Doctor warns against eating ‘raw liver’ after social media stars filmed eating uncooked liver

Celebrities and influencers can have a direct impact on our diets… and not always for the better.

LloydsPharmacy Online Doctor recently became concerned after seeing The Hills star Heidi Montag spotted eating raw liver and took to Instagram to give her followers an insight into her diet.

LloydsPharmacy Online Doctor:  

“Liver is beneficial to our diets; it’s high in vitamin A, a good source of protein, and is very low in calories. During cooking, the bacteria that could potentially be within the meat are removed because of the high amount of heat which it comes into contact with, therefore killing any bacteria present.”

This social media moment led to LloydsPharmacy to conduct research and found that over the past year, Google searches for ‘Can you eat raw liver’ has increased by 357%, ‘Benefits of eating liver’ at a 51% increase  and ‘Dangers of eating liver’ at a 23% increase.

Despite increasing interest, eating raw liver can be extremely dangerous, and you should never eat raw liver if you’re pregnant or have a low immune system the chemist outlet note.

LloydsPharmacy Online Doctor:  

“Meats such as chicken and pork contain salmonella if not cooked thoroughly due to animal faeces. Bacteria such as E.coli are also present in uncooked meat. It’s the same for raw liver, but you’d also be exposed to vitamin A toxicity if you were to eat too much of it. Ensure you do your research thoroughly before starting new diets, as they could end up doing more harm than good. 

“Eating healthily is a case of making sure you get all the essential nutrients your body needs, without having too much sugar, salt, or saturated fat. This usually means avoiding or cutting down on processed foods, fast food, and ready meals.”