Liver Tabs?

[Timmo]

Lately Ive been seeing alot of people recommending liver tabs on the forum, and Im thinking about trying them out. What are some good brands of liver tabs, and what are some of the benefits of taking liver tabs as a natural lifter?

 

[mDeezy]

Uni-Liver is awesome and cheap.

http://anabolicminds.com/forum/supplement-articles/101024-liver-tabs.html

 

[Big BAMA]

Beverly International at NutraPlanet has some good and cheap.
http://www.nutraplanet.com/product/beverly-international/ultra-40-500-tabs.html

 

[Universal Rep]

Uni-Liver. 500 tabs at $11.50 is tough to beat: Uni-Liver (500 tabs) By: Universal Nutrition

For more feedback:
Uni-Liver - the F O R V M

What liver tabs are good for:
Liver Tabs - What Are They Good For? - the F O R V M

 

[Big BAMA]

Uni-Liver. 500 tabs at $11.50 is tough to beat: Uni-Liver (500 tabs) By: Universal Nutrition

For more feedback:
Uni-Liver - the F O R V M

What liver tabs are good for:
Liver Tabs - What Are They Good For? - the F O R V M

Yeah that's cheaper go with it.

 

[EIC]

I found this thread informative regarding liver tabs:

Review: Desiccated Liver Tablets - IronOnline Weight Training Forum


Edit: The bottom of that thread compares digestion/absorption of four popular brands of liver tabs.

 

[Timmo]

Awesome, thanks for all the replies guys

 

[Steveoph]

Great link EIC. Does everybody chew their liver tabs. This is food for thought, since I was planning on picking up some Liver Tabs on my next order.

 

[Dizmal]

I don't chew. I think they digest just fine. Someone else here left them in glasses of water and they dissolved just fine. So I know the stomach makes short work of them.

Personally, I will never go without them again. Nothing ground breaking or earth shattering, but for the price. It's probably one of the best supps out there.

They just make you feel *on*.

 

[Timmo]

I read somewhere on here that someone added liver tabs to thier diet and supplement plan and gained something like 5lbs of lean mass just from adding in the tabs? I took the post at face value and didnt think much of it, but it sparked my interest in what they are good for

 

[Dizmal]

I read somewhere on here that someone added liver tabs to thier diet and supplement plan and gained something like 5lbs of lean mass just from adding in the tabs? I took the post at face value and didnt think much of it, but it sparked my interest in what they are good for

I started taking them 2 months ago after reading this thread here:

http://anabolicminds.com/forum/supplement-articles/101024-liver-tabs.html

For what it's worth. I noticed that I had increased muscle hardness after implementing them. Nothing else was added to my supplements during the last 2 months and I actually stopped using RPM and CordygenV02 during the begining of that first month.

Like I said, they're a staple for me from here on out. Big believer in them. For the money, it definitely doesn't hurt to try them. At worst, if you don't like them you're only out $12.

 

[mDeezy]

I don't chew. I think they digest just fine. Someone else here left them in glasses of water and they dissolved just fine. So I know the stomach makes short work of them.

Personally, I will never go without them again. Nothing ground breaking or earth shattering, but for the price. It's probably one of the best supps out there.

They just make you feel *on*.

+1

I don't chew either, gross. And I feel "on" when I take them as well.

Also, I was thinking about this the other day:
Uni-Liver- 500 tabs per bottle, 3.2g protein per 2 tab serving = 800g protein per bottle, for under $12
Whey- 80 servings per 5 lb tub, ~25g protein per serving = 2000g per tub, for around $40, give or take

Uni-Liver ~ 1.5 cents per g of protein
Whey ~ 2 cents per g of protein

So Liver Tabs are actually an inexpensive protein source as well, not to mention their solid amino profile and additional b vitamins, etc.

 

[EIC]

So no one has had any problems digesting the Uni liver, eh? That's good to know. It definitely looks like the most reliable and affordable source for liver, but that thread about them not dissolving kinda scared me away from them.

 

[Steveoph]

So no one has had any problems digesting the Uni liver, eh? That's good to know. It definitely looks like the most reliable and affordable source for liver, but that thread about them not dissolving kinda scared me away from them.

Likewise, the non-dissolving thing sounded out anyways. If anybody has some lying around and wouldn't mind confirming, please do so

Still in my cart for my next order regardless. It's worth it for the protein alone!

 

[King Con]

Uni-Liver. 500 tabs at $11.50 is tough to beat: Uni-Liver (500 tabs) By: Universal Nutrition

For more feedback:
Uni-Liver - the F O R V M

What liver tabs are good for:
Liver Tabs - What Are They Good For? - the F O R V M

I concur. Very had to beat that deal.

 

[Otori]

I´d be worried about the total amount of vitamin A. Especially if I also take a multi vit with vit. A in it daily.

