5 Things to Look for in a Bison (Beef) Liver Supplement

While there are many more than 5, here are a few traits that should be important to you when researching which liver supplement is best for you.

1) 100% Grass-Fed & Finished, preferably regenerative

This is one of the most important features from a health standpoint. Grass-fed and finished animals have lower levels of toxins in their tissues, higher levels of omega 3 fatty acids, and generally higher levels of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. Grass-fed animals also have a much more positive impact on our environment compared to grain-fed, and this should be the first thing you look for when choosing a liver supplement.

As for regenerative designation—PLEASE inquire with your supplement manufacturer about EXACTLY what their ranches do to make them regenerative. “Regenerative” is not a regulated term, and is being used by many unscrupulous companies, including some of the most successful.

We source from ranches that are American Grass-fed Association (AGA), Global Animal Partnership (GAP), Audubon Friendly Land, and Allan Savory Institute (Land to Market) Certified. Our ranchers use truly regenerative practices, and biologists field test the soil annually to ensure ranching and grazing practices are impacting the land and environment as they should.

Don’t be fooled by clever marketing—100% grass-fed is not the same as regenerative!

If your supplement company tells you they’re regenerative, but source from multiple ranches (especially those in New Zealand as I detail here), AND have 0 certifications or qualifications for that label, chances are they are bending the truth and are not actually regenerative. The sad truth is that most grass-fed operations in New Zealand use heavy amounts of herbicides, chemical-based fertilizers, and often contribute to erosion, soil degradation, and pollution of waterways, with New Zealand boasting some of the most heavily polluted river systems in the developed world.

Grass-fed organs are healthy for human consumption, but not always healthy for the environment.

2) bison or other ruminant SPECIES

The best liver supplements are made from bison, lamb, beef, or other ruminant species. I wouldn’t recommend supplementing with poultry or porcine livers for varying reasons.

Vitamin A toxicity is a concern among some, as liver supplements have gained popularity in recent years. However, there is not a single documented case of Vitamin A toxicity from ruminant animal liver consumption. All of the cases explored in medical literature go back to chicken or other similar species, with folks often consuming several livers worth in a day.

Further, ruminant species seem to agree with human physiology better than others for all kinds of reasons. Bison are lower in PUFA (polyunsaturated fatty acids) than poultry, pork, and other species, and have a higher Omega 3:6 ratio than beef. So much in fact, that even grain-finished bison have a higher Omega 3:6 ratio than grass-fed beef (wow!). I’d encourage the reader to prioritize beef liver over poultry, but bison over beef. Lamb is a comparable option to beef.

While I am fine eating fresh pork liver (assuming it is from pasture-raised hogs that live happy lives, preferably eating soy-free, corn-free, low-toxin diets), it is generally higher in PUFA than ruminant species, and lower in desirable nutrients and minerals. Additionally, it is pretty tough to find pork that fits the high standard outlined above. Most pork is not raised on pasture, and most pork is supplemented with soy, corn, oats, wheat, or other grains that are either GMO or treated heavily with herbicides (think glyphosate, atrazine, and round-up), pesticides, and high in omega 6 fatty acids.

Let’s be completely real though—bison are the healthiest option. If raised on pasture and regeneratively, they are likely to be the lowest in toxins, and the highest in nutrient density. Essentially, the healthiest bison on the planet likely have the highest amount of nutrients with the lowest amount of toxins. That would make it the most impactful and ideal option.

3) freeze-dried, lyophilized, or desiccated

These three terms all mean the same thing, and this is the ideal way for liver to be processed for supplement use. When liver is freeze-dried, lyophilized, or desiccated, the material becomes shelf-stable while retaining over 99% of its nutrients. Dehydrating is a process which adds heat, and inevitably will degrade some of the nutritional profile, while also potentially oxidizing fatty acids and denaturing proteins.

Freeze-drying avoids these pitfalls, keeping fatty acids unoxidized and keeping proteins intact. It is truly the best way to get fresh/frozen liver into a state that can be encapsulated and supplemented.

4) Non-Defatted or un-defatted

The defatting process is not as simple or harmless as it sounds. Defatting prior to freeze-drying involves use of hexane and other chemical solvents. It is my opinion that these do not belong anywhere near food! Not to mention, I believe fat and saturated fat has been unfairly demonized for far too long.

Additionally, many of the vitamins and nutrients present in liver are fat-soluble. Meaning, they are only absorbed and bio-available when they’re combined with fat! If we remove the fat, oftentimes the nutrients and vitamins are coupled with it, and we end up removing those too. Which, if we’re supplementing for additional nutrients and vitamins, certainly seems like a counter-productive effort.

So, while de-fatting sounds like a relatively harmless term (especially if you’ve been convinced that fat is unhealthy), it is really something to be avoided at all costs for a liver supplement. This process introduces hexane and other chemicals to your food, while also stripping the liver and organs of some of their most healthful compounds and properties.

5) made in the usa

This is something that most consumers often overlook. Because standard beef cows here do not live great lives, and are generally fed high-toxin diets, they do not make a great option to consume for health reasons (and especially not as a liver supplement!).

Consumers often look to New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina, or other foreign countries for sources of liver supplementation. However, I detail here why these are less than ideal options.

While many US based producers are indeed poor choices as well, there are exceptions to the rule. There are a few manufacturers in the US now that offer American-sourced liver supplements, whether from beef or bison. Assuming they’re 100% grass-fed, these are likely solid options.

New Zealand has a clean, green reputation that often doesn’t align with reality. Argentina has overgrazing problems, often displacing pristine and beautiful wilderness with overstocked cattle herds. Here in the US, we have our agriculturally based environmental problems as well. However, when you buy from a reputable source here, you are voting with your dollar for everything a good American would want.

When we buy American liver supplements, we vote with our dollar—we vote yes for small business, we vote yes for American supply chains, we vote yes for American small businesses, and we vote yes to building soil for both current and future generations. We avoid shipping liver and organs across oceans, where they sit in container ships, slowly degrading to humid salty air and hot temperatures. We avoid sending money to foreign places. We avoid degrading soil in a faraway land where it will surely not impact us directly.

If it were up to me, the United States would be full of regenerative agricultural operations. We’d be stocking the Great Plains back with bison, rebuilding soil, rebuilding American supply chains, enhancing American resilience, creating American jobs, offering Americans a healthy and delicious red meat option that is raised locally. We’d avoid paying Big Businesses in foreign lands.

Whenever given the option, I believe voting with your dollar for American businesses doing things the right way, with integrity, is the ideal option.

Key takeaways

• Your liver supplement should be 100% grass-fed and regenerative. If your favorite supplement company cannot provide hard data to illustrate EXACTLY why they’re regenerative, they are probably twisting the truth! Grass-fed is not the same as regenerative.

• Bison liver is best, followed by lamb/beef, but I’d avoid regular supplementation of both pork and poultry liver. Fermented cod liver oil from a reputable source is also a good option, but incorporating both fermented cod liver oil and 100% grass fed bison liver is probably ideal.

• Your liver supplement should be freeze-dried, lyophilized, or desiccated—if it has been dehydrated or processed in a different way, it does not have the same level of beneficial compounds as other options.

• Your supplement should be non de-fatted, and basically should not have any additional processing done to it after freeze-drying. This process involves chemicals and strips some nutrients from the liver itself.

• Made in the USA is best! Many foreign entities producing liver and organ supplements are far less ideal options than their reputations make us assume. We vote with our dollars, and buying USA-made organ complex incentivizes more regeneration, more business, more resilience, all right here at home, rather than abroad. Let’s start improving things here before fixing other countries!