Universal’s Uni-Liver
Well here we go, two posts about bovine liver, back-to-back. Ha, well, it’s Saturday, so the rules are substantially loosened. And I make the rules anyway.
But this liver post is different. It’s about liver supplements. Some week back I was actually wondering if there was any such thing as, like y’know, desiccated liver in capsules, or something. But every time I thought of it I was away from an Internet thingy, then always forgot to check when I wasn’t. Then commenter Darin answered the question with the product you see to the left.
Prices vary dramatically. I wanted to get some and try it out right away because I’m so ridiculously impatient, so I ended up paying $40 over at the local Vitamin Shoppe. However, you can get the same jar of 500 tablets from World Class Nutrition.com for $13, currently. Goes to show you the huge markup margins in the supplement industry. In terms of a price per pound of liver comparison, that’s kinda tough to tell since these are desiccated and you’d have to know the water content of fresh or cooked liver. At any rate, 500 tablets is 1,000 grams, so just over two pounds. The bottom line is that no matter how you slice it, this is damn expensive liver when fresh can generally be had for $1-2 per pound.
…OK, wait, this can’t be that hard to figure out. A 2-tablet, 60 grain serving size has 3g protein, according to the label. It also says serving size (per meal) could be 4-6 tablets. I figure 10 tablets per day is a decent overall level, which is 15g liver protein. So, by adjusting the USDA Nutrition Database to get about 15g of protein in raw liver, it comes out to 73 grams raw, or 2.5 ounces, which seems like a reasonable daily intake to me.
Here’s the nutrition profile. I’m no expert on this by any means but it sure looks like it has some of everything but the kitchen sink in it. For the basic nutrients and RDA percentages, here’s FitDay, which took 2.8 ounces of liver to get to 15g protein.
FitDay for 2.8 Ounces
Funny. For all the trouble vegans go through to avoid animal products, contending with B12 deficiency…and 10 of these tablets give you over 600% of the RDA.
The other surprise for me was that the liver is grassfed, from Argentina. Here’s the product information.
Uni-Liver is an exceptionally pure, natural product derived exclusively from prized grass-fed Argentinian cattle which have been raised without steroids, hormones, or pesticides. Freed of fat, water and connective tissue, Uni-Liver is quickly flash frozen to -18°C. One of the most nutritious supplements available to all bodybuilders, Uni-Liver is very high in important amino acids and rich in key vitamins and minerals, including heme iron, riboflavin, folic acid and B12. Each 30 grain tablet provides 1950mg of liver (1600mg of protein). Uni-Liver has been a classic staple of hardcore bodybuilders for over 15 years. Certified BSE-free.
“Freed of fat…” Well, I guess fat phobia persists everywhere. Take your pills with a pat of butter, spoon of coconut oil, or natural fat of choice, I suppose. Chase it with a shot of olive oil.
So, just another option for those who want the benefit of a whole food (except for the fat being removed) that happens to be the most nutritious on the planet gram for gram, but just can’t take the taste.
Andy 
Leslie 
Joao Eira 
John 
CMHFEMT
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These are the ingredients, correct me if I’m wrong:
Desiccated bovine liver, whey (milk), dicalcium phosphate, microcrystalline cellulose, stearic acid, magnesium stearate, lecithin (soy). Made in a GMP facility that use milk, soy, egg, peanuts.
Ingredient Notes: The desiccated bovine liver in each 30 grain Uni-Liver tablet is extracted from pure, grass fed, Argentine beef liver that is certified BSE-Free.
There’s also many other products here: iherb.com/Liver-Products
The powder from Now Foods could be good in a smoothie I think.
Yea, Andy, that’s what it says on the label. Not sure how much of any of those is in it–can’t be an awful lot–so I guess everyone has to make up their own cost-benefit decision on that score. No doubt eating real liver is best, but getting some real complete nutrition could be very important.
I came home and popped 10 pills, for a test. Zero adverse effects in terms of burping up liver, stomach issues, etc.
Good link, Andy. I’ll add that to the post.
