Organ Meats - The Missing Link to Intuition

When it comes to superfoods, it’s hard to beat organs. Organs, especially organs sourced from responsibly raised ruminant animals, contain some of highest concentrations of bio-available nutrients on the planet. There are no phytotoxins or chemicals that bind to the vitamins and minerals in organ meats, and the nutrients are present in a form that is the most easily digested, assimilated, and absorbed by the human and canine body.

There are arguments on both sides about whether it is essential to include organ meats in your diet, and I tend to agree with both sides on certain topics. From my four years of experience experimenting with this, I’ve learned a few things, both about myself, and about my dog, and that generally equates to: “It Depends”.

It’s no secret organ meats contain a vast array of vital nutrients, and including them in your diet can have profound benefits. Here are just a few of the many benefits of organ meats:

• Organs such as liver, kidney, and heart are rich in nutrients such as iron, zinc, and vitamin B12.

• Consuming organ meats, such as liver, may support brain health due to their high levels of choline.

• Organ meats contain high levels of collagen, which is beneficial for healthy skin, hair, and nails.

• Organs such as the heart and kidneys contain high levels of CoQ10, which is important for energy production in the body.

• Organs such as the thymus, spleen, and lymph nodes contain high levels of antioxidants and immune-boosting compounds.

• Organs such as the liver and pancreas contain high levels of enzymes that aid in digestion and support gut health.

• Organ meats such as liver are rich in folate, which is important for healthy pregnancy.

• Organ meats are generally less expensive than muscle meats and can be a good way to stretch your food budget.

• Consuming organs is a traditional practice in many cultures, and can be a way to connect with one's heritage and ancestral traditions.

• Kidney contains DAO, an enzyme that can support the breakdown, processing, and elimination of histamines.

• Organs can act as a dietary supplement for assisting with the recovery of nutritional deficiencies.

With all these benefits, why would anyone NOT include them in their diet? Intuition.

When I was extremely ill and began my journey to recovery, one of the most detrimental physical effects I dealt with was weight loss. In six short months I lost 85 pounds. For most people this would be an accomplishment, but for me, this meant I was slowly dying. I had some fat to lose for sure, but a great deal of that weight loss was muscle that I acquired over a decade of killing myself in the gym. The root cause, as I would later discover, was due to a dysfunctional, damaged, and leaking gut, riddled with fungus, mold, and parasites. I simply wasn’t absorbing enough nutrients to replace the energy my body was using.

Eventually, after trying a laundry list of other diets, to include veganism and fruitarian, I landed on keto for a while, and shortly after, I began to consume organ meats, primarily chicken and beef liver. When I say I craved chicken livers, I mean I absolutely craved chicken livers. I craved those little gems to the point that I was cooking them several times a day and always had a tub on hand. I simply could not get enough. This lasted most of the time I was on keto, and it was on keto that I began to heal.

After switching to a carnivore diet, my love for poultry faded when I discovered I had an intolerance to it (elimination diets are great for identifying trigger foods). At that point, I switched to only beef and deer liver and continued to consume it regularly. After about a year or so on the carnivore diet, and after seeing a substantial amount of healing, I noticed that my cravings for liver gradually began to decline and I naturally eased away from it. When I would force myself to include it in my diet, I would get severe aversions to it, to the point that the taste and smell made me nauseated. When I would consume it anyway, I would often notice a strange sensation that sometimes felt like I could not get a deep enough breath, something I had previously only experienced when I was dealing with a magnesium deficiency. However, I tested this numerous times and, in this case, excess consumption of liver was definitely the culprit.

From my experience, intuition almost always points to the things my body needs. When I crave liver, my body tells me. The signals are sometimes subtle, but if I listen, they are there. It could be as subtle as looking at liver and thinking “man, that looks pretty darn good,” or being positively triggered by the smell of it. When I have had enough, the signs are usually not as subtle, as it often triggers nausea and severe aversions. The same is true for other things such as fat, which often generate the same intuitive responses. When I became more in tune with my body and learned to cue in on its subtle signals, I began to quickly identify exactly what I needed, when I needed it, and how much I needed. My body simply tells me. I believe this is true for everyone, however, modern diets full of nutrient-void, ultra-processed foods have likely skewed and significantly disrupted these signals, leading to false indicators of hunger and cravings for foods that do not benefit you. I don’t necessarily believe that those signals are inherently wrong, I just believe that they are signals indicative of a craving for actual nutrients, in any form possible, because the foods being consumed, even in significant quantities, could never fulfill the requirement.

When it comes to our dogs, the story is a bit different. It is incredibly difficult to tune into a dog’s internal intuition, and speaking from experience, playing the guessing game may do more harm than good. If your dog has met its daily requirement for vitamins and minerals and you offer him or her another piece of liver, I would be willing to bet your dog would eat the liver anyway. When I switched my dog from kibble to an all-meat carnivore diet, I began to incorporate a little bit of chicken liver every day. It was something that was touted online and I assumed she needed it. Within about 1.5 – 2 weeks, a few hours after feeding, she began frothing at the mouth and drooling profusely, became lethargic and confused, and began to have severe and uncontrollable vomiting and diarrhea. It was a scary moment but I did not make the connection. A couple days later I included a bit of liver in her food and the same thing happened. Thankfully at that point it clicked, and I no longer include liver in her diet.

While organ meats can definitely play an important role in the healing process and can assist in meeting daily nutritional goals, it may not be necessary to include them in our diets consistently, or in large amounts. I believe that once we remove processed foods from our diets and begin to focus on real, whole foods, we also begin to regain the ability to tune into our body’s natural cues, instincts, and intuitions. The process takes some experimentation and trial and error, but eventually we can learn to listen. For dogs it is a bit different, but transitioning into and out of certain foods very slowly while really paying attention to your dog, watching for subtle signs, may give some indication of the overall health and well-being of the animal. When it comes to organs, I believe it just takes a bit of experimentation, trial and error, and a sharp ear to intuition for us to figure out what works best for us as individuals. From there, we can make those adjustments and live a healthier life.