But it has surprisingly few calories...

Another good reason to stay off the meat:

http://individual.utoronto.ca/roninkengo/pict ures/instantheartattack.jpg

Oh my GOD.

1170% of your daily recommended intake of cholesterol!! 3500mg!!?!

instant heart attack is right....

Ewwww!!!

Is that even mathematically possible?  Yuck.

...I will keep that in mind the next time I have pork brains. In milk gravy.

aww but it supplies 10% of your daily calcium!

And 16g protein for 150 calories...and 10% iron? Nice. I'll take a serving please. *gagging*

Offals aren't a bad food unless you're particularly squeamish (or vegetarian, of course!) but it's a mistake to think that high-cholesterol foods are automatically unhealthy.  Shellfish is a good example... 3oz shrimps contains 166mg (or 55% of your daily) cholesterol.  Liver would be another.  And a lot of people mistakenly avoid egg yolks for similar reasons.  Good news is that eating cholesterol doesn't necessarily increase blood cholesterol.    Eating&nb sp;foods with a high fat content tends to do that more effectively .... cheese, for example. 

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. No brains for me thanks!

Holy hell. But, you know what? I wouldn't eat that anyway and I'm not giving up a steak.

Oh my god! That is so nasty...I'm not completely vegitarian, but ugh..that's enough to make anyone one! Who would actually eat that crap?!

Original Post by gi-jane:

Offals aren't a bad food unless you're particularly squeamish (or vegetarian, of course!) but it's a mistake to think that high-cholesterol foods are automatically unhealthy.  Shellfish is a good example... 3oz shrimps contains 166mg (or 55% of your daily) cholesterol.  Liver would be another.  And a lot of people mistakenly avoid egg yolks for similar reasons.  Good news is that eating cholesterol doesn't necessarily increase blood cholesterol.    Eating&nb sp;foods with a high fat content tends to do that more effectively .... cheese, for example. 

 I am with gi-jane on this one.  Even non-vegetarians overlook (ok, despise) organ meats, which is a shame.  Most times (except with brain or liver) they are incredibly low in fat and have almost no cholesterol (chicken giblets, for example) but people just avoid them.  What's up with that?

Although I would never eat the brains of an animal because I am a vegetarian, I am glad that at least they are trying to make use of all the body parts. What else would be done with a dead pig brain? If someone will eat it and make use of it, good for them.

For jezebelina....  what's up is that most people are bone-idle, have got too much money and are too snooty about what they eat!  They'd rather have some expensive artifically engineered food-like-substance to bung in the microwave than stoop to eating real food because it needs a bit of care to get it to the table & sounds a bit 'yukky'.  Traditional French cuisine on the other hand has lots of lovely ways to cook offals.  Those guys don't waste a scrap.  Sweetbreads are fantastic, for example.  And Scottish haggis is a combination of various offal meats mixed with oatmeal ... don't knock it until you've tried it!  The canning process doesn't do a lot for most foods unfortunately so I wouldn't be rushing to buy the product in the picture.

Original Post by silentdeadlyrose:

Oh my god! That is so nasty...I'm not completely vegitarian, but ugh..that's enough to make anyone one! Who would actually eat that crap?!

Yes! My dad's wife LOVES brains...

Original Post by jezebelina:

Original Post by gi-jane:

Offals aren't a bad food unless you're particularly squeamish (or vegetarian, of course!) but it's a mistake to think that high-cholesterol foods are automatically unhealthy. Shellfish is a good example... 3oz shrimps contains 166mg (or 55% of your daily) cholesterol. Liver would be another. And a lot of people mistakenly avoid egg yolks for similar reasons. Good news is that eating cholesterol doesn't necessarily increase blood cholesterol. Eating foods with a high fat content tends to do that more effectively .... cheese, for example.

I am with gi-jane on this one. Even non-vegetarians overlook (ok, despise) organ meats, which is a shame. Most times (except with brain or liver) they are incredibly low in fat and have almost no cholesterol (chicken giblets, for example) but people just avoid them. What's up with that?

organ meat like liver is terrible. sure it has a lot of good stuff in it. and it's also were toxins are stored. who thought eating that was ever a good idea?

If you believe your liver and kidneys 'store' toxins you've got completely the wrong end of the biological stick.  They act as filters and processing units making sure the body gets rid of toxins... which is the total reverse.  When your liver or your kidneys aren't working... that's when you start storing toxins and you're in big, big trouble.

I know that on a vegetarian board all meat is, by definition, 'terrible'.  But, with a few notable exceptions, most offal is very nutritious and various culinary traditions have learned how to make the most of it.  BTW. One of the notable exceptions would be polar bear liver.   The resourceful Inuits, who waste nothing if they can help it, know that it is so high in Vitamin A that it is poisonous.