Why is eating liver good for you?

Were all those school matrons forcing kids to eat their liver, "for their own good", mistaken?


Asked by: Anonymous

It’s not, especially. The claimed nutritional qualities of liver, along with those of bread crusts and apple peel have more to do with keeping the shopping bill down than putting hairs on your chest, roses in your cheeks or any other supposed health benefits. Liver is a very good source of iron. But there are lots of others.

There are also some reasons why liver is bad for you. Liver is a chemical processing plant for the body and certain environmental toxins can accumulate there, such as dioxin and cadmium. The levels generally aren’t high enough to cut liver out of your diet completely, if you like the taste, but there’s no need to make yourself eat it on nutritional grounds either.

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