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Liver detoxifies. Are there cases where it can cause more harm than good?

Dr. Amy Nett: I would say, in general, liver is incredibly nutrient dense. Yes, the liver is involved in detoxification, but it’s moving things through for detoxification. We’re not necessarily storing toxins to any more significant extent in the liver than really elsewhere in the body. I would say the nutrient value of liver outweighs the potential toxins that you’re getting from it. That said, I would still be very careful about the sourcing for liver. Fatty meats and liver, you want to be very careful about sourcing, and I think if you’re going to be eating chicken livers from conventionally raised chickens that are fed a full-grain diet, then I would not think that the value of eating liver outweighs the risk. I would say if you’re getting pastured, grass-fed beef liver or similarly pastured chickens that are not fed grain, that sort of thing, then that’s when it’s going to be more valuable, but again, liver and then the fatty cuts of meat—I say the fatty cuts of meat because you get more storage of toxins and the omega-6-to-omega-3 ratio is a little bit more important, the more fat you have in the cut of meat. Watch the sourcing, but when it’s well sourced, there’s absolutely more nutrient value than risk.

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