The New Complete Book of Food



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Nutritional Profile

Energy value (calories per serving): Moderate

Protein: High

Fat: Moderate

Saturated fat: High

Cholesterol: High

Carbohydrates: Low

Fiber: None

Sodium: Moderate

Major vitamin contribution: Vitamin A, B vitamins

Major mineral contribution: Iron, copper

About the Nutrients in This Food

Like meat, fish, poultry, milk, and eggs, liver is a good source of high-qual-

ity proteins with adequate amounts of all the essential amino acids. It is

moderately high in fat and saturated fat and high in cholesterol.

Liver is the single best natural source of retinol (“true vitamin A”).

It is one of the few natural sources of vitamin D, an excellent source of B

vitamins, including vitamin B 12 , which prevents or cures pernicious ane-

mia, and an excellent source of heme iron, the form of iron most easily

absorbed by your body.

One four-ounce serving of simmered beef liver has 29 g protein, 5.3

g fat (1.7 g saturated fat, 0.6 g monounsaturated fat, 0.6 g polyunsaturated

fat), 396 mg cholesterol, 31,714 IU vitamin A (approximately 13 times the

RDA for a woman, 11 times the RDA for a man), and 6.5 mg iron (36 per-

cent of the RDA for a woman, 81 percent of the RDA for a man).

One four-ounce serving of simmered chicken livers has 25 g protein,

6.5 g fat (2 g saturated fat, 1.4 g monounsaturated fat, 2 g polyunsaturated

fat), 563 mg cholesterol, 13,328 IU vitamin A (approximately six times the

RDA for a woman, 4.5 times the RDA for a man), and 11.6 mg iron (64

percent of the RDA for a woman, 145 percent of the RDA for a man).

* Values are for braised beef liver.

 Carotenoids, the red and yellow pigments in some fruits and vegetables, are vita-

min A precursors, chemicals that are converted to vitamin A in your body.