30 Day Paleo: Day Twenty Eight – Experiment With Organ Meat
Looking to make healthier choices? Perfect! This is Day 28 of 30 of my 30 Day Paleo Plan. For more information on 30 Day Paleo as well as 30 Minute Paleo, check out the get started page. Post each day on your 30 Day Paleo journey to Twitter or Instagram and show me by tagging me with @dranthonygustin — get after it!
Organ meat is one of the most nutrient dense food sources available. It was long considered the prized meat of hunts, and muscle tissue was typically considered the inferior option (the primary ingredient in my favorite clean protein powder). The same is true of many modern hunter gatherer culture – they will allow the carcass of meat to rot before letting organs go to waste. There was, and is, a reason for this: While muscle meat has protein and sometimes some beneficial fats and nutrients, it pales in comparison to organ meats.
Organ meat is full fat soluble vitamins, b vitamins, enzyme CoQ10 (essential for proper heart function), copper, zinc, chromium, iron, folic acid, choline (important for nervous system function), purines and bioavailable proteins.
Heart is a fantastic first choice as it doesn’t have an overpowering taste like other organ meats. It is, admittedly, slightly rubbery. But when you get used to the texture, it actually tastes pretty good when grilled or cut up in chunks and skewered, kebab style.
Liver is the next best choice because of its high density of nutrients. Liver can be a little off putting if you are unaccustomed to the taste, however. A great way to ease into liver is to incorporating it into a paste using other ingredients with strong flavors. We have a recipe that uses a great amount of bacon to help smooth out the liver’s new taste and texture.
Because organ meat is not generally high in demand, most butcher shops will them to you pretty cheap. You’ll usually have to ask your butcher if they have an available, as it is often kept in the back and not put on display. Eating organ meat turns out to be quite a bargain – stocking up on the most nutritious part of an animal for a fraction of the cost of other cuts! If you’d prefer to take them in capsule form, checkout the ones I developed for Equip Foods: beef liver supplements and organ meat supplements.
Time to get your primal side in action and try some organ meat!