The Power of Organ Meats for Optimal Health.
Most people have nutritional deficiencies without even realising it.
It’s become our default state.
The real crime here is that, in today’s age, you can solve any deficiency with a few clicks, a pan, some fat and some heat.
You might see data that doesn’t fully support this widespread deficiency, but what I see in clinical practice shows it clearly. And when you dig into the studies, what you find is that the way nutrient levels are measured and correlated to health is backwards.
The standard Western diet is subpar on many fronts, with the young, mothers, and the elderly being the hardest hit. Although we live in a world of food abundance, much of what is available is empty calories that don’t add value to our health, which is the problem we’re discussing today.
The case for nutrient density
A brief definition: Nutrient density refers to the concentration of essential vitamins, minerals, and bioactive compounds per calorie in food.
Improving your diet can lead to dramatic positive effects on your health.
If you’re here you probably understand that we live in a world that takes a toll on our health. From environmental toxins to circadian rhythm disruption, chronic stress and the rest.
But if your nutrient levels are on point, your body is more resilient to it all.
It’s not just about what you’re avoiding (beige food, man made oils, anything deep fried, beer and soft drinks) but also what you’re consuming.
A nutrient-dense approach focuses on getting the most "bang for your buck" energetically and holistically, affecting satiety, mood, immune response, and physical health.
While a calorie is a calorie, not all calories have the same bioenergetic influence in your body. Food is not just fuel; it can be thought of as an electromagnetic barcode of energy, nutrients, light, water, and magnetism, and one food is never the same as another. This means that a slice of beef jerky from South Africa is not the same as a slice from the UK. The way it was created by God, Mother Nature, or evolution is radically different, and we just don't have a measurement for that yet.
For example, a chicken breast may be a decent source of low-fat, high-protein with some minerals and vitamins, but compared gram for gram, it stands no chance against beef liver. Or take a carrot: while it contains vitamin A, it's not as bioavailable or abundant as what’s found in liver. Just a 100g serving of beef liver provides over 1,300% of the recommended daily intake (RDI) of vitamin A, far surpassing any vegetable source.
If you’ve started a health kick, you might have been swayed by the plant-based agenda promoting “superfoods” like quinoa, chia seeds, kale, or acai bowls.
While these foods aren’t inherently problematic (though depending on your health, some “superfoods” loaded with oxalates and lectins can cause harm, such as kidney stones or joint inflammation—Sally Norton’s book Toxic Superfoods is a great resource on plant toxins), they don’t reach the nutrient levels of organs like heart, liver, or kidney, which are top-tier nutrient MVPs (without any anti-nutrients).
Eating organs or following a nose-to-tail diet might not sound as appealing as quinoa from Peru or Californian almond milk, but our great-grandparents didn’t eat these exotic, flown-in foods. They stuck to local, nutrient-rich staples like raw milk, freshly laid eggs, and meats from the butcher. They were well-nourished.
Things have changed.
We don’t need to take a nostalgic trip down memory lane, but it’s worth recognising that today’s food—whether plants or animals—isn't what is used to be.
Supermarket demands and modern agricultural methods have prioritised yields over nutrition, leading to foods that are nutritionally empty. The majority of what we consume is bland, beige, and pale, often washed down with deodorised, hydrogenated vegetable oils that serve little nutritional value.
Science supporting our holistic approach
Nutritionally, our food is not the same as it was in the 1940s. We are becoming nutrient deficient even while "eating well."
Several studies have documented this significant decline in nutrient content. A 2004 study titled Changes in USDA Food Composition Data for 43 Garden Crops, 1950 to 1999 revealed reductions in key nutrients such as protein (-6%), calcium (-16%), phosphorus (-9%), iron (-15%), riboflavin (-38%), and vitamin C (-15%). Similarly, a UK-based 2001 study titled The Mineral Depletion of Foods Available to Us as a Nation (1940-1991) found that calcium in vegetables decreased by 19%, iron by 22%, magnesium by 35%, and copper by a staggering 81%.
Over the past century, nutrient quality has continued to decline. A 2009 review titled Declining Fruit and Vegetable Nutrient Composition: What Is the Evidence? highlighted how breeding crops for size and yield has led to “genetic dilution,” where nutrient concentrations per gram decrease as plant size increases. Similarly, a 2014 study on wheat found substantial declines in zinc, iron, and magnesium due to selective breeding for higher yields.
This consistent pattern across studies emphasises the urgent need to prioritise nutrient-dense foods and recognise the negative impact of modern agricultural practices on food quality.
The best nutrient-dense food on the planets
Incorporating organ meats into your diet is a rebellious act against the vegan and climate narrative. The farms we work with not only produce the most nutrient dense food you can get, but they also sequester more carbon than they emit. And they are in the UK, so they’re not flown in from anywhere.
The highlight reel looks like this:
- Liver: Rich in vitamins A, B12, folate (B9), iron, and choline.
- Heart: Special for its coenzyme Q10 content, essential for energy production alongside vitamin B2.
- Kidneys: Abundant in selenium, crucial for antioxidant protection, and also rich in copper, which helps with histamine issues.
It's not just about protein from muscle meat.
We often forget about the powerhouses: the organs. Muscle meat is important, but it needs the complementary support of organs to unlock the full potential of an animal-based diet. Just eating chicken breast or steak isn’t enough to correct nutritional deficiencies across the board. This should also be a lesson to not simply follow advice from bodybuilders or personal trainers who are paid to look “jacked”—that's not true health.
Bioavailability: Plants vs Animals
Animal-based nutrients, in general, are better absorbed, transported, and utilised by the body compared to plant-based ones. While plants have their benefits, they also contain fibres, polyphenols, and other factors that can hinder nutrient bioavailability. In contrast, animal-based foods provide pre-digested nutrients, making them more readily available to our bodies.
At Oath, we believe in the beauty of both plant and animal foods, each used in the right way. While some people may have issues with certain plants, for others, they pose no problems. However, most nutrients—whether protein, minerals, or vitamins—are more bioavailable and abundant in animal foods.
Humans don’t need to consume a football field-sized amount of plants to get short-chain fatty acids for gut health. We have evolved with shorter guts and teeth designed to absorb protein and nutrient-dense, animal-based foods, with plants on the side, seasonally.
Incorporating Nutrient Density
Eating nutrient-dense doesn’t have to be complicated. Start simple—try some pâté with crudités, enjoy half a dozen oysters, or go for an Oath burger with homemade chips fried in beef tallow. A nose-to-tail animal-based diet, which is local and regenerative, gives back to the environment and leaves it better than before.
At Oath, we firmly believe that eating nutrient-dense foods doesn’t require counting micronutrients or obsessing over calories. It’s about balance and focusing on what matters.
In closing
If you want to avoid modern diseases and truly thrive, make nutrient density a key principle. Nose-to-tail eating provides an abundance of nutrients while being the most ethical and regenerative way to leave no waste. As we discussed it’s not just about meat – investing in as much organic plant-based food as possible helps too. Start with small steps and explore our Oath starter pack as a gateway from chicken breast to liver.
Yours,
R, J & N