What do you think when you hear the words beef liver? What's your initial reaction? Does your face cringe? Do you get a disgusted look on your face? Do you think no way I'm touching any of that? Or maybe your one of the very few people who enjoy beef liver? If that's the case, kudos to you. You are getting many health benefits from it. However, if you are anything like me with the face cringe, the disgusted look, and the thoughts of not touching it, like Phoebe from Friends reaction after eating veal, I have a solution for you.
Honest Reaction
My first reaction to the beef liver was pretty similar to Phoebe when she ate the veal to impress Mike's parents. She had a sickening look on her face, she took a while to convince herself to put the piece of meat in her mouth, and then she did it quickly to try to get it down fast. This was me when I was handed a beef liver supplement. Not the real food, not a recipe with liver in it, a supplement.
Every year in March, I go to the Arnold Classic in Columbus, Ohio. It's a big health and wellness event where vendors hand out free samples of their products or have deep discounts. They have a lot of products I use already and also have many products that I like to try out. Vital Proteins is one of those vendors that I really like so I always go through their booth. They give out great samples and they bring a lot of their products with them for purchase. One year, they gave out a ton of free samples plus a $50 gift card to everyone who signed up for email. I was super stoked about this because I had already been using their collagen. I went through their booth and noticed they were handing out a bottle of beef liver supplements. Cue the face..... it scrunched up in disgust and I told the group I was with "No way I'm taking these." That name just gives me a bad taste in my mouth.
I'm Taking Beef Liver Now???
They sat in the cabinet for a while but always in view. After some time, it was like these supplements were staring me in the face saying, "Take me, take me." I did some research on why I should take them. What was the purpose and what was I going to get out of them? Vital Proteins uses grass-fed beef which I knew was a plus but some other benefits caught my eye, too. I decided to start trying them. I wasn't expecting too much of a difference. I was thinking I would have to take it for a week or longer to notice a difference in my performance. Besides, I was only taking 1 when the serving size was 4. I was proved wrong in about 30 minutes. I was shocked! I had an energy that I never knew I had. I felt focused. I just felt really, really good. And this effect lasted throughout my workday. That was just after taking 1!!! I can only imagine what 4 would do.
I knew it was the beef liver supplement because it was the only new thing I had introduced that day and it definitely made a difference. It has had a huge impact on my daily performance and when I forget to take it (because we are all humans, right? :)), I miss it. I mean really miss it and so does my body. I still only take 1 instead of 4 because that is all I need. You have to listen to your body, it's always telling you something important. But I know others who take the full dose because it is what they need. They have noticed a difference in their performance as well and continue to buy them.
The Dreaded Time I Ran Out
About 7 months ago, I ran out of Vital Proteins beef liver supplements. I was okay with it because I would just go get some more and only be without for hopefully 2 days. That was not the case. Vital Proteins were out of stock!!! Instead of having a meltdown, I put my email in to be notified when it would be back in stock. I week had gone by and it still wasn't in stock and I was noticing a difference. My energy felt depleted, I was dragging. I felt like a zombie at the beginning of The Walking Dead, slow, no energy.
Even taking all my other supplements, it didn't help. I was still getting the benefits from them but none of them made me feel like my beef liver supplement. I had to wait 3 weeks for the supplement to be restocked so I could order. By that point, I felt like I dwindled down from a zombie to a slug... even slower. When I got that email, I was on their site ordering quickly. Please send me my beef liver! I need it! I was so grateful when I got my shipment. I could start feeling like a human again.
Benefits of Taking Beef Liver Supplements
There are many benefits to taking a beef liver supplement. First, most of us out there are probably not eating beef liver on a regular basis, if at all. This means we are not getting the many health benefits from it. A high-quality beef liver supplement has no taste at all, thank goodness. You don't have to eat beef liver to get those benefits anymore because I'll just say it... YUCK! In my opinion, not having to eat beef liver and still getting health impacts is a huge benefit! I have already talked about energy levels.
Beef liver is known to increase your energy levels by helping your body metabolize collagen and protein. It helps the body convert the collagen and protein you are getting from your foods or other supplements into energy. I believe this is why my supplements did not work as well when I ran out. What I was taking was not being converted into extra energy. It is the supplement that enhances all your other supplements and makes them all work in unison. This is another way I have benefited and increased my performance because I have so much more energy.
Beef liver is packed with essential vitamins A and B12 to help support healthy hair, skin, and nails. Vitamin A is important because it helps many of the organs in your body function properly including digestion. It promotes better digestion. If you are having digestion problems, first look at what you are putting in your body and next start taking beef liver supplements.
Your Certified Brain Health Coach,
Ashley, Owner of SustainaBRAIN
