How much vitamin A is in beef liver

Ask a butcher for liver and the first thing he will tell you is that a little goes a long way, and he is not talking about the price. Beef liver is the strongest-tasting thing in the case, and it is also the most concentrated source of vitamin A most of us will ever eat. That is the whole tension of liver in one cut: the food that carries the most of this nutrient is the one most women have to talk themselves into eating.

The number, plainly

Braised beef liver carries about 9,442 micrograms of vitamin A per 100 grams, in the USDA nutrient database. The daily value for vitamin A is 900 micrograms. So a 100-gram portion, about the size of a palm, holds roughly ten times a day's worth. A single slice the size of a deck of cards weighs about 68 grams and carries around 6,400 micrograms. These are retinol numbers, the form of vitamin A the body uses directly, which is why liver counts so differently from carrots.

Why the old cooks served it small

Grandmothers did not serve liver by the plateful. It came as a small slice with onions, or ground into mince, or as pate spread thin on toast. That was partly taste, liver is strong and nobody pretends otherwise, and partly sense: when a food carries ten times the daily value in one portion, a small serving once or twice a week is the pattern that fits. Vitamin A supports normal vision as part of a varied diet, and the upper limit for daily intake is 3,000 micrograms, so more is not the goal here. The point is that the portion can stay small and still count.

What this means for capsules

Capsules are the workaround for women who cannot make themselves like liver, and the numbers change when the food is dried. A capsule serving is a few grams of dried liver powder, and dried weight is not fresh weight, so do not try to convert a capsule serving back into a plate of liver. Read the grams per serving on the label, and if the label lists vitamin A, take its figure as the honest one. Beef liver supplements for women covers how the capsule version works, and desiccated beef liver explained covers what drying does to the food. The serving size rules in organ supplement serving size apply here too: grams first, everything else second.

Starting small

If you eat liver, start with a small slice, fried with onions, or blend a little into mince at about a fifth of the mix and see if the taste passes. If you take capsules instead, take them with food at a consistent time and give it a month at a steady dose. A food is not a drug, and starting point and diet differ.

These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. Nothing on this site is intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Talk to a qualified professional before changing your diet or starting a supplement.