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Food PreservationNatural LivingOur Healing Journey

How Eating Liver Changed My Life

by From Scratch Farmstead March 31, 2022

After doing all the “right things” in my journey to get pregnant, adding liver daily was a game changer. This is the story of how eating liver changed my life.

The Backstory

Summer 2012 a few months into our real food journey.

I have a long history of disordered eating and over exercise, which ultimately led to a condition known as hypothalamic amenorrhea. In that post, I share all of the details of that journey. Because of this history, getting my body back to a state of trust and nourishment was a long and challenging road – yet so rewarding. 

The years or food and nutrient restriction my body went through, coupled with being kept in a chronically stressed state through endurance exercise, wasn’t going to just fix itself overnight.

Changing what I ate, how I moved, my mental state and several other lifestyle factors, were all part of my journey. And, all of these factors played a role in allowing me to restore my health and life. However, even after doing all of these “right” things for years, my body was still struggling to get pregnant and keep a pregnancy (we lost one baby to an early miscarriage).

No Magic Pills

I am not one to promote quick fixes or magic pills. As you can tell from my story, I was “all in” doing the work to restore my health. However, my body was not in balance and I still struggled with symptoms of imbalanced hormones. Then, I began learning about nutrient dense organ meats.

Immediately, I began whipping up liver pate and including a scoop daily into my normal breakfast of vegetables and eggs. Lo and behold, after a few months of doing this, I became pregnant with my first daughter. Coincidence? Maybe. I was not completely convinced at that point and certainly not making any statements about how eating liver changed my life just yet.

beef liver cooking in cast iron

Fast Forward

At some point during the first trimester, nausea kicked in and I was unable to stomach my daily liver fix. So I stopped eating it the rest of my pregnancy. Then, a few weeks postpartum, I had a very vivid dream telling me that I needed to get liver back into my diet. Obediently, I went to the store and began my daily liver regimen.

After our struggles to conceive our first child, I actually got pregnant with our second on my very first postpartum cycle. Again, a few weeks into that pregnancy and a bit of nausea, I removed the liver. And wouldn’t you know it, within a few weeks I again had a dream urging me to get liver back into my diet.

So here we are, a few years later with 3 babies in tow and I’m still going strong getting my liver in every day.

how liver changed my life

Really, Liver Changed Your Life?

While dreaming of liver may be a little strange to some, this really was my experience, and I do believe it had a direct impact on my health. Especially during these nutrient demanding child bearing years. My pregnancies, deliveries, and postpartum experiences have all been relatively seamless.

I don’t believe in magic pills or quick fixes. Of all foods, liver tops all the charts of bioavailable nutrients that it provides. And for me, liver gave my body the crucial nutrition that it was desperately needing.

Pareto Principlepregnant woman in rocking chair

The Pareto principle states that for many outcomes, 80% of the results are a result of 20% of the inputs. This is how I think of liver in my diet. It provides so much bang for its buck in terms of bioavailable nutrients that by getting in sufficient amounts of this one food, it can reap tremendous benefits on our overall health.

What Kind of Liver Changed My Life?

Liver from beef is known to have the highest levels of bioavailable nutrients so that’s the type of liver I’ll be referring to in this post. However, liver from other animals is a great source of nutrition as well. Furthermore, liver that tends to be slightly less potent in nutrients (i.e. chicken liver) is also more mild in flavor. If you have a hard time with beef liver, chicken or duck liver is a great alternative.

Sourcing of liver is also important. Animals raised on pasture and fed an all-grass diet leads to meat with the most robust nutrition. This is a great item to purchase from a local farm. If you don’t know of any local farmers, check out localharvest.org for more information.

Nutrition From Liver

This chart from functional medicine practitioner, Chris Kresser in this article, summarizes just how dense beef liver is. The levels of vitamin A, B vitamins, Vitamin D, as well as many crucial minerals are more present in liver than any other food source in their natural forms that are very easy for the body to digest.

  APPLE (100 g) CARROTS (100 g) RED MEAT (100 g) BEEF LIVER (100 g)
Calcium 3.0 mg 3.3 mg 11.0 mg 11.0 mg
Phosphorus 6.0 mg 31.0 mg 140.0 mg 476.0 mg
Magnesium 4.8 mg 6.2 mg 15.0 mg 18.0 mg
Potassium 139.0 mg 222.0 mg 370.0 mg 380.0 mg
Iron .1 mg .6 mg 3.3 mg 8.8 mg
Zinc .05 mg .3 mg 4.4 mg 4.0 mg
Copper .04 mg .08 mg .18 mg 12.0 mg
Vitamin A None None 40 IU 53,400 IU
Vitamin D None None Trace 19 IU
Vitamin E .37 mg .11 mg 1.7 mg .63 mg
Vitamin C 7.0 mg 6.0 mg None 27.0 mg
Thiamin .03 mg .05 mg .05 mg .26 mg
Riboflavin .02 mg .05 mg .20 mg 4.19 mg
Niacin .10 mg .60 mg 4.0 mg 16.5 mg
Pantothenic Acid .11 mg .19 mg .42 mg 8.8 mg
Vitamin B6 .03 mg .10 mg .07 mg .73 mg
Folate 8.0 mcg 24.0 mcg 4.0 mcg 145.0 mcg
Biotin None .42 mcg 2.08 mcg 96.0 mcg
Vitamin B12 None None 1.84 mcg 111.3 mcg

