident finishing them on grass before their termination date doesn't qualify as humane.

[Gumby]

Of course, liver needs to be prepared properly if you want it to taste good. You have to slice it to 1/4 inch steaks and soak it in milk for about an hour or two to get rid of the awful taste and then cook it in bacon fat. I did this recipe today, with a milk soak, and you could barely tell that it was liver. It was quite good...

If it has such an awful taste, that's an argument against it being healthy and consumed in the natural state.  Why would animals in the wild eat it when it tastes so off-putting?

The "awful" taste tends to come from bad preparation. Raw/undercooked liver is actually fairly tasty in it's own right. (Consider the perspective that the open carcass of an animal seems "awful" to most modern humans). For most people, we have been raised to hate liver as our modern tastebuds rarely experience bitters. However, cultures around the world have traditionally prized liver, perhaps not so much always for the taste, but for the way it makes them feel. For instance, cannibals ate the hearts and livers of their kills first because it made them feel great. I have also noticed that the more you eat liver, the more you start to crave it. Seems to be a snowball effect. Having tried raw liver, I can certainly imagine that it would have been a great feeling to be starving and chomp into a liver and get a rush of nutrients and vitamins.

On a side note, my dog goes crazy when I have raw liver out. Drooling, whining and everything.

So pastured calves/veal don't spend their lives inhumanely hanging up in a small cage they can't move around in only to be slaughtered before they've lived out a full life?  I'm confident finishing them on grass before their termination date doesn't qualify as humane.

Good question. So, it seems that there are different types of veal. According to the Veal page on Wikipedia, "free range" veal is defined as, "The veal calves are raised in the pasture, and have unlimited access to mother’s milk and pasture grasses. They are not administered hormones or antibiotics. These conditions replicate those used to raise authentic pasture-raised veal. The meat is a rich pink color. Free-raised veal are typically lower in fat than other veal.[citation needed] Calves are slaughtered at about 24 weeks of age."

So, I guess there is good veal and bad veal. But, I found "free range" calves' liver in the butcher's frozen section of Whole Foods pretty easily.

[BearBones]

So, I guess there is good veal and bad veal. But, I found "free range" calves' liver in the butcher's frozen section of Whole Foods pretty easily.

How do you know this is "good veal?" Are there regulations on labeling "free range?" What is the range of free (4x4'?, 20x20')? And are the calves fed anything other than grass? In fact, are we really much better eating cattle that eat a homogenous diet of 100% fescue rather than corn silage?

All of this supports 2 opinions of mine (yes, opinions, not fact):
1. I prefer a system of regulation and labeling of food sold at grocery stores, even if imperfect. I trust the food industry even less than government.
2. I would not touch lard or liver if I did not know exactly where it was from and how it was raised.

[Gumby]

So, I guess there is good veal and bad veal. But, I found "free range" calves' liver in the butcher's frozen section of Whole Foods pretty easily.

How do you know this is "good veal?" Are there regulations on labeling "free range?" What is the range of free (4x4'?, 20x20')? And are the calves fed anything other than grass? In fact, are we really much better eating cattle that eat a homogenous diet of 100% fescue rather than corn silage?

All of this supports 2 opinions of mine (yes, opinions, not fact):
1. I prefer a system of regulation and labeling of food sold at grocery stores, even if imperfect. I trust the food industry even less than government.
2. I would not touch lard or liver if I did not know exactly where it was from and how it was raised.

I agree that one should know the source of their liver/lard. If you're worried about the square footage of the "free range" veal, all I can say is that you need to get in touch with your source and hope they are telling the truth. The Strauss Brands website describes, in detail, how they define "free range" and offers a video tour of their farms.

http://www.straussbrands.com

(The only reason I mentioned them is because Storm said he was having trouble finding grass fed liver.)

But, if you're really worried about the fact that the term "free range" is not regulated, and the company could be lying, then you just need to find a source you can self-authenticate. You do what works best for you.

US Wellness Meats is widely considered to be an excellent of grass fed meats. Though, nothing trumps visiting a local farm and seeing for yourself. And local will be more affordable as well. Find a farmer's market and talk to the farmers.

