Beef Liver Benefits + How To Prepare It, According To Nutritionists

Celebrity nutritionist and mbg Collective member Kelly LeVeque includes beef liver capsules in her daily postpartum routine—but she's not the only one touting the benefits. When sharing her daily diet with mbg, functional medicine doctor Terry Wahls, M.D., said she generally follows the Wahls Protocol: a nutrient-rich paleo diet, including organ meats, like beef liver. 

So, what's the deal? Is beef liver really all that healthy, and should you be eating it? Here's what registered dietitians and functional medicine doctors have to say about the surprising superfood. 

According to Wahls, beef liver is an excellent source of B vitamins, including folate, riboflavin, niacin, and cobalamin (B12). In fact, she says it's superior to greens when it comes to B12, which is not readily available in plants. 

Beef liver also contains one of the highest sources of nonsynthetic, preformed vitamin A (aka retinol)2. "Three ounces of this organ meat provides around 7,900 micrograms of vitamin A, equaling about 883% of the recommended daily intake (RDI)," registered dietitian Molly Knudsen, M.S., RDN, tells mbg. This essential micronutrient is critical for immune functioning3 and difficult to find in most foods. "It's different from beta-carotene, which is what most vitamins/prenatals use," LeVeque explains in her Instagram caption. 

Beef liver contains a significant amount of cholesterol (111 mg), which has often been associated with heart disease. "However, this shouldn't be a concern for most people because it is now known that dietary cholesterol isn't as problematic to serum cholesterol levels4 as much as it once believed," Knudsen says. "Saturated fat is the main instigator of higher serum cholesterol levels." 

Because of its high nutritional value and superfood status, nearly anyone would benefit from eating beef liver. 

However, since beef liver is such a concentrated source of vitamin A (one 3-ounce serving of it exceeds the recommended daily maximum), Knudsen discourages pregnant moms from consuming it, in food or supplement form. 

"Too much vitamin A may be a cause of birth defects5, especially if it's excessively consumed in the first two months of the pregnancy," she says. "Sweet potatoes, spinach, and carrots are all also great sources of vitamin A that would be better choices than beef liver during pregnancy." 

Compared to, say, a chicken breast, organ meats may not be quite so familiar or approachable for most people to cook. "Beef liver sounds gross, slimy, and even chewy (but maybe that's just meat)," Knudsen says.