My wife and I started taking liver pills (the Universal Uni-Liver ones you talk about actually) years ago after reading about a study done with mice that showed liver supplementation had a huge beneficial effect on energy levels. We’ve both noticed a huge difference, and a noticeable drop every time we go off them for a while.
My wife has worse gluten and dairy sensitivity than I do and she’s had no problem with them. She did have some issues with too much iron though, so she takes a smaller dosage than I do. I’m at 4 pills 3 times per day and she does 2 pills 3 times per day. Like you said, neither of us have had any issues with burping it up or anything like that. We love them.
Thanks for that testimonial, Adam. So, 12 per day over years and you haven’t yet died of retinol toxicity?
You might let Dr Cannell know.
I have ordered the Uni-Liver (250 pills to try) as my partner doesn’t like cooked liver that much. I am a little concerned about the iron content because I have heard women in mid-life should not have too much but am going to give it a go and see if I feel an improvement on 2 x 2 a day to start with. Lower dosage always seems to work fine for me. Adam any feedback from your wife on the iron content would be appreciated. Thanks Richard for the info, always learn something new here.
When she takes to many it affects her periods (makes them not come or behave irregularly, etc.) we read that can be caused by too much dietary iron. Reducing her does age fixed it.
We never had any bloodwork done or anything more conclusive, and she’s in her early 20s, so results may vary. If you’re concerned I’d start low and slowly increase the amount until you find a place you’re happy with.
Interesting related article: animalpak.com/html/article_details.cfm?ID=133§ion=
Rich, nothing helps me work out fasted better than a liver meal. I can easily fast the longest after a plate of fried liver. I eat liver because I’m poor (and it reminds me of my grandmother which I like) but even if I wasn’t I’d probably still eat the shit.
BTW Rich, I’ve been working out fasted for about 2 months after reading you and Berkhan. My weights have increased by a good 15-20% across the board in that time. I thought I’d try a workout yesterday an hour or two after a regular sized meal and bang! I hit the fucking wall. I got through the whole routine but was well of my max lift. Back to fasted workouts – believe me they work dude! My recovery times have improved dramatically too.
Amazon has good prices on most supplements, particularly if you use their “subscribe and save” option, which gives you a couple of bucks off *plus* free shipping (with no minimum amount.)
So yes, even if you order a $2 bottle of niacin, they’ll still ship it free (no $25 minimum or ‘prime’ membership required.)
The kicker is that you can cancel the subscription any time after it ships, and you still get to keep the free shipping and the lower price.
With the shipping thrown in, it typically makes Amazon cheaper than even deep discounters like Vitacost.
ie, World Class Nutrition’s price for the liver pills is good at $20 shipped ($13 + $6 ground + $1/item fee), but with Amazon’s subscribe & save, it’s even less — just $18.90 delivered.
Kind of a nerdy comment, I guess, but I think some your readers probably could use the info.
Would still rather have liver :-) Quick turn on the BBQ and on the plate. I used to look for Argentine beef until I read this kind of stuff:
npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2011/12/08/143362233/farewell-to-argentinas-famed-beef
argentinagringos.blogspot.ca/2011/04/argentina-beef-thing-of-past.html
grist.org/sustainable-food/in-argentina-factory-farms-replacing-grass-fed-beef/
Thanks to Cargill and ADM.
Thank you for this. I was a very picky water and as much as I’ve improved lately I think eating liver is still a long ways off. Although I’ve read about liver tabs in old bodybuilding stuff like Vince Gironda’s book, I haven’t seen anything current about them.
I appreciate you doing the breakdown comparison to real liver. That’s useful.
I was reading the Animal Pak article and this stood out:
Desiccated liver contain heme iron, one of the most bioavailable forms around. Synthetic or elemental iron can lead to overdosing. Overdosing is far less likely with natural iron. With non-heme iron, you might expect an absorption rate of 1-3%. With heme iron, you could expect 35% absorption or more. Liver tabs can also exert “hematinic activity” – the ability of a substance to improve the quality of the blood, including the hemoglobin level and the number of erythrocytes. That’s why liver has been called a “blood builder”.