How to Eat Liver?

While a lot of people can’t stomach the liver and onions our parents and grandparents likely grew up with, there are a few options to get in liver and hide the strong smell and taste.

1) Pate. This is my go-to method. In this video I show exactly how I blend up liver and then add a tbsp or two to my morning breakfast of vegetables and eggs. While I make an extremely basic pate, since my goal is to add it to my food without tasting it, there are lots of recipes out there for pate with more spices and delicious additions. This one is a recipe that we’ve tried and liked in the past.

2) Liver Pills. Another method is to make your own “pills” from liver. Marissa from Bumblebee Apothecary walks you through exactly how she does this in this video.

3) Hidden Liver. Another option is to grind your organ meats, like liver, into ground beef. Then use your ground beef as you normally would. As long as there’s at least a 3:1 ground beef to organ meat ratio, you shouldn’t even be able to taste it! This post explains how to do this as well as this video.

freezing liver pate for later use

Can Liver Change Your Life?

I am a firm believer that anyone would benefit from including small amounts of liver into their daily (or at least weekly) routine and would strongly encourage you to give it a try. 

Do you consume liver regularly? I’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments below. If you want to check out more ways to include organ meats into your family’s meals, check out this recipe for beef heart burgers.

Feb
10

Beef Heart Burgers

Beef heart burgers are quick and easy, perfect for making in bulk to freeze for future meals, and add a nutrient dense punch to your meal while being so yummy…

March 31, 2022 8 comments
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smiling family in overalls
Natural LivingOur Healing Journey

Recovery from Anorexia, Infertility, and Hypothalamic Amenorrhea

by From Scratch Farmstead December 22, 2021

My story sharing the details of my journey with anorexia and infertility and how that led me to real food and ultimately my hypothalamic amenorrhea recovery.

What is Hypothalamic Amenorrhea (HA)?

Hypothalamic amenorrhea is a condition where, because of ongoing stress to the body, the signaling of the brain essentially tells the body to shut off menstruation. Fertility is one of the first functions a body will forgo when constantly under too much stress. In general, this is a condition seen in young women because one or more of the following:

  • There is severe a nutritional and energy deficit. This is often caused by under-eating and eating disorders where the body is simply not getting the calories and nutrients it needs.
  • Intense, long duration physical activity. Women with HA are often exercising for up to 2-3 hours every day. This is most common, but not limited to: dancers, runners, and high-performance athletes.
  • Extreme and chronic psychological stress. Our minds determine far more of physical state and reality than we give them credit for.

Generally, because of extremely low body fat levels and body mass index (BMI) the brain is not getting enough energy or nutrients to send the needed hormones that indicate for the body to release eggs and ripen follicles.

What are symptoms of Hypothalamic Amenorrhea?

  • Missed periods or very light periods
  • Low libido
  • Feeling cold often
  • Depression and anxiety
  • Difficulty sleeping (hot flashes are not uncommon)
  • Increased hunger
  • Low energy

My Story of HA Recovery

before my journey with Hypothalamic Amenorrhea

When we got married in 2009.

The above description of under eating and extreme exercise was me to a “T.”

From ages 15-25, I ate an extremely low calorie and low-fat diet. I was a cross country runner in high school turned marathon runner in college through my early 20’s. My normal, healthy weight prior was around 125 lbs. for my 5’-5” frame. But, during this time I fluctuated between 100 and 110 lbs., even dropping below 100 lbs. at times. I was fixated on my appearance and the number on the scale. 

Let me paint the picture. While I genuinely loved running, it was my obsession. I would be stressed if I wasn’t able to get at least an hour long run in each morning. I greatly restricted my calories by eating meager meals and avoiding fat. My typical routine consisted of fat-free yogurt for breakfast with only a half of a turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread with lettuce and tomato for lunch. I stopped menstruating at age 15 and was placed on the birth control pill from ages 18-25. My doctor believed this would bring my period back and no consideration was given my lifestyle and diet choices.

