2 Weeks ago I talked about all the hype surrounding the “super foods” that magazines hock these days, and largely debunked those claims.

However, this week, I’m doing an article on foods that are legitimately “super”. They’re simple, often cheap, and you don’t have to go halfway around the world to get them.

…Historically the offal meats have been some of the cheapest cuts of meat available due to them, admittedly, being kind of disgusting visually—at the very least compared to the more presentable cuts of meat from the muscles of the animal.

However, cooked properly, they are just as tasty as their more visually appealing counterparts, and at least just as nutritious as well. Depending on the organ you choose, offal may have a greater nutritional content than a typical cut of meat:

Liver, for example, is higher in Vitamins A and B and dietary Iron, than your average cut of meat. It also has high amounts of folic acid and trace elements like zinc. As a side note, eating the liver of predatory animals can lead to overdose of Vitamin A, a condition that can be fatal, but I doubt you were planning on eating the liver of dogs or bears.

Heart is entirely a lean muscle, and has a pound-for-pound higher protein content than muscle meat, as well as providing dietary collagen and elastin, which promoted skin health.

Kidneys have riboflavin, the B vitamins, and niacin.

Blood is even more aesthetically disgusting than offal, but even more nutrient dense. As blood cells use iron to bind to oxygen molecules, one can expect blood to be very high in iron—indeed, it is the most iron rich food you can buy, as well as having the typical nutrients of other meats such as protein and B-vitamins.

The problem is how does one prepare blood? I suppose you could drink it raw, but I suppose you would rather make it into soup, blood sausage, or black pudding as various cultures around the world have done for thousands of years.

Read the article here