 

[Steveoph]

I´d be worried about the total amount of vitamin A. Especially if I also take a multi vit with vit. A in it daily.

Doesn't seem to have been a problem in the past, but since Vit. A is insoluble in water it's good to be aware of how much you're taking. I couldn't find the amount of Vit A. in UniLiver, but upconverting from NOW's brand, there should be about 500 IU's (12%) per 2 tabs. NOW Adam has 10 000 IU's by comparison.

 

[CL1NT]

I found this thread informative regarding liver tabs:

Review: Desiccated Liver Tablets - IronOnline Weight Training Forum


Edit: The bottom of that thread compares digestion/absorption of four popular brands of liver tabs.

Thanks for this link, it was interesting to see the comparison of how fast the different liver tablet brands dissolve.

I was however a little concerned when I read the following as I just received my big 500 tablet tub of UNI Liver;


"Even more interesting, is that the Universal Uni-Liver product never showed any signs of dissolving. I continued to allow these samples to sit for another 2 hours of course, after 2 hours these would have long vacated your stomach, but in the interest of curiosity I continued on. At the end of the 2 hours time, all the other products had dissolved completely, except the Uni-Liver product remained exactly as you see it above!"


This is bullS%#t I said to myself... So being the big fan of Myth Busters that I am, I decided it was off to the kitchen to find out the truth... this is what I discovered.

To test the UNI Liver tabs I got 2 glasses and filled each with equal amounts of distilled water.

In one glass I put a whole tablet and the other I put a tablet which I broke in half. Oh and by the way they DO sink to the bottom and not float.

Immediately the broken tablet started to dissolve. The unbroken tablet just sat there stairing back at me. Then after about 5 minutes the broken tablet was really starting to make progress which was good to see. However the unbroken tablet was still just sitting there.

On to the 15 minute mark. The broken tablet was more than 50% dissolved and looking good. And as for the unbroken tablet, finally, some progress. The coating had gelled and was starting to "puff" which was promising.

Now at the 25 minute mark brought the biggest surprise. Upon inspection of the 2 samples, I had found that both tablets had almost completely dissolved (well 95%). The last 5% was that tiny unfinished bit in the middle you sometimes get, but after I swished the water around it was soon also dissolved.

So the conclusion is, yes these bad boys dissolve just fine. And I guess if you want to increase the rate of absorption you can always break them in half with your teeth. Good news for UNI Liver, good news for dentists and good news for all of us with 500 tabs sitting in our kitchen;-)

This myth is busted!

 

[Steveoph]

And considering the stomach pH is about 3-4 with proteins in it, we're talking 100-1000x more acidic, so that should have a significant effect. Good science :thumbsup:

 

[mDeezy]

Doesn't seem to have been a problem in the past, but since Vit. A is insoluble in water it's good to be aware of how much you're taking. I couldn't find the amount of Vit A. in UniLiver, but upconverting from NOW's brand, there should be about 500 IU's (12%) per 2 tabs. NOW Adam has 10 000 IU's by comparison.

Uni-Liver's label does not show that it has Vitamin A.

I am a little concerned about my intake of Cod Liver Oil (usually 6-8g a day) though, after reading this article that discusses Vitamin A toxicity near the end:

http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/vitamins/vitaminA/

 

[King Con]

Here is another log where someone was testing the ability to dissolve with uni livers...

http://anabolicminds.com/forum/animal-universal/102598-my-uni-liver.html

 

[EIC]

I wouldn't worry about the vitamin A, fellas. Most multis have vitamin A as beta-carotene, which is not utilizable to the body until it is converted. It is, essentially, pro-vitamin A. Vitamin A in animal foods (cod liver oil, liver) comes as retinol. If you ingest all or some of your daily needs as retinol, the body will just convert less beta-carotene to vitamin A. I would only worry if you are taking tons of liver tabs AND cod liver oil.

 

[EIC]

Thanks for this link, it was interesting to see the comparison of how fast the different liver tablet brands dissolve.

I was however a little concerned when I read the following as I just received my big 500 tablet tub of UNI Liver;


"Even more interesting, is that the Universal Uni-Liver product never showed any signs of dissolving. I continued to allow these samples to sit for another 2 hours of course, after 2 hours these would have long vacated your stomach, but in the interest of curiosity I continued on. At the end of the 2 hours time, all the other products had dissolved completely, except the Uni-Liver product remained exactly as you see it above!"


This is bullS%#t I said to myself... So being the big fan of Myth Busters that I am, I decided it was off to the kitchen to find out the truth... this is what I discovered.

To test the UNI Liver tabs I got 2 glasses and filled each with equal amounts of distilled water.

In one glass I put a whole tablet and the other I put a tablet which I broke in half. Oh and by the way they DO sink to the bottom and not float.

Immediately the broken tablet started to dissolve. The unbroken tablet just sat there stairing back at me. Then after about 5 minutes the broken tablet was really starting to make progress which was good to see. However the unbroken tablet was still just sitting there.