I’m a little confused on the point of overdosing is less likely while at the same time it has a much higher absorption rate. Can you shed some light on this? I can’t figure out how to tell if it is or isn’t a concern.
Enough with the liver saga, man. Get back to Jack Kruse – or at least Jimmy Moore (poor man’s Jack Kruse). Us paleo peeps need drama. You’re killing us here…
Hum, I may have to check out those liver pills soon, I really really really hate eating liver. My mother has tried some different approaches, and I am sure there are recipes out there that I might enjoy, but so far eating liver has been a near-vomit inducing endeavor, which is a shame because it really looks like it is a powerhouse of a food.
So hey, thanks for sharing those Richard :)
I have difficulty w/large pills and tablets.
I wish there was some way to deflavorize the stuff.
Led Rooker has lived for years on a raw mix of ground beef and organs, including liver, all raw. Apparently it’s pretty rank.
Lex introduced himself to me last year after my AHS presentation. Super nice guy, smart, bright twinkle in the eye, so whatever he’s doing, it appears to work.
No doubt. He also leaves the food out for several hours at room temp before eating to speed bacterial growth….right in line w/current awareness of the problems caused by our antibacterial lifestyle.
Ken
Back in the early 90s while in France, people leave charcuterie and cheese in the cupboard. It’s only refrigerated to preserve longer than the few days it may take to eat.
Some days I hate refrigerators.
Yes.
Kind of funny how “aged beef” is a hard-to-find almost-delicacy, when it’s really just carefully rotted meat.
Wow, now I’m sounding like a vegan. :-)
Our Costco outlet sells ‘matured beef’ – ie its been left to hang for longer.
my wife (from bosnia) convinced me long ago on this… anything that’s cooked in the oven (bird/roast, stuffed peppers, baked potatoes) gets stored in the oven a few days until we finish it, with no ill effects. same goes for a pot of chili/curry/stew – covered pot on the back of the stove, reheat at dinnertime, no issues. dont get me started on the lady who freaked out when I mentioned the full rice cooker that sits out and usually takes us 5-7 days to finish.
Led = Lex
There’s no vitamin A (retinol) in these pills though. Just B vitamins and iron and some protein. Must be because all the fat is gone. This must mean the cholesterol (and maybe the choline?) are gone too. It looks like a decent whole food-ish supplement as far as supplements go, but like everyone said liver is better and cheaper too.
How are you certain there’s no A or retinol in them?
If you look at the nutrition profile label, it states that there is 335% of the RDA for Vitamin A. And liver does contain retinol, not beta carrotine. There’s still 2.8 grams of fat in these pills.
Thanks, John. Yea, I missed the fat bit. Accounting for David McCracken’s comment below, I suppose what they meant is that the liver is totally trimmed of any fat, not that they removed the intra-liver fat that’s a part of all muscle and organ tissue.
@John and Richard,
The nutrition label Richard posted is of fresh liver, not the supplement.
bodybuilding.com/store/univ/liver.html
The above shows that these supplements have no Vitamin A (retinol), fat or cholesterol, which is consistent with retinol being a fat soluble vitamin. Nor, does the supplement seem to contain any copper, as David suggests below. They do have a bit of choline though.
My question about copper was triggered by the label that Richard included with his post, which I assumed was for Uni-Liver. I have since found the product nutrition data on line (the same data as your link to bodybuilding.com), and agree that the product apparently does not contain copper … so my question on that nutrient is not relevant to this product, but inquiring minds still want to know :>)
And to add a question that IS pertinent to the product label, I am curious about opinions on Amino Acids. The only one I know much about is L-Arginine.
David
I can’t recall which was what in terms of supplement facts and labels. I’d assume that since it’s desiccated whole liver and there’s no reason to assume they would go to the trouble of actually extracting single nutrients chemically (no way to do it mechanically—it’s not as if liver has distinct areas of certain nutrients one could cut out), then the nutrition info for whole liver is going to be the nutrition info for this product. Occam’s Razor: what’s likely going on here is that USDA only requires the reporting of certain vitamins/minerals and labs are set up to test for those. Testing for others like copper would up the cost.
