Liver has a strong flavor and unique texture that can be polarizing. Some people love it while others hate it. The livers from many different animals are eaten around the world, so it’s possible to find beef, chicken, pork, lamb, and goose liver in butcher shops and grocery stores around the country. Although many people simply feel that the strong flavor of liver is too much to take, they still wish to add this superfood to their diets, and therefore supplementing with desiccated beef liver supplements is a great solution. Let’s look at the nutritional profile of uncooked liver, as it is equivalent to desiccated beef liver, and look at the spectrum of vitamins and minerals that make liver a superfood. Beef Liver Nutrition Information A three-ounce serving of beef liver (four ounces uncooked) contains: Calories: 153 Protein: 23 grams Fat: 4 grams Carbohydrates: 4 grams Fiber: Less than 1 gram Sugar: Less than 1 gram Quality Grass-Fed Beef Liver provides: Nature’s most concentrated source of vitamin A All the B vitamins in abundance, particularly vitamin B12 One of our best sources of folic acid A highly usable form of iron Trace elements such as copper, zinc, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus and chromium; liver is our best source of copper Three ounces of quality beef liver contains almost three times as much choline as one egg CoQ10, a nutrient that is especially important for cardio-vascular function A good source of purines, nitrogen-containing compounds that serve as precursors for DNA and RNA It also contains an “anti-fatigue factor”, called cytochrome P450, making it a favourite among athletes Raw beef liver and the more palatable and even more concentrated supplement, desiccated beef liver, are clearly excellent sources of protein, with relatively small amounts of fat and carbs. Desiccated Beef Liver is also the best animal-based supplements of vitamin A. In fact, Desiccated Beef Liver is a rich source of many vitamins and minerals, and for this reason provides many health benefits, especially to the athlete and bodybuilder. Prevents Nutrient Deficiency Desiccated Beef Liver is the most nutritionally dense food supplements (gram for gram) on the planet. It contains significant amounts of folate, iron, vitamin B, vitamin A, and copper. Therefore supplementing with Desiccated Beef Liver can help you meet your daily recommended amount of all of these vitamins and minerals, reducing your risk of nutrient deficiency. Nutrient deficiency is not good for the bodybuilder, as it not only reduces your chance of recovery, but may put you in a catabolic state. Achieving Nutritional Balance Speaking of nutritional deficiency, there is one other very important point to discuss, and that is achieving nutritional balance. Most people that enjoy eating animal products in their diets over having a pure plant based diet believe that by eating muscle meat, they have a more balanced diet than those on a plant based diet, which is not necessarily the case. Western diets focus way too much on consuming muscle meat, which is a practice that can rob the body of essential nutrients found in organ meats. The practice of eating organ meats has been a long and prized tradition and stems from the direction of eating the whole animal which includes eating organs like liver, heart, kidneys, tripe, sweetbreads (thymus) and marrow which are considered health essential and delicacies in traditional cultures. Consuming muscle meat as your principal protein source upsets the Nutritional Balance, and this can lead to overconsumption as the body searches for the essential nutrients that it needs. A perfect example of this is methionine. Methionine is an essential amino acid which is a substrate not only for muscle tissue but other amino acids like Taurine and Cysteine, compounds such as SAM-e for methylation and immune system health, and the important antioxidant, Glutathione. Muscle meat is a rich source of Methionine, so rich in fact that consumption of high amounts of muscle meat without the essential co-factors found in liver (B vitamins, Vitamins A/K2, etc.), have been shown to lead to high Homocysteine levels, which is a marker for heart disease. Instead, traditional cultures follow the practice of incorporating organ meats and the skin and connective tissues into their diet to compliment muscle meat consumption thus effectively achieving that Nutritional Balance. So how do we achieve nutritional balance without having to stress about the taste of offal or liver? Supplementing with Liver based supplements like Desiccated Beef Liver capsules. Now let’s look at the more specific positive effects of supplementing with Desiccated Beef Liver relating to athletic performance. Eating Liver Supports Muscle Growth Beef liver is packed with muscle building protein and essential nutrients that your muscles need to grow. In many ways, it's nature's true protein supplement. Looking at its nutritional profile, it is mostly protein, with little carbs and fat. It is no wonder that the Golden Era and Silver Era legends did not rely on BCAAs and whey powders like we do today! Desiccated Beef Liver Contains: all essential amino acids; is high in Vitamin A which increases testosterone and muscle synthesis; is high in leucine, the most anabolic (muscle building) amino acid; and is a good source of K2, which enhances exercise performance and increases testosterone. You can easily see why Desiccated Beef Liver is the supplement choice of the champions! Improves Energy and Stamina If you are not a fan of pre-workouts and caffeine, liver might be a better alternative because of its high B vitamins content. One of the many