“Tonic, noun, 1. a medicinal substance taken to give a feeling of vigor… Adjective, 1. giving a feeling of vigor or well-being; invigorating.”

The Bloody Mary has always been known as a cure for a variety of ailments. The tomato juice alone is probably the key element, as it is rich in vitamins and minerals. Most notably, these include vitamin C, the antioxidant lycopene, and the electrolytes potassium and sodium. However, with the Bloody Mary, there is always the risk of letting the cure become the cause.

To avoid any risk and maximize benefits, we skip the vodka and add raw grated liver. And there you have it, near and dear to my heart: the Liver Tonic.

Invigorating

I know, raw liver really does make me sound like I’ve gone off the deep end. How about this, how about we just keep it between you and me.

Ok, I’ll tell you another secret. I made Sarah a double batch after she told me she was anemic near the end of her pregnancy. Of course I didn’t tell her it was raw liver. She gratefully drank it up.

It’s what keeps me going. A quick and easy meal to go. Of course, not as quick as a raw egg (the original fast food!), but absolutely sustaining during these years of pregnancy and nursing. I honestly don’t know how other moms go without.

Personally, I chalk it up to abundance of enzymes leading to the bioavailability of all the nutrients in the raw meat. Although maybe it’s just the countercultural nature of something considered so risky(!) – giving a little boost of adrenaline. Regardless, Liver Tonic feels like part of a virtuous cycle of self-love. My precious human life!

Francis Pottenger, MD

My trusty Liver Tonic is adapted from the Pottenger Liver Cocktail in Nourishing Traditions.

Francis Pottenger was an MD from the 1930s through the 1960s, working with tuberculosis patients and other diseases of the lungs. He performed feeding studies on over 900 cats during 10 years. All of the cats received milk and meat, some raw and some cooked. This work was published as Pottenger’s Cats, a quick and noteworthy read.

In summary, the control group cats eating raw foods continued to reproduce healthy kittens. Among the cats eating cooked foods, there was continued degeneration in a variety of physical dimensions. These included skeletal strength, eyesight, skin/fur quality, abnormal and irritable mental states, and reduced reproductive success. The physical degeneration became more exacerbated with each generation. After three generations on the cooked food diets, the cats were unable to reproduce at all – either due to sterility or stillbirth.

Meanwhile, if Pottenger took a third generation cat and changed its diet to raw food, the cat would begin to rebuild its physical state and could reproduce again. Subsequent generations would be healthier. It took four generations to return to full health on the raw food diet.

In conclusion, regeneration was possible and this work informed the diet he served in the hospital he founded in 1940. He did not serve an exclusively raw food diet to the patients, though some of the important foods for recovery were raw, including his Liver Cocktail.

Ironically, our modern culture suggests that the sick and infirm, youngest and oldest are best served by avoiding these types of ‘risky’ foods. On the contrary, they are exactly the populations that are best served by these types of easy-to-digest-and-absorb, nutrient-dense foods.

Variations and notes

The Classic Bloody Mary has a long list of potential additions. As you would prefer your Bloody Mary, feel free to add any of these to your Liver Tonic: Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, piri-piri or other hot sauce, beef consomme, horseradish, salt, celery salt, garlic salt, oregano, basil, lemon juice, and additional garnishes like bacon. Pottenger also included fresh whey in his Cocktail.

For years I added piri-piri, and would happily do it again if I got around to making more. These days though, I’ve really taken to the addition of some brine from my summer batch of garlic dill pickles (though Bubbies dill pickle juice would work fine). I do add a tablespoon of fresh whey when I’ve got some.

Most often I buy the Knudsen Organic Tomato juice at Whole Foods, which also includes lemon juice and salt. On the rare occasion I use fresh tomatoes to make juice, I do add extra salt and citrus juice to compensate.

Note that the frozen liver is easiest to grate when it’s part of a larger block (typically a 1 lb package), especially if you’ve set it out 10 or so minutes before you intend to make your tonic. Admittedly, my husband keeps joking that he we should invest in a snow-cone-style frozen grater to speed things up.

Finally, of course, use your best judgement. Know and trust your farmer or source. Don’t make this if it doesn’t seem right to you. I personally am more troubled feeding my kids packaged deli meats, but to each their own.