On to the 15 minute mark. The broken tablet was more than 50% dissolved and looking good. And as for the unbroken tablet, finally, some progress. The coating had gelled and was starting to "puff" which was promising.

Now at the 25 minute mark brought the biggest surprise. Upon inspection of the 2 samples, I had found that both tablets had almost completely dissolved (well 95%). The last 5% was that tiny unfinished bit in the middle you sometimes get, but after I swished the water around it was soon also dissolved.

So the conclusion is, yes these bad boys dissolve just fine. And I guess if you want to increase the rate of absorption you can always break them in half with your teeth. Good news for UNI Liver, good news for dentists and good news for all of us with 500 tabs sitting in our kitchen;-)

This myth is busted!

Nice work! And, as stated by another poster, stomach acid is going to do a lot better than water. I wonder if the person in that other thread was using old Uni liver tabs or simply had an agenda? Who knows, but as long as it works, that's all that matters.

 

[Steveoph]

I wouldn't worry about the vitamin A, fellas. Most multis have vitamin A as beta-carotene, which is not utilizable to the body until it is converted. It is, essentially, pro-vitamin A. Vitamin A in animal foods (cod liver oil, liver) comes as retinol. If you ingest all or some of your daily needs as retinol, the body will just convert less beta-carotene to vitamin A. I would only worry if you are taking tons of liver tabs AND cod liver oil.

:goodpost: Very true.

 

[EIC]

Uni-Liver's label does not show that it has Vitamin A.

I am a little concerned about my intake of Cod Liver Oil (usually 6-8g a day) though, after reading this article that discusses Vitamin A toxicity near the end:

http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/vitamins/vitaminA/

How many IU's a day are you getting from CLO?

 

[EIC]

Doesn't seem to have been a problem in the past, but since Vit. A is insoluble in water it's good to be aware of how much you're taking. I couldn't find the amount of Vit A. in UniLiver, but upconverting from NOW's brand, there should be about 500 IU's (12%) per 2 tabs. NOW Adam has 10 000 IU's by comparison.

Is NOW's brand defatted? If memory serves, Uni is both dehydrated and defatted. This would seem to drastically reduce the vitamin A content since, as you suggest, vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin and is lodged in fat stores (both ours and in the animals we eat).

 

[iDShaDoW]

Nice work! And, as stated by another poster, stomach acid is going to do a lot better than water. I wonder if the person in that other thread was using old Uni liver tabs or simply had an agenda? Who knows, but as long as it works, that's all that matters.

If you check the dates, that guys review was first posted back at the end of July 2005. Some people replied in that same thread and bumped it and one person towards the end with a more recent reply stated that his did dissolve faster possibly signifying a change in the Uni-Liver product.

I was hesitating to buy Uni-Liver after reading the old review but will probably end up placing an order on it once Nutraplanet gets those veggie cap ZMKs in stock.

 

[mDeezy]

How many IU's a day are you getting from CLO?

About 20,000

 

[EIC]

About 20,000

Wow, that's quite a bit, and this is coming from a guy who is a huge fan of CLO. You must be taking like 4 teaspoons of high-vitamin CLO. You should probably go easy on the liver then (or, even better, reduce your consumption of CLO).

 

[Thanos]

Beverly International at NutraPlanet has some good and cheap.
http://www.nutraplanet.com/product/beverly-international/ultra-40-500-tabs.html

Go with the Beverly! Great stuff and trusted.

 

[Thanos]

Great link EIC. Does everybody chew their liver tabs. This is food for thought, since I was planning on picking up some Liver Tabs on my next order.

Many people do. If you can hack it... i'd say do it. I do sometimes.

 

[Thanos]

I read somewhere on here that someone added liver tabs to thier diet and supplement plan and gained something like 5lbs of lean mass just from adding in the tabs? I took the post at face value and didnt think much of it, but it sparked my interest in what they are good for

Just LOL.

 

[mDeezy]

Wow, that's quite a bit, and this is coming from a guy who is a huge fan of CLO. You must be taking like 4 teaspoons of high-vitamin CLO. You should probably go easy on the liver then (or, even better, reduce your consumption of CLO).

Yeah, I've decided to reduce my intake to 3-4g of CLO a day (about 10,000 IU Vit. A) and I'll continue to use 8 Uni-Liver a day. I'm going to substitute some regular fish oil to get the additional EPA and DHA without the excess Vit. A.

 

[Universal Rep]

Glad to see such a lively discussion about liver tabs on AM. On many forums, members would likely dismiss liver tabs as "old school". But as I always say, old school don't mean it's obsolete. For those who use it, I'm guessin' the vast majority are extremely loyal to it. But for newbies, it's like with all the sizzle that's out there in the supp industry, it's hard talking about something that's been around since what, the 70s?