functions of this family of vitamins is converting food energy into chemical energy for your cells. As a result, your food can fuel you much better. B Vitamins play other important roles like supporting fat burning – another method of fuelling our cells with the added benefit of improved body composition for you (less fat, more muscle). Desiccated Beef Liver is a good source of all the B’s, and therefore acts like a B complex supplement. Check out what 100g (3.5 oz, a little bigger than a deck of cards) of beef liver (equivalent to around 25 gm Desiccated Beef Liver supplies relative to the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA): Vitamin 100g of Beef Liver How It Produces Energy Thiamine (B1) 0.1mg (10% of RDA) Converts food into energy for cells Riboflavin (B2) 2.8mg (163% of RDA) Converts food into energy for cells Red blood cell formation (red blood cells carry oxygen and nutrients to tissues, low oxygen = low energy) Niacin (B3) 14.2mg (72% of RDA) Converts food into energy for cells Supports digestion Pantothenic Acid (B5) 5.6mg (56% of RDA) Converts food into energy for cells Fat metabolism Red blood cell formation (red blood cells carry oxygen and nutrients to tissues) B6 0.8mg (42% of RDA) Protein, carb, and fat metabolism Red blood cell formation Folate (B9) 211mcg (53% of RDA) Essential for red blood cell formation Supports protein metabolism. Proteins are used to build and repair muscles B12 67.3mcg (1122% of RDA) Conversion of food into energy Red blood cell formation Lowers Risk of Anaemia Iron is one of the most common mineral deficiencies on the planet. Iron deficiency can lead to certain types of anaemia, resulting in fatigue, muscle weakness, and a lack of focus. This is all bad news for the athlete and bodybuilder. Liver is an excellent source of both iron and vitamin B12, which work in combination to keep your blood cells in good working condition. In fact, one of the earliest medical treatments for pernicious anaemia was regularly eating beef liver. Today, supplementing with a bioavailable form iron such as Desiccated Beef Liver can help alleviate or prevent anaemia. Improved Bone and Arterial Health Desiccated Beef Liver is full of vitamin K2, specifically MK-4 which is only found in animal foods, and is critical to the health of your bones. Vitamin K helps your body process calcium and add it to your bones. As a result, it helps you maintain the strength of your skeletal system and prevents risk of developing chronic conditions such as osteoporosis. Vitamin K is also important to maintaining the health of your circulatory system. While many people are quick to take a calcium supplement, high intake of calcium supplements has been associated with calcification of the arterial walls. Research has shown that vitamin K2 helps direct calcium into the bones and keeps it out of the arterial walls. Calcium in the arterial walls can be very, very bad, calcifications on arterial walls essentially = heart disease. So if you want strong bones and not stiff arteries, K2 is an essential nutrient. Liver Supports Skin Health Liver is chock full of retinol – the bioactive form of Vitamin A. Vitamin A has long been known to support skin health but is also vital for reproduction, vision and supporting the immune system. Because Vitamin A is an antioxidant, it protects skin cells from oxidative stress like damage from UV rays. It also serves other integral functions. In addition to vitamin A, liver is a good source of copper and glycine. Both these nutrients contribute to maintenance of collagen under the skin. Collagen under the skin reduces the presence of wrinkles and fine lines by plumping and firming the tissue beneath the skin. Liver Might Support a Positive Mood and Aid Cognitive Performance How might liver help the brain and your mood? Well, there are several nutrients in liver that support cognitive function and emotional health, with choline being the front runner. Research shows that choline improves cognitive performance and prevents anxiety and mood disorders. Choline is so important for a healthy, functioning brain that choline deficiencies are associated with neurological disorders like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Liver also contains trace elements like copper, iron and selenium – nutrients required for optimal brain function. Further, liver is a good source of selenium. A study published in the Journal of Nutrition found that optimum serum selenium levels were associated with a decrease in depressive symptoms and improved mood. NSP Nutrition’s Desiccated Liver Capsules NSP Nutrition’s Desiccated Beef supplement is still is the choice of many bodybuilding champions, and was since the Golden Era. We have found it to be the absolute best product on the market for several reasons: The desiccating vacuum process at 37°C preserves the nutritional content found in liver The source of NSP’s cattle are raised in the remote and pristine grasslands of Argentina As mentioned, Desiccated Beef Liver capsules are, in effect, Nature’s True Protein Supplements and Multi-vitamin. Using this approach effectively and conveniently yields the benefits of ‘Whole Animal Eating’ without having to eat foods you mentally can’t ‘stomach’, and give you the benefits of Nutritional Balance and the benefits listed above. Get your Beef Liver from the NSP Nutrition store TODAY!
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2 comments
My Bloodwork Shows Positive Results…. Very professional and well done research and reporting…!
Why would a woman in post menopause (58) want to take this? I wouldn’t want to increase testosterone even though there are so many other benefits.