For anyone who’s been around these here parts you know that I’m pretty adamant about natural living. I mean, don’t get me wrong… I’m totally grateful for modern medicine. I think it has its place. If I’m in a car accident I’ll be sending lots of love to the doctors who will stitch me up. But I do think that as a society we are FAR too reliant on drugs without really considering the many downfalls and side effects associated with them. Not to mention that there are just so many powerful natural remedies that we no longer take advantage of. And I still believe that at the heart of healthy living is REAL FOOD.
And that’s why I started popping pills… Dehydrated raw liver pills, that is!
I’ve already talked about this powerful super food before, but let’s just quickly remember why liver is so important.
Liver is the ultimate super food!
Gram for gram, liver contains more nutrients than any other food. In fact, liver provides:
- An excellent source of high-quality protein
- Nature’s most concentrated source of vitamin A
- All the B vitamins in abundance, particularly vitamin B12
- One of our best sources of folate
- A highly usable form of iron
- Trace elements such as copper, zinc and chromium; liver is our best source of copper
- 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.
- An unidentified anti-fatigue factor (You can read more about that here.)
And as a reminder: Liver doesn’t STORE the toxins, it filters them. Learn more about that here.
Sure, liver is awesome… but “ew,” right?
I was pretty proud of my “liver cubes” as an easier way to get this superfood into my diet. And the months before I became pregnant with baby #2 I was really good about eating liver. I’d throw in a few frozen cubes in my meals throughout the week and I noticed a difference.
But then I became pregnant, and well… my glorious liver habit went out the door. Even though the flavor was mostly masked, any trace amounts of the smell just sent me running.
Before I knew it I had jumped off the liver bandwagon completely. It was only after re-reading this post by Kelly of Primal Living that I remembered how great liver made me feel. It really did give me more energy. And let’s be honest, with baby #2 following the footsteps of his older sister (read: BAD sleeper), this mama could use some extra energy.
I loved Kelly’s idea to freeze little “pills” of raw liver. Although taking the time to chop them tiny enough so that I wouldn’t gag became an issue with two little needy children.
Thus was born my dehydrated raw liver pills!
I have to confess: I actually didn’t make these. Nope. My husband did. He was so excited about the idea of making our own “pills” and even more excited to reap the benefits of raw liver without having to taste a thing. So he jumped right in and did the whole thing for me. Pretty sweet, right? And it just goes to show how easy these dehydrated raw liver pills are to make because if HE can do it anyone can (just kidding, hon). 😉
And fear not! If you don’t want to make your own, you can buy nourishing dissected liver capsules. They come from grass-fed cows and reap all the benefits of liver without the taste. (Get them here.)
Dehydrated Raw Liver Pills
Note: I use raw liver because I am able to get grass-fed liver from a reliable source. I personally would only consume liver from healthy animals fed on a natural diet. If you have any concerns about the “raw” factor, simply cook your liver first. It will still be loaded with nutrients, it will just be missing some enzymes.
Ingredients:
Grassfed beef or pastured chicken liver, preferably raw or cooked.
Directions:
1. Cut your liver up into few pieces and throw them in your food processor. Process until you have a “lovely” liver goo.
2. Line your dehydrator shelves with parchment paper.
3. Spread your liver equally over your dehydrator shelves.
4. Dehydrate at 05° F/41° C for 24 hours. This low temperature allows it to remain in its raw state so that all nutrients are intact. You may want to turn your liver over half-way through for more even drying.
**Note: Be warned, this does have a certain liver “smell” to it. We put our dehydrator in our basement. I’d recommend putting it in a non-central location for the 24 hours. No worries, the smell disappears once you’re done and the pills don’t smell at all.
5. When it’s all dried you’ll have some crispy liver sheets. Throw those back into your food processor and pulse until you have a fine powder.
6. Use a capsule machine (like this) to fill your empty capsules according to the instructions of the manufacturer.
Store in a cool dry place. I take about 3 – 4 liver pills a day for added energy and a nutritional boost!
What do you think? Do you want to make your own liver pills?
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