In fact, are we really much better eating cattle that eat a homogenous diet of 100% fescue rather than corn silage?

Yes. Grass fed is better. There is a fair amount of evidence to support this (omega 3/6 ratios, Conjugated linoleic acids, etc).

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/article ... /table/T2/

Garbage in garbage out. If the herbivore you plan on consuming is eating garbage and/or grains, they just pass it on to you. Cows did not evolve to consume massive quantities of grain and farmers will tell you that their cows are healthier and get sick less often when they are grass fed.

[BearBones]

Thanks, Gumby. I now remember you posting the link to the Nutritional Journal article before. From a quick glance, it looks pretty well constructed and convincing. Think I will head out to an Amish store tomorrow and ask them about their meats.

[rickb]

Relevant to this thread - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline ... ollan.html

"The problem with this system, or one of the problems with this system, is that cows are not evolved to digest corn. It creates all sorts of problems for them. The rumen is designed for grass. And corn is just too rich, too starchy. So as soon as you introduce corn, the animal is liable to get sick."

[Gumby]

Relevant to this thread - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline ... ollan.html

"The problem with this system, or one of the problems with this system, is that cows are not evolved to digest corn. It creates all sorts of problems for them. The rumen is designed for grass. And corn is just too rich, too starchy. So as soon as you introduce corn, the animal is liable to get sick."

That was an unbelievable interview with Michael Pollan. Really eye-opening and quite disturbing. Thanks for sharing.

Shocking that the animals are forced to eat grains they can't even digest and then preemptively medicated to deal with those digestion issues. Though, after reading that, it really sounds like the liver of a grain-fed cow would be so diseased it would be disfigured and unsellable.

[Storm]

Gumby, I couldn't find the Strauss brands liver you mentioned, but it turns out Whole Foods does have grass fed beef liver!  It's 4.99 a pound which is not terribly bad.  I appreciate how Whole Foods has the animal welfare rating prominently posted on all their packaging.  Rating of 1 means its like any meat at any grocery store, feedlot raised in cages and fed grain.  Rating of 5 is grass fed free range pastured.

I ate a nice dinner of liver and onions last night... soaked for 1 hr. in raw milk, sautéed onions in organic butter, then put the liver in flour and cooked it in more organic butter.  It was delicious, and the energy effect you described is amazing.  I was feeling very energetic last night and even this morning.

I'll probably eat this once or twice a week now that I've found a good source.  Unfortunately the wife wouldn't dare to try it... Probably had a bad experience with liver cooked wrong before.  I also need to blend some of it and get it into the babies food.  My in laws are staying with us and they started to mention some craziness like the baby shouldn't eat meat until 2 years old...  I'm going to put a stop to any of this vegetarian baby nonsense immediately.

[Gumby]

Gumby, I couldn't find the Strauss brands liver you mentioned, but it turns out Whole Foods does have grass fed beef liver!  It's 4.99 a pound which is not terribly bad.  I appreciate how Whole Foods has the animal welfare rating prominently posted on all their packaging.  Rating of 1 means its like any meat at any grocery store, feedlot raised in cages and fed grain.  Rating of 5 is grass fed free range pastured.

I do like Whole Foods, and I do like that they make it easy to tell the quality of the foods, but I do find that most of their meats tend to be Level 1 with a small selection of Level 4 and 5. And I think the numbering system is a bit of a psychological ploy because logically #1 should really be Grass Fed and #5 should be Grain Fed and I think most people probably don't take the time to realize that "#1" is actually the worst. Oh well.

I think if you're serious about making a long term commitment to grass fed meats, it would be worth your while to research butchers and farms near you. They can often cut out the middle-man and get you grass fed meats for a very competitive price. Often farms will tell you what local butchers sell their meats as well.

Another option is to get in touch with your local Weston Price chapter and ask them where one can easily source grass fed meats and dairy near you.

http://www.westonaprice.org/local-chapt ... al-chapter

I ate a nice dinner of liver and onions last night... soaked for 1 hr. in raw milk, sautéed onions in organic butter, then put the liver in flour and cooked it in more organic butter.  It was delicious, and the energy effect you described is amazing.  I was feeling very energetic last night and even this morning.

