# Nutrients in fruits/veggies vs. meat/liver



## guestmama9916 (Jun 24, 2006)

I thought this was worth sharing.

_Today's dietary gurus tell us that we must eat vegetables and fruit to obtain vitamins and minerals. Per Magnuson, an astute member from Sweden, points out that fruits and vegetables cannot compare in nutrient levels with animal foods, especially nutrient-dense animal foods like liver. Here's what we came up with as a way of assessing the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables versus meat and liver. Note that every nutrient in red meat except for vitamin C surpasses those in apples and carrots, and every nutrient-including vitamin C-in beef liver occurs in exceedingly higher levels in beef liver compared to apple and carrots._

Calcium
APPLE (100 g) 3.0 mg
CARROTS (100 g) 3.3 mg
RED MEAT (100 g) 11.0 mg
BEEF LIVER (100 g) 11.0 mg

Phosphorus
APPLE (100 g) 6.0 mg
CARROTS (100 g) 31.0 mg
RED MEAT (100 g) 140.0 mg
BEEF LIVER (100 g) 476.0 mg

Magnesium
APPLE (100 g) 4.8 mg
CARROTS (100 g) 6.2 mg
RED MEAT (100 g) 15.0 mg
BEEF LIVER (100 g) 18.0 mg

Potassium
APPLE (100 g) 139.0 mg
CARROTS (100 g) 222.0 mg
RED MEAT (100 g) 370.0 mg
BEEF LIVER (100 g) 380.0 mg

Iron
APPLE (100 g) .1 mg
CARROTS (100 g) .6 mg
RED MEAT (100 g) 3.3 mg
BEEF LIVER (100 g) 8.8 mg

Zinc
APPLE (100 g) .05 mg
CARROTS (100 g) .3 mg
RED MEAT (100 g) 4.4 mg
BEEF LIVER (100 g) 4.0 mg

Copper
APPLE (100 g) .04 mg
CARROTS (100 g) .08 mg
RED MEAT (100 g) .18 mg
BEEF LIVER (100 g) 12.0 mg

Vitamin A
APPLE (100 g) None
CARROTS (100 g) None
RED MEAT (100 g) 40 IU
BEEF LIVER (100 g) 53,400 IU

Vitamin D
APPLE (100 g) None
CARROTS (100 g) None
RED MEAT (100 g) Trace
BEEF LIVER (100 g) 19 IU

Vitamin E
APPLE (100 g) .37 mg
CARROTS (100 g) .11 mg
RED MEAT (100 g) 1.7 mg
BEEF LIVER (100 g) .63 mg

Vitamin C
APPLE (100 g) 7.0 mg
CARROTS (100 g) 6.0 mg
RED MEAT (100 g) None
BEEF LIVER (100 g) 27.0 mg

Thiamin
APPLE (100 g) .03 mg
CARROTS (100 g) .05 mg
RED MEAT (100 g) .05 mg
BEEF LIVER (100 g) .26 mg

Riboflavin
APPLE (100 g) .02 mg
CARROTS (100 g) .05 mg
RED MEAT (100 g) .20 mg
BEEF LIVER (100 g) 4.19 mg

Niacin
APPLE (100 g) .10 mg
CARROTS (100 g) .60 mg
RED MEAT (100 g) 4.0 mg
BEEF LIVER (100 g) 16.5 mg

Pantothenic Acid
APPLE (100 g) .11 mg
CARROTS (100 g) .19 mg
RED MEAT (100 g) .42 mg
BEEF LIVER (100 g) 8.8 mg

Vitamin B6
APPLE (100 g) .03 mg
CARROTS (100 g) .10 mg
RED MEAT (100 g) .07 mg
BEEF LIVER (100 g) .73 mg

Folic Acid
APPLE (100 g) 8.0 mcg
CARROTS (100 g) 24.0 mcg
RED MEAT (100 g) 4.0 mcg
BEEF LIVER (100 g) 145.0 mcg

Biotin
APPLE (100 g) None
CARROTS (100 g) .42 mcg
RED MEAT (100 g) 2.08 mcg
BEEF LIVER (100 g) 96.0 mcg

Vitamin B12
APPLE (100 g) None
CARROTS (100 g) None
RED MEAT (100 g) 1.84 mcg
BEEF LIVER (100 g) 111.3 mcg

http://www.westonaprice.org/causticc.../cc2006sp.html


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## tree_hugger (Aug 22, 2004)

Maybe this would be better in the Traditional Foods forum?

I'm vegan and the thought of beef liver is pretty unappealing to me.


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## cjr (Dec 2, 2003)

Quote:

Maybe this would be better in the Traditional Foods forum?

