What Does Organ Meat Have That A Good Ol' Steak Does Not?

Liver, kidneys, heart, lungs … how do you feel about these things? Yuck, right?

Well, where I come from, nothing got wasted. Very little of a slaughtered animal didn't make it onto the plate. Lung chowder, stewed brains, kidney stew, tripe soup, boiled tongue (smoked or plain), can't even count liver dishes … are you hungry yet? :-)

To you, of course, this probably sounds like menu from the Fear Factor.

How does it sound to your dog? Yummy!

Beef kidney

Even the picky eater that Jasmine is, she loves her organ meats. 

Tongue is her favorite, followed by kidneys. Heart and liver she likes best as jerky. And I can't forget the special treat – green tripe.

Because I ate them all, I can tell you that organ meats offer a broad range of flavors. But how about nutritional value?

Organ meats are actually highly nutritious. 

They are an affordable source of quality protein and they are rich vitamins.

Compared with muscle meats, organ meats are richer in just about every nutrient, including vitamin A, B vitamins (B1, B2, B6, folic acid and especially vitamin B12), minerals such as iron, phosphorus, copper, magnesium and more.

Check out this comparison of ground beef, beef liver and beef kidney. 

(values for 1oz of raw product, source: SELF Nutrition Data)

	Ground Beef	Liver	Kidney
PROTEIN	5.4 g	5.7 g	4.9 g
VITAMINS
Vit A	0.0	4732 IU	395 IU
Vit D	0.0	4.5 IU	9 IU
Vit E	0.1 mg	0.1 mg	0.05 mg
Thiamin	0.0	0.1 mg	0.1 mg
Riboflavin	0.0	0.8 mg	0.8 mg
Niacin	1.3 mg	3.7 mg	2.3 mg
Pantothenic acid	0.2 mg	2.0 mg	1.12 mg
B6	0.1 mg	0.3 mg	0.2 mg
Folic Acid	1.7 mcg	81.2 mcg	27.75 mcg
Choline	18.9 mg	93.3 mg	0.0
B12	0.6 mcg	16.6 mcg	7.8 mcg
MINERALS
Calcium	3.4 mg	1.4 mg	3.8 mg
Phosphorus	49.0 mg	108 mg	72.5 mg
Potassium	80.9 mg	87.6 mg	73.5 mg
Sodium	19.0 mg	19.3 mg	51.5 mg
Chloride	-	-	-
Magnesium	5.3 mg	5.0 mg	4.8 mg
Iron	0.6 mg	1.4 mg	1.3 mg
Copper	0.0	2.7 mg	0.1 mg
Manganese	0.0	0.1 mg	0.05 mg
Zinc	1.3 mg	1.1 mg	0.55 mg
Iodine	-	-	-
Selenium	4.0 mcg	11.1 mcg	38.8 mcg

Liver is not just an excellent source of protein but also a source of Vitamin A, several B vitamins, iron, folic acid, copper and even CoQ10.
(source: The skinny on organ meats)

Heart is high in vitamin B12, iron and potassium and is a source of selenium, phosphorus and zinc. Heart is also a concentrated source of  CoQ10.

Kidneys are  rich in vitamin B12, riboflavin and iron, and a source of B6, folic acid and niacin.

Tongue is a good source of B-complex vitamins, particularly B12.

Would a dog in a wild eat organ meats? You betcha!

Be aware of nutritional values when incorporating organ meats into your dog's diet.  It is easy to create an imbalanced diet if you rely too heavily on any one organ meat.

Take a look at liver, for example. It is extremely high is phosphorous but quite a poor source of calcium. Given enough time, a diet that is too rich in liver will cause significant health problems in part because of this unhealthy calcium to phosphorous ratio, in part because of the high levels of vitamin A.

Does your dog get to feast on organ meats?

It's your dog's health,
Jana

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