Nice! By the way, you can easily get grass fed butter at Whole Foods or Trader Joes. Buy the Kerry Gold butter from Ireland (I prefer unsalted, and then I pinch sea salt on it). There are other brands as well I can recommend and I'll see if I can find the list later today. But, if you call up the Weston A. Price Foundation and give them a $1 donation they will send you a buyers guide that lists the most ancestral-type brands of butter, breads, meats, etc. that are sold nationwide or by mail-order. It's very useful.

I'll probably eat this once or twice a week now that I've found a good source.  Unfortunately the wife wouldn't dare to try it... Probably had a bad experience with liver cooked wrong before.

Same here. She wouldn't even try it.

I also need to blend some of it and get it into the babies food.  My in laws are staying with us and they started to mention some craziness like the baby shouldn't eat meat until 2 years old...  I'm going to put a stop to any of this vegetarian baby nonsense immediately.

If you're really interested in that, here are some tips and recipes...
http://www.westonaprice.org/childrens-h ... by-formula

I think the most important thing for an infant or child is to avoid all soy in any formula or foods and you need to make sure they get DHA (and some EPA) and plenty of wholesome grass-fed fats (the mother too if breast feeding). The brain is mostly composed of fat and cholesterol (the main components of breast milk) and unless the mother is getting a healthy supply of natural DHA and fat, the child probably won't get enough of it from breast milk.

I stumbled upon all this a little late as I was researching ways to help my 2-year old son through some pretty tough sensory issues. As soon as we upped his fat intake and started giving him Fermented Cod Liver Oil/Butter Oil his sensory issues began to subside, he started sleeping better, and he stopped having lots of meltdowns. We gave him raw milk as well once we saw the Cod Liver Oil was working so well. It was clear that his brain was starving for fats and DHA. So, to me, the liver would be a great addition, but I haven't gotten that brave yet!

[BearBones]

I ate a nice dinner of liver and onions last night... soaked for 1 hr. in raw milk, sautéed onions in organic butter, then put the liver in flour and cooked it in more organic butter.  It was delicious, and the energy effect you described is amazing.  I was feeling very energetic last night and even this morning.

I'll probably eat this once or twice a week now that I've found a good source..

You guys (and WiseOne, of course) are killing me! Fearful of LTTs, and now have worked up to 10% of my portfolio in them. Don't usually eat much fat, and now I put organic butter in everything. And now just got back in from an Amish country store where I bought pastured beef liver. Don't even like the stuff! But for $1/lb (they sell it for dog food), I'm gonna eat it, especially if good for me.

As always, thanks for keeping my mind open.

[Gumby]

cooked it in more organic butter

now I put organic butter in everything.

If you're going to eat a lot of butter, then it's important to get grass fed butter. If it's regular "organic" butter, then you're probably just eating a lot of "organic" grain fed butter — which lacks any vitamins and has too much Omega-6. (If you don't eat very much butter, then I wouldn't worry about it).

Raw grass-fed butter is the gold standard (and it actually looks like gold, particularly at certain times of the year). If you can't get raw grass-fed butter, get pasteurized grass-fed butter which is nearly as good (also looks gold most times).

[align=center][/align]

Grass fed butter is also a good source of the important Vitamin K2. So, it's worth getting if you're going to consume a lot.

Cheapest and best thing to do is to buy a local grass fed (preferably raw) butter if you can find it. If not, here is a list (from WAPF) of the best butters you can find nationally, either by mail order or in the supermarket:

Butter

BEST: Raw butter from grass-fed animals

Bareville Cramery raw cultured butter (717-656-4422)
Ben and Katie Fisher Farm raw butter (717-786-0899)
Copper Creek Farms raw cow and goat butter (765-395-7886)
Family Cow Farm raw sweet and cultured butter (717-786-0131)
Grazin' Acres raw sheep butter, cultured cow butter (608-727-2904)
Green Acres Farm raw butter (717-661-5293)
Green Hills Harvest raw butter (660-244-5858)
Honeysuckle Acres raw butter (717-423-6429)
Life-Enhancing Acres raw butter (717-768-7848)
Meadow Ridge Farm raw cow and goat butter (717-530-5999)
Millcreek Organic Farm raw butter (717-656-7089)
Miller's Biodiversity Farm raw cow and goat butter (717-806-0392)
Miller's Organic Farm raw goat butter, sweet and cultured cow butter (717-556-0672)
Narvon Natural Acres raw butter (717-768-3263)
Organic Pastures raw butter (CA) (877-RAW-MILK)
Paradise Pasures raw butter (717-687-8576)
Pleasant Pastures raw butter (717-768-3437)
Rainbow Acres raw butter (717-442-0132)
Running Water Farm raw butter (717-627-3177)
Stevie Stolzfus raw butter (610-593-6481)
Sunny Crest Pastures raw butter (717-768-0101)
Sustainable Living Acres raw butter (717-665-0280)
Sweet Meadows raw butter (740-452-9151)
Swiss Connection raw cultured butter (812-939-2813)
Triangle Organics raw butter (814-349-4890)
Willow Run Farm raw sweet and cutured cow butter; sweet and cultured goat butter (717-556-0344)


GOOD: Pasteurized butter and ghee, preferably grass-fed

Anchor New Zealand Butter
Castle Rock Organic Farms churned cream (IL, MN, WI)
Double Devon Cream butter
Grass Point Farms butter
Jana Valley New Zealand butter
Kalona SuperNatural organic butter
Kerrygold butter
Markys Eurpean butters (800-522-8427)
Natural by Nature butter
Noris Dairy (WA and OR)
Organic Valley butter
PastureLand butter (888-331-9115)
Smjör Icelandic butter
Somerdale English butter
South Mountain Creamery butter
Straus Family Creamery organic butter
Trader Joe's organic sweet cream butter
Trickling Springs Creamery butter
Tropical Traditions butter (866-311-9115)
US Wellness butter (877-383-0051)
Vermont Butter and Cheese Company butter
Welsh Mountain Farm butter (717-768-3652)
Woodstock Farms organic butter
Your Family Cow butter (717-729-9730)
Source: 2012 Shopping Guide - Weston A. Price Foundation

There was a whole section on ghee, but my fingers got tired.

Personally I save the raw butter for spreading/topping food and I use the pasteurized butter when cooking. Again, you can get the WAPF shopping guide for $1 by calling WAPF directly or ordering online. It's pretty handy to navigate the supermarket with.

[RuralEngineer]

I have to disagree with the report that feeding cows grain makes them sick, which is why they are preventatively medicated.  My father has raised beef for most of my life and he does not subscribe to the grass fed only is best theory.  I do.  The science is pretty clear when it comes to vitamins and the good/bad cholesterol ratios, as well as overall calories.  However, my father's cattle are grass or hay fed with a very small supplement of grain for the vast majority of their lives.  Only in the finishing stage, right before slaughter, are they fed a grain heavy diet.  This increases the marbling (intramuscular fat) that is desirable by most people today.  I have never once, in 20 years, seen a cow get sick as a result of this increased corn diet.  It's possible that this is because they still have access to free choice hay and are never kept on a feedlot at any time (pasture their entire lives), but the idea that corn will immediately sicken a cow is, from my experience, completely false.

The more likely cause for the majority of market cattle being sick and needing medication is the conditions they are kept in.  Feedlots are essentially giant concrete parking lots where the cattle are kept in much higher densities than they would ever see elsewhere because their diet is 100% concentrates (grain).  This same type of sickness and preventative medication is seen in the chicken factory farms.  However, chickens digestive systems are absolutely suited for grains (granted, not a 100% grain diet).

[Gumby]

However, my father's cattle are grass or hay fed with a very small supplement of grain for the vast majority of their lives.  Only in the finishing stage, right before slaughter, are they fed a grain heavy diet.  This increases the marbling (intramuscular fat) that is desirable by most people today.  I have never once, in 20 years, seen a cow get sick as a result of this increased corn diet...