I'm vegan and the thought of beef liver is pretty unappealing to me
Why? This is nutrition and good eating, not veganism or vegetarian! I find it very interesting to know.

I am currious as to how much of the nutrients is absorbed in the meat products compared to those absorbed through vegetables. I know that animal products are harder to digest and foods harder to digest are the ones we can't extract all the nutrients from.


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## newcastlemama (Jun 7, 2005)

Thanks for sharing this kimbernet. Another reminder to start eating beef liver.I also had no idea there was that much magnesium in beef. I did not know that there was folic acid in beef either.


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## ChristaN (Feb 14, 2003)

This is rather misleading in that the author picked vegetables/fruits which are not particularly nutrient dense. If I was looking for a good vegetable source of vitamin C, for instance, I would not be choosing carrots or apples. 88 grams (1 cup) of broccoli has 78.5mg of vitamin C. Citrus fruits, cauliflower, cabbage, melons, kale, papaya, peppers, raspberries, tomato products, and sweet potatoes are, likewise, better sources of vitamin C than are the meats he lists.

I am not going to go through the whole list and dispute this for every nutrient and I do agree that animal livers are a more dense source of some nutrients than are fruits and vegetables. However, it is misleading to state that they are better sources of all or even most vitamins by comparing them to two less than vitamin dense plant foods.

A good place to check for comparisons of nutrients in a wide variety of different foods is the USDA's National Nutrient Database.

eta: that link tells me that 1 medium artichoke has 72 mg of magnesium -- quite a bit more than liver.


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## missi66 (Mar 25, 2005)

Thank you that was really interesting.


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## joybird (Feb 2, 2006)

It is worth considering, too, that while animal food may be high in some nutrients, it is also high in toxins: pcb, pbde, dioxin, and many many others. These toxins concentrate as they move up the food chain (especially in fatty tissues) and so levels are much much lower in vegetables/fruits/nuts. And the liver itself is an organ with the primary purpose of filtering toxins which makes it even more contaminated.


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## mz_libbie22 (Nov 8, 2004)

It's good to know where to get the most zinc, calcium, etc. but I don't see the point in comparing meat to veggies, as if it's a choice between one or the other.


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## Chicharronita (Oct 8, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ChristaN* 
This is rather misleading in that the author picked vegetables/fruits which are not particularly nutrient dense. If I was looking for a good vegetable source of vitamin C, for instance, I would not be choosing carrots or apples.

Yeah, it is misleading, although it is worth noting that there are no fruit or vegetable sources of vitamins A & D, and they can be extremely low in some of the other nutrients listed.


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## Chicharronita (Oct 8, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *joybird* 
It is worth considering, too, that while animal food may be high in some nutrients, it is also high in toxins: pcb, pbde, dioxin, and many many others. These toxins concentrate as they move up the food chain (especially in fatty tissues) and so levels are much much lower in vegetables/fruits/nuts. And the liver itself is an organ with the primary purpose of filtering toxins which makes it even more contaminated.

There's a thorough article about dioxins called "Dioxins in Animal Foods: A Case for Vegetarianism?" which has some interesting points:

"The assertion that dioxins accumulate specifically in animal products is simplistic and inaccurate, and in fact a diet rich in pastured animal products provides protective nutrients, especially vitamin A, that directly oppose the toxic actions of dioxins in animal experiments, while a diet rich in most plant fats provides compounds that enhance the actions of dioxin."

"A review published in 1995 suggested that pastured animal products would probably contain higher dioxin concentrations because of a higher rate of soil ingestion;3 however, newer research has revealed the fact that the primary sources of above-average dioxin concentration in beef samples are feeding troughs constructed with pentachlorophenol-treated wood and the inclusion of incinerator waste as a feed additive.6 Grass-fed beef is not exposed to these sources of dioxins."


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## kaydee (Aug 13, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mz_libbie22* 
It's good to know where to get the most zinc, calcium, etc. but I don't see the point in comparing meat to veggies, as if it's a choice between one or the other.









:

Is the author suggesting we eat only liver? If not, I'm not really sure what the point is....


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## Ruthla (Jun 2, 2004)

I see that this the number of nutrients per 100 grams of food, not per 100 calories of food?

100 grams of beef liver or red meat is a lot higher in calories than 100 grams or apples or carrots, so it makes sense that there would be higher amounts of many nutrients. It's basically "more food" even though it's the same weight.


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## kallyn (May 24, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Ruthla* 
I see that this the number of nutrients per 100 grams of food, not per 100 calories of food?

100 grams of beef liver or red meat is a lot higher in calories than 100 grams or apples or carrots, so it makes sense that there would be higher amounts of many nutrients. It's basically "more food" even though it's the same weight.

I was thinking exactly the same thing.


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