There are some foods that are uniquely nourishing and healing in ways that don’t really compare to other foods. The problem is, no one wants to eat them. We primarily consume the muscle tissue of animals but hunter-gatherers and many other cultures throughout the history of time did something many today would find utterly discussing. They ate organ meats. Some of these highly prized foods like heart, liver, brain, tongue, pancreas, thymus gland, kidneys, and stomach lining were consumed on a regular basis. These highly nutrient-dense foods are rich in iron, can increase satiety (help you feel full), are a great source of choline which is essential for the brain and other organs, and may help retain muscle mass.
There is another interesting thing that has happened to our food culture. Through the centuries farmers have chosen to grow the better tasting plants. We now understand that some of the most phytonutrient packed foods are bitter or sour. Other commonly selected plants were those relatively high in sugar and low in fiber. The result? As the foods became more pleasurable to eat, the nutritious value of our diets declined. For example, wild dandelions, once enjoyed by Native Americans, have seven times the amount of cancer fighting phytonutrients than spinach…and we call spinach a “superfood”. Do you know anyone that eats dandelions?