...but the idea that corn will immediately sicken a cow is, from my experience, completely false

That isn't exactly what we are talking about. Some farmers who raise grass-fed cattle will finish their beef with grain for some marbling/desirability but there isn't really enough time for that short-term diet to make them sick. I believe the rumen is compromised when they spend their entire lives eating grain. They give specific medications to deal with the issues caused by excessive corn.

Unfortunately, grain finishing does reduce the nutritional profile.

EDIT: Here is one farmer's reply to a discussion on grain-finishing on the forum at Mark's Daily Apple:

Why, one might ask, would a farmer committed to grass-fed animals corn-finish a beast? Hmmm---might it be that there is a drought and that grass doesn't grow without rain? One of the beauties of grain is that it can be stockpiled over a bumper year to the next. Hay, OTOH, loses nutrition as it sits.

Second, are you aware of how most farmers "grain-finish" a steer? We don't lock the beast in a lot and feed it nothing but grain, though we may well confine them to prevent the total ruin of our pastures. We give them mainly hay, if it is too dry for grass, and once a day we dump out a few buckets of corn or such into a feeder and let them have at it.

Welcome to reality. You like to live on pastured animals, but if it stays dry and the grass doesn't grow, you'll be paying $20 a pound for hamburger, if you can find it.

Source: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forum/thread65455.html

The amount of time for grain finishing can vary greatly. Some farmers will do it for a week, others for 160 days. It's not something I would stress about, but it pays to ask when you can.

[Gumby]

So, for those wondering what kind of an effect grain-finishing has on Omega-3 profiles, here's a good chart provided by eatwild.com.

[align=center]
Source: Data from: J Animal Sci (1993) 71( 8 ):2079-88
http://eatwild.com/healthbenefits.htm[/align]

A week or perhaps even a month of grain-finishing isn't terrible.

[WiseOne]

Gumby, you are the greatest!  I am definitely going to scout out some pastured liver and try your recipe.  You're entirely right about avoiding all but the healthiest livers - that's the organ that filters nearly all toxins, such as pharmaceuticals.  Kidneys get the rest.

Bearbones:  Hang in there.  10% LTTs?  Only 15% to go!!

[RuralEngineer]

Because of the relationship between nutrition and grain finishing, as well as the measurable increase in tenderness, it would be interesting to see a plot of nutrition vs. tenderness.  I wonder if there is a point of diminishing returns where further grain finishing decreases nutrition but doesn't significantly impact tenderness.

[Gumby]

Gumby, you are the greatest!  I am definitely going to scout out some pastured liver and try your recipe.  You're entirely right about avoiding all but the healthiest livers - that's the organ that filters nearly all toxins, such as pharmaceuticals.  Kidneys get the rest.

Thanks, WiseOne! I'm certainly not an expert on anatomy, but all the ancestral diet gurus stress that while the liver is crucial for neutralizing toxins, it does not typically act as a store for toxins...

A popular objection to eating liver is the belief that the liver is a storage organ for toxins in the body. While it is true that one of the liver’s role is to neutralize toxins (such as drugs, chemical agents and poisons), it does not store these toxins. Toxins the body cannot eliminate are likely to accumulate in the body’s fatty tissues and nervous systems. On the other hand, the liver is a is a storage organ for many important nutrients (vitamins A, D, E, K, B12 and folic acid, and minerals such as copper and iron). These nutrients provide the body with some of the tools it needs to get rid of toxins.
Source: http://chriskresser.com/natures-most-potent-superfood

and...

To call the liver a simple filter is incorrect. If we want to maintain the metaphor, it’s more like a chemical processing plant. The liver receives shipments, determines what they contain, and reacts accordingly. It converts protein to glucose, converts glucose to glycogen, manufactures triglycerides, among many other tasks, but its best-known responsibility is to render toxins inert and shuttle them out to be expelled – usually in the urine via the kidney. It doesn’t just hang on to toxins, as if the liver is somehow separate from the body and immune to contamination. The liver is part of the body! If your liver contains large amounts of toxins, so do you!...

