The Game Changers
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My girlfriend (now wife) and I were at a bar with another couple just outside of Washington, D.C., pre-COVID back in October 2019. While we were talking about our jobs and family back home, the couple mentioned the Netflix documentary film The Game Changers promoting a plant-based diet. “This documentary will change your life,” they said. We watched it the next night.
Thinking I was on to something special with the James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger-backed film touting a plant-based diet for optimal health, I texted one of my best friends, Danny, that he had to watch The Game Changers. He replied, “there’s also the other side to this,” and shared Meat Heals, a website filled with personal experiences of people that have gone on the Carnivore Diet, an animal-based diet, and thrived. Though the pro-vegan film has since been debunked by medical doctors as well as a major debate on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, The Game Changers led me on an unexpected change to my diet, which I had been trying to change for years at that point.
“You should see a doctor immediately.” Back in 2017 and single, while on a second date at an Indian restaurant in Washington, D.C., my date was taken back by my snowman-like flare-up of Seborrheic Dermatitis, a common auto-immune skin condition-chronic form of eczema affecting about 11% of the population that I had been battling for over a year at that time. While I did see a dermatologist, I was prescribed a topical cream medication that healed the symptoms, but not the problem. When I asked the dermatologist if diet plays a role, he said, “Some say it does, but who wants to give up eating pizza?”
Three years later, after having made some progress, eliminating foods at various times including dairy, gluten, seed oils, fruits, and vegetables, I tried the Carnivore Diet and for once was not embarrassed about daily showing my face outside. The Carnivore Diet was the ultimate elimination diet eating only muscle meat, liver, seafood, ghee, Greek yogurt, hard cheeses, and berries.[1][2] Next came other unexpected benefits:
Little to no digestion issues or flatulence (more pleasant social gatherings)
High energy and mental clarity (no brain fog)
Increased satiety (less likely to overeat and gain weight)
Less time grocery shopping, meals easier to plan (eating to live instead of living to eat)
*Bonus – more money to spend on better cuts of meat instead of buying snacks or side dishes
This past December I hit the one-year mark on the Carnivore Diet. As I journey through this new year, something that has gotten me through this major diet change, and not needing vegetables or multivitamins for micronutrients (vitamins and minerals), is eating liver. As I dug into researching about liver, I was shocked to find out that liver far surpasses vegetables, including kale, when it comes to nutrient density. In fact, it is the most nutrient dense food on the planet. Vitamin B12 to prevent anemia? Check. Vitamin A for immune function? Check. Iron to help make more blood to supply oxygen to the body (pregnant women need double the amount compared to nonpregnant women). Check. And more, including rich amounts of Vitamins B2 (Riboflavin), B3 (Niacin), B9 (Folate), K2, and Copper. If vegetables were the defenders and midfielders in soccer, liver would be the star player, the Cristiano Ronaldo, the main catalyst.
Liver tastes disgusting. When I first started eating liver, I tried it raw. My girlfriend-now-wife always knew when I had raw chicken and beef liver in our kitchen. It had to be stinky because it wasn’t cooked, right? Even with a healthy amount of seasoning of garlic powder, salt, and pepper, it still wasn’t palatable for me. For some, it does work. Many European countries eat liver sausage known as liverwurst, but that isn’t easy to source in America and still, it might not be palatable. There had to be an easier way to continue getting my nutrients. Then I discovered desiccated/freeze-dried liver, liver pills.
The freeze-drying process retains much of the nutrition from the raw liver. While beef liver is very common, freeze-dried bison and elk are also options but harder to find. I personally prefer bison liver due to its benefits to the environment as bison, colloquially known as the American buffalo, is native and sourced exclusively in North America. After much success on my Carnivore Diet journey, seeing the results on my own skin and within my digestive system, I am eager to learn more, help others grow their knowledge of the diet to hopefully see some similar benefits that I have, and proliferate the use of bison liver supplements as nature’s multivitamin.
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Medical Disclaimer - I am not a medical doctor. The words in this article are provided for educational and informational purposes only. Please seek the advice from your medical doctor or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new healthcare regimen.
[1] Later, I increased carbs in the diet to include about 70-100g daily, adding in 1/2 an avocado, 1 Tb honey, and a banana.
[2] Including some plant-based foods such as fruit is considered a Tier I Carnivore Diet.
The Game Changers
Do you recommend a brand of bison liver (desiccated )? Or pills ?