Richard,
You wrote: ‘ “Freed of fat…” Well, I guess fat phobia persists everywhere.’
There are reasons for this. By only including liver it is much easier to standardize the contents. If it included fat, then each batch would have to include a consistent amount of fat and that would have to be homogenized across the batch. I reckon that is more work than it is worth. Also this way the manufacture can make the claim that the product is pure liver, and not watered down by any other tissue. Then there is the consideration that fat contains byproducts stored away by the body. Since this product was designed to provide liver, I think that it is properly designed to only include … liver.
Changing the topic a bit, I don’t know much abnout dietary copper, but note that this supplement packs a load. I would be interested in all comments on copper. Cheers,
David
BTW, Richard, still doing the cold soaks? Would love an update.
Yep, still almost every day, 20-30 minutes, typically.
Liver, ugh! Totally disgusting texture and taste, many years of being force-fed it as a kid (not literally, just the old you’re not leaving the table until you’ve finished your meal! scenario) makes me nauseous just thinking about it.
However KNOWING the great nutritional content of it, has made me rethink. Have been saying to myself every time I go to the supermarket ‘I must buy liver’, ‘I must buy liver’…
I take one look at the liver, and walk out empty handed. LOL
OK, so your post may be the final prod I need to actually go buy the damn liver. Figure if I mix it with enough steak, bacon, onions, gravy, mashed potatoes, I can disguise it…
On supplements: I bought bovine adrenals. Didn’t notice any benefit from taking them, and eventually fear of BSE stopped me taking them. Unfounded perhaps, but there nonetheless despite the reassurances on the packaging about pastured cow source from NZ. You just never know, right?
Ken, I also have problems swallowing larger pills. My tip: try swallowing them with carbonated water instead of still. For some reason – don’t know why – I can swallow larger pills that I just wouldn’t be able to get down otherwise! I guess the bubbles jsut help the medicine go down.
– Most of the time when I go to the market I have no idea what part of the animal stuff is from, let alone which from animal!!! LOL –
I’m sure this a question many times asked, but are there any negatives to eating non-organic liver?
I basically have NO idea where my meat comes from, and here in Thailand, they are sure to use a whole HEAP of antibiotics and growth hormones and other shite.
Anyone have any idea about eating non-pastured, non-organic liver?
Greetings,
I have used Beverly International’s Ultra 40 on and off (mostly off) for several years. A little more expensive than Universal’s Uni-Liver, but only contains cellulose, calcium phosphate, magnesium stearate, and silicon dioxide. Same Argentinian beef liver, same huge pills in a large bottle.
I, too, would eat liver if I could stand the taste. The Fates conspired against me. My mother was forced, by my grandmother, to eat liver as a child. And, since she hated liver and my grandmother, I never had liver as a child and never developed a taste for it.
With regard to iron and its potential for overload: Donate blood. It’s good for you and good for members of your community who, not infrequently and often through no fault of their own, have urgent need of large quantities.
Regards,
Cooney, MD
Robert:
What would you say would be a reasonable minimum donation frequency (they take a pint, right?) in order to keep iron levels in check?
Richard,
It’s one unit of whole blood every 56 days or a “double unit” – Packed Red Blood Cells (PRBC) – every 112 days. If you take in a fair amount of iron (which I do), I would consider donating frequently (5-6 x/year).
I think in general the idea of giving blood is a good one.
However, I’m on a high dose of Remicade (via IV infusion every 8 weeks) and whether they would accept my blood or not I’d think it would be rather crappy of me to donate it. I’m not aware of any way they could “clean” it out of my blood.
If I were in need of blood, I wouldn’t want it to be tainted with any substance that I could have an anaphylactic reaction to. I’d hope others giving blood have the same consideration towards their recipients.
Scary — I just looked this up and it seems the rules for blood donation with Crohn’s disease and/or on Remicade vary depending on where you are located. That’s crazy. I get my Remicade treatments in the same room they give blood to people so I’ve witnessed people having a bad reaction from the blood they’re being given. I would not want to be the cause of that.
That leaves me with giving blood as an option I can’t personally use.