It was easy to justify what I was doing. My whole life I’d heard that low-fat, low-calorie everything was healthy. And exercise, even if it was a bit excessive,was good for you, right?! But I knew in my gut my habits were anything but healthy. I had every symptom listed above and was a textbook case for HA. 

I met my now husband near the end of college and he proposed my senior year. Something would have to change. Still I was scared to do the work to change it.  So much of my identity had become wrapped up in running and my slim appearance.

A few years into our marriage – if I EVER wanted to grow our family – I knew I needed to make some drastic changes. Step one, I went off the pill. Maybe that would be enough and my cycle would return? It didn’t…

The Work

Summer 2012 a few months into our real food journey.

In the spring of 2012, I made a commitment to change and my journey to hypothalamic amenorrhea recovery began. This was the hardest thing I’ve ever done and the most challenging few years of my life to date. 

BUT, looking back, these changes ultimately saved my life, our marriage, and has led us to where we are today. For that I am so thankful.

I work in extremes – hence the extreme running regimen and diet I staunchly followed all those years. But this same personality allowed me to one day quit it all cold turkey. I stopped running and switched to walking and per the advice of a trusted friend, I radically changed my diet. At the time, I was stuck in a diet of extremely low calorie and low-fat foods, almost all of them coming from a package. She encouraged me to ask the question, “What has fed people for all the generations before us?” The answer – real food. Unprocessed meat, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds.

This resonated with me.

My biggest fear was that I was going to balloon up to obesity if I stopped running and changed my diet. But fear often keeps us from believing what we know is true. How could real, nourishing foods steer my body wrong? If I’m feeding it properly, my body will know what to do. I had to keep telling myself “I’m not going to get obese from eating a diet primarily vegetables, fruits, and meats.”

My sisters wedding in 2014 at my highest weight gain.

My Real Food Journey

Overnight, I threw away all the packaged and processed foods in our kitchen and pantry.  Then, I went to the store to stock up on all the veggies. I remember my stomach screaming at me after those first few huge salads that I had. It took time for my body to adjust, detox, and eventually welcome these new and nourishing foods. I channeled all that energy that I had been putting toward running into figuring out how I could eat these real, whole foods and make them taste great.

I learned that I should source my food locally and began to be a regular at our farmer’s market. I was reaching out to local farms about buying a ¼ of a cow and ½ of a pig, fresh milk, and joining a CSA for produce (Community Supported Agriculture).  We planted some tomato plants and carrot seed in our little yard. I was hooked.

It was also during this time that I went to a few doctors to get their opinion on what was going on. This was the most frustrating part of the journey. Over the next 2 years, I saw at least 5 doctors from family practice, reproductive endocrinologists, and ob/gyn. None of them listened to me. I was told that:  It must be pcos. It wasn’t because of my weight. I was healthy. I needed to go on metformin. I needed to take clomid.

My sisters wedding in 2014 at my highest weight gain.

At this point after a ton of frustration and tears, I realized that if I was going to regain my fertility naturally, I was going to need to do it myself and be my own advocate.

Let Food Be Thy Medicine

The next year was spent trying to awaken my body’s inner senses again – an innate wisdom and power to heal. To eat nourishing foods when I was hungry and to eat until I was genuinely full. To do gentle movement. To rest and sleep a lot.

I gained 30-35 lbs in that one year. I went up several sizes. I got rid of everything in my closet and spent a lot of time in thrift stores trying to find clothes that I felt good in. I cried a lot. But slowly, over the course of that year, the symptoms started going away.

I was no longer cold all the time. My hair was growing in thicker. I found that I could laugh again. I was sleeping better and not waking up drenched in sweat. And almost exactly one year after my journey began, my first cycle returned.

From there it took another full year of having regular, but quite long, cycles before I was able to get pregnant for the first time. That pregnancy resulted in a miscarriage and it was another full year before I got pregnant with our first child (of now three!)

I learned that my body needed to begin to trust me again. For that to happen, I had to actually gain weight higher than what my body’s normal setpoint, or my ideal, healthy weight. Only once that happened was my body able to trust me and begin sending the necessary hormone signaling to start cycling again. This regulated after a few years and my body began to release that extra weight and find that happy spot where my body feels comfortable. 

Me today, fall 2021 after three babies!

Ultimately, this journey to getting pregnant and growing our family has been the most shaping experience in my life so far. It’s our journey into food and later farming. It’s our journey into slowing down and learning ancestral skills. It’s our journey into homesteading and growing and raising the most nourishing foods possible for our family. And it’s our journey toward healing – our bodies, our lands, and our broader communities.

If you can relate to any part of that story, or find yourself struggling with similar things, we’d love to hear from you!

December 22, 2021 2 comments
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From Scratch Farmstead
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