...Liver can accumulate toxins and heavy metals, but so can every other part of the animal. If you avoid liver because of toxins, you should probably avoid the rest of the animal, too. Besides, liver isn’t an everyday type of cut...

...Traditional cultures didn’t prize liver because it was easily obtainable in large amounts, you know. It was a nutrient-dense treat, so consume it accordingly – as a weekly delicacy to be savored and enjoyed. As long as you’re avoiding animals in polluted, toxic environments (and I’m not talking CAFOs here; I’m talking industrial waste and heavy metal runoff) eating contaminated food (which you should be doing anyway, even if you don’t eat liver!), liver is a safe addition to your diet. Livers from organic, pasture-raised animals are obviously going to be tastier (almost sweet, in my experience), more nutritious, and cleaner, but I think you can safely eat the occasional liver meal from conventionally raised animals, too.
Source: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/does-the ... re-toxins/

Sounds like the main reason to eat the pastured liver has more to do with taste and nutrition rather than toxins.

[Gumby]

Because of the relationship between nutrition and grain finishing, as well as the measurable increase in tenderness, it would be interesting to see a plot of nutrition vs. tenderness.  I wonder if there is a point of diminishing returns where further grain finishing decreases nutrition but doesn't significantly impact tenderness.

Not sure. But, here's something interesting...

Increased aging time dramatically increased perceived average tenderness and decreased stringiness in meat from animals fed no grain. Cooked strip steaks that were aged for 3 weeks also had lower Warner-Bratzler shear force measures than nonaged steaks. Aging steaks 3 weeks resulted in the pasture-based finished steaks having equal tenderness compared to steaks from the feedlot finished steers. In the 1997 trial, steaks from all treatments had equal tenderness and aging enhanced the tenderness of all treatments. Aging time did not significantly affect vegetative aroma, earthy aroma, beefy aroma and flavor, and mouth coating.
Source: http://aes.missouri.edu/fsrc/research/pasture.stm

So, it is possible to have very tender grass-finished meat after all.

[Pointedstick]

I ate a nice dinner of liver and onions last night... soaked for 1 hr. in raw milk, sautéed onions in organic butter, then put the liver in flour and cooked it in more organic butter.  It was delicious, and the energy effect you described is amazing.  I was feeling very energetic last night and even this morning.

I tried this meal last night with the same Whole Foods pastured beef liver and can confirm the amazing energy boost. I didn't feel anything yesterday, but today I did my daily walk to and from work (6 miles total) and unlike usual, I felt no fatigue by the time I got home in the afternoon. Then I took my dog out for a nice long walk and still felt mostly good. Normally, I'd be exhausted after all that activity. Not only that, but my appetite has been lower today than usual. It's like my body just has less need of more nutrients so soon after such a rich meal.

I don't think I cooked the liver right, since it was petty chalky and mealy. Hopefully I'll get better, because I quite like feeling this energetic! 

[MachineGhost]

Man, this sucks.  I just added GMO-free lecithin to my smoothies about two weeks ago.

A study by the researchers, published Wednesday, showed that people who eat high animal-fat diets are not predisposed to heart disease based on genetics alone but also on the composition of their gut bacteria and how these bacteria aid in the digestion of their food.

The research group, led by Dr. Stanley Hazen, section head of preventive cardiology at the Clinic, found that a byproduct of the breakdown of a common dietary fat, lecithin, was a 10-fold stronger predictor of heart disease risk than cholesterol.

...

It also means that the more lecithin you eat, as with a high animal-product diet, the higher your risk of heart disease. Current research has been largely focused on cholesterol, Hazen said.

...

In mice bred to be prone to atherosclerosis, increased dietary lecithin and choline led to increased blood levels of TMAO, and to greater accumulation of plaque in the arteries. Both are bad outcomes.

Sterile mice, carefully raised to lack gut bacteria, produced no TMAO when fed a lecithin-rich diet and, more importantly, did not build up plaque when fed a diet high in choline. No bacteria meant no TMAO and no heart disease, confirming the critical role of the intestinal flora in the pathway. The same happened in regular mice given antibiotics for several weeks.

http://www.cleveland.com/healthfit/inde ... s_f_2.html