Chicken Liver: Nutrition, Benefits and Disadvantages

What is chicken liver?

Liver is an organ meat found in vertebrate animals. It has a variety of functions, such as filtering blood, removing toxins, and aiding digestion. Various types of liver are consumed around the world, including beef, veal, chicken, pork, lamb, goose and cod.

Despite its rich flavor and unique texture, liver is viewed very differently.

Chicken liver is considered an organ meat, which is highly nutritious and offers many more benefits than regular muscle meat. However, it is not as popular as chicken breast.

Consumed in moderation as part of a balanced diet and sourced from healthy farms, chicken livers are highly nutritious and are an excellent source of protein, various vitamins including B12 and minerals such as selenium.

They are also a rare source of vitamin C in meat, a fact that is key in managing a low or no vegetable diet. Considered evidence of the nutritional effectiveness of a carnivore diet, indigenous cultures also ate offal, resulting in a more balanced nutritional diet.

Chicken Liver Calories and Nutritional Facts

Chicken liver calories

According to the USDA Nutrient Database, cooked chicken livers contain 167 calories per 100 grams.

Nutritional composition of chicken liver

Here are the complete nutritional facts of chicken liver (cooked) per 100 grams

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Chicken liver is a great source of several important vitamins.

Minerals

Chicken livers provide a large amount of micronutrients.

Health benefits

High iron content

Chicken liver also supports your body's production of healthy, well-oxygenated blood. Its natural combination of heme iron and B vitamins is ideal for people with anemia or other red blood cell problems.

100 grams of chicken liver contains 72% of your daily iron intake.

Bioavailability is also an important aspect of iron, and vitamin C in the liver also helps your body absorb iron.

An important source of selenium

Just 100 grams of chicken liver contains more than 100% of the recommended daily intake of selenium.

As a thyroid-stimulating, immune-stimulating mineral, selenium may have additional modern importance. Selenium is very important for the health of the human immune system.

Selenium is also an important component of endogenously produced proteins. These specialized proteins handle everything from reproductive health to DNA synthesis.

Plenty of B vitamins

B vitamins play an important role in energy production, and part of their role involves harvesting energy from nutrients in food.

In addition, B vitamins are essential for optimal cell function, and these vitamins play a vital role in cell repair and DNA synthesis.

Chicken liver contains high amounts of vitamin B12, containing about 350% of the daily value in just 100 grams.

Vitamin B12 helps form red blood cells and prevents anemia, can prevent major birth defects, supports bone health and prevents osteoporosis, can reduce the risk of macular degeneration, and can improve mood and symptoms of depression.

An important source of selenium

Chicken livers provide significant amounts of the essential mineral selenium, providing over 100% of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) per 100 grams.

Selenium is an essential mineral with antioxidant properties that is essential for optimal thyroid function.

There are also studies showing that selenium can enhance DNA repair, which may help reduce the risk of cancer and diseases related to damaged DNA.

Many foods contain selenium, but in plant foods, the amount may be affected by the selenium density of the soil in which they are grown.

In contrast, chicken liver ensures sufficient selenium content.

Rich in protein

Chicken liver contains over 25% protein per calorie, making it a great source of protein.

Similar to most animal foods, chicken liver is a rich source of dietary protein, containing 24.5 grams of protein per 100 grams.

The protein in chicken liver is a "complete" protein, meaning it contains all nine amino acids we need in our diet.

These amino acids are the building blocks of our bodies and are involved in everything from cell growth and repair to hormone production and muscle building.

Chicken breast is closer to 30%, but when you consider all of the other nutritional benefits of chicken liver, often substituting chicken liver for chicken breast is a good choice .

Rare non-plant sources of vitamin C

Vitamin C is a vitamin we get almost exclusively from plants, and if ignored, it can lead to a severe deficiency called scurvy, which can lead to bruising, gum and tooth problems, dry hair and skin, and anemia.

Notably, organ meats are a rich source of this essential vitamin, with chicken livers containing 47% of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of vitamin C per 100 grams.

Medium-sized 200 g serving provides the full RDA for the vitamin.

This vitamin C content is just one of the advantages organ meats have over regular muscle meats; they offer the same protein content but higher levels of vitamins and minerals.

Chicken liver supports dental health

About a century ago, chicken livers were discovered to be beneficial to dental health. Laboratory analysis shows that guts, especially the liver, are rich in fat-soluble vitamins, including vitamin K2. Vitamin K2 strengthens bones, promotes development, and remineralizes teeth. Chicken liver is a good source of vitamin K2, with 3.5 ounces providing more than 10 percent of the recommended daily value.

Good source of vitamin A

We can get two types of vitamin A from our diet:

Retinol

Retinol Nutrient Also known as "pre-formulated vitamin A," retinol is highly bioavailable and can be used in its natural state to meet our vitamin A needs.

Carotenoids

Carotenoids are sometimes called "provitamin A," and they are the precursors to the retinol we find in animal foods.

Unlike retinol, carotenoids are not bioavailable and need to be converted to retinol in the body before they can be used.

The flip side is that some people have genes that limit their ability to convert carotenoids into retinol.

Vitamin A in chicken liver

On a positive note, chicken liver contains retinol, a "ready-to-use" form of vitamin A.

In addition, chicken liver is a rich source of this vitamin, providing 270% of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) per 100 grams.

Potential disadvantages of eating chicken liver

Excess vitamin A

The main concern when adding liver to your diet is the vitamin A content.

Vitamin A is fat-soluble, which means that when we eat fat-soluble vitamins, it is absorbed into fat, so vitamin A is released from the body more slowly than other vitamins. Our bodies store them, and in high enough doses, they can build up over time to excessive and potentially harmful levels.

Thus, with high, long-term intake, these vitamin A stores can become toxic, causing vision problems, bone pain, increased risk of fractures, nausea, and vomiting. This is why doctors recommend that pregnant women avoid eating liver during pregnancy.

Excess copper

Similarly, chicken livers also contain large amounts of copper. Consuming too much copper can lead to copper toxicity, which can lead to oxidative stress and neurodegenerative changes and may increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease.

High cholesterol content

100 grams of chicken liver contains 53% of your daily cholesterol intake. Cholesterol is a waxy substance found in all cells, but too much cholesterol can clog blood vessels and make heart problems or strokes more likely.

How to add chicken liver to your diet

How to make chicken liver more delicious:

• Fry chicken livers with onions, mushrooms or other low-antinutrient vegetables.

• Chop chicken livers with tomatoes and free-range chicken/beef to make a pâté.

• Add a small amount of chicken liver to the scrambled eggs.

How to mask the taste of chicken liver

• Use your favorite seasoning blend.
• Soak liver in milk or lemon juice before cooking; this will reduce the strong flavor.
• Homemade chicken liver pate.