I’ve heard this idea as well as skepticism on it. Seems strange that the body would not have evolved a mechanism to stop absorbing iron once it has enough. Anybody have numbers: how much extra iron is accumulated in a body after “overloading” 60 days, and how much do you lose by donating a pint of blood?
I have been trying to find a way to work liver into my diet. I can’t find grassfed anywhere local so I might give these a try. Do you think that it would be worth eating even if it wasn’t grassfed?
“Do you think that it would be worth eating even if it wasn’t grassfed?”
Addressed in comments. Resounding yes.
Guess I missed it in the comments. I hate recovering ground thats already been covered but thanks for the answer.
As far as a purer supplement, I am unsure if you have seen DrRons’ Liver supplements. They seem to be additive free, I found them on Weston A Price Foundation. drrons.com/thyroid-adrenal-liver-pancreas-glandulars.htm
Of course, it’s MUCH cheaper to eat half a pound of fresh, real, grassfed liver every week. (More than half a pound a week is risky as far as copper zinc balance according to Jaminet and Sisson.)
$32.95 for one bottle of liver is really expensive, since it is only 180 caps of 500mg, which means 0.20lbs in total!).
ACC
Be sure to account for water weight. Near as I can tell, it’s roughly 70% of the weight of fresh liver, which does not apply to the tablets. So while still expensive, it’s not quite as much as I first thought.
There’s also
which comes out to about ~0.40lbs ($100/lb!) for capsules and ~0.40lbs ($85/lb) for powder.
I examined the label of a bottle of NOW Argentine Dessicated Beef Liver (Non-DeFatted) for vitamin A content and it wasn’t listed. It seems to be very low in B vitamins, too. Serving size is 1 rounded Tablespoon (10 grams). The tech rep at NOW said over the phone he had no info on the vitamin A content. If I am not mistaken, this product is made from calf liver. Maybe calf liver has a different nutrient profile than the adult beef liver. Anybody know?
Funny thing when I put quite a few drops of liquid stevia on the liver powder; it tasted like bad chocolate. Capsules sound like the way to go.
Calories 40
Fat calories 15
Total fat grams 1.5
Cholesterol 8.5 mg
Protein 7 g
B-3 Niacin 0.1 mg
B-6 5 mg, 250% DV
B-12 0.2 mcg, 3% DV
Iron 0.6 mg, 3% DV
Nothing listed about choline content.
Murgatroyd:
Again (I think I said this above somewhere), I think this is an issue of what USDA requires they have on the label and since certified testing is expensive, they only test and certify for what they minimally have to.
From an Occam’s Razor perspective, since it’s dessicated beef liver, it makes no sense that they would _extract_ any nutrient not in liver. The only thing being extracted is water. So, to know the nutrients, go to FitDay, input liver, and then adjust portion size until you get the same number of calories as the number of pills you’re taking (water has no calories). This will tell you the equivalent amount of whole liver you’re eating and the full nutritional profile.
Again, Richard, I think they take out almost all the fat and the water depending on the brand. If vitamins A and K2 are fat-soluble, would it not follow that much of the fat-soluble vitamins are taken along with the fat? I wouldn’t agree that the desiccated liver tablets could=beef liver.
On the uniliver tabs, I believe they say they remove any connective fat tissue, like on the exterior of the organ. On a healthy liver, there’s miniscule fat in the organ itself (unless it’s a fatty liver, like foie gras). I doubt they’d go to the trouble of whatever process it would take to remove the less than 1 gram per ounce of total fat in the organ itself.
I don’t know that just because a vitamin is fat soluble it exists only in an animal’s fat and not in muscle or organ tissue. I think it simply means that the nutrient requires fat for proper absorption and function in the body.
Defatting is a standard process. If they didn’t do it, the product would go bad. Yes, fat soluble vitamins are found only in the animal’s fat. The only time they aren’t is in supplements, and even then there must be some type of fat present. THAT is something they wouldn’t go through the trouble of adding back in.
This stuff is a fancy Iron & B-Complex + Protein.
You can run, but you can’t hide from fresh liver.