Foundations Bundle | Protein, Collagen & Beef Organs

Key nutrients include fat soluble vitamins A, B2 (Riboflavin), B3 (Niacin), B5 (Pantothenic Acid), B6 (Pyridoxine), B7 (Biotin), B9 (Folate) and B12 . Organs are also a great source of the minerals Phosphorous, Copper, Selenium and Iron.

Josh personally sources all of our products to ensure they are only of the highest quality. The cows we use are not given hormones, or antibiotics before calving, and are not exposed to pesticides, heavy metals or any other chemicals.

We source from both organically certified and non-organically certified farms across Europe, and are currently working on partnering with UK farms to bring everything back to UK soil.  All the farms  we work with operate to an organic standard in terms of no hormone implants, etc. The farms we work with are also 100% grass-fed, which personally we believe is more important than organic as organic can be a bit of a smoke screen in the animal products world. For example, cattle may be being fed an unnatural but organic diet of oats. 

Once our raw materials are powdered, we have them third party lab tested for microbiology (salmonella, e-coli, etc) as well as heavy metals. In addition to this, our manufacturing partners are registered with the Food Standards Agency and are also HACCP certified for food safety.

We have a lot of customers that replace their multivitamin with either our Beef Organs or Beef Liver and say they notice a big positive difference. This is because the organs are loaded with nutrients really commonly lacking in a western diet in the most bioavailable (absorbable) form and in ratios our bodies can understand.

A lot of synthetic multivitamins aren't designed well and don't contain the most absorbable form of nutrients or provide them in natural ratios, which is why people tend to notice a difference.

The cows spend as much time outdoors as weather conditions allow eating a natural diet of grass and plant life. When the weather gets too cold they’re brought into barns, which have plenty of room, natural light and are really well maintained. During this time they’re mainly fed on hay and silage (grass and other plants that have been cut, dried and stored) as well as some KRAV approved organic supplementary feed like barley. 

We source our beef protein from KRAV certified farms in Sweden. These are not only organic (meaning no artificial fertilisers or un-natural pesticides) but follow strict rules to increase biodiversity, work in harmony with the ecosystem around them to reduce climate impact, care for their animals and provide great working conditions for their colleagues.

Examples include;

• Instead of using synthetic fertilisers, they use manure from their own farms to fertilise the soil.
• They use preventative methods such as varied crop rotation to protect against pests so they don’t have to use un-natural pesticides.
• The animals are kept outdoors for as much of the year as weather conditions allow.

Lots of people struggle to digest whey and plant based proteins for a variety of reasons and as a result, these end up sitting in the stomach causing bloating and inflammation. Beef protein is non-inflammatory so this issue doesn’t occur. In addition beef protein is a great source of collagen and gelatine to support connective tissue (tendons, ligaments and joints) as well as hair, skin and nails. Whilst also containing a wide array of micronutrients such as vitamins B6, B9 and B12 as well as the minerals Zinc, Selenium and Iron to help with a variety of bodily processes and general wellbeing.

Balances blood sugar, increases energy, improves mental clarity, supports sleep, aids fertility, hormone balance, healthy ageing, immune health, decreases inflammation, improves body composition and reduces cravings. If you want to find out more we wrote an article on the five essential benefits of eating more protein beyond building muscle, which you can find on our blog page. 

You get 19.26 grams of protein per serving. 

Complete protein refers to the fact that beef protein contains all 9 essential amino acids that we need to consume from our diet to build protein within the body. This is not the case for plant based proteins like pea or soy, which are incomplete proteins. This means you need to pair them with other foods to get all 9 essential amino acids and build protein within the body. 

We take grass-fed and regeneratively farmed beef bones and the meat left on them after the butcher cuts have been taken and boil them into a broth before drying it into a protein and collagen rich powder. It's that simple. 

Imagine a high quality bar of 75% dark chocolate - that’s the flavour you’ll find in our raw cacao and maple sea salt protein. We use the highest quality cacao, organic maple sugar and celtic sea salt to create a rich and subtly sweet flavour that has fast become our customer favourite:

“Genuinely so much nicer tasting that your typical protein powder. I've struggled for many years with standard mixes being overly sweet, whether from sugar or sweeteners all of which have an impact on me. After a couple of sips of this mixed with whole milk I feel the need to write a review! The Cacao comes through and the salt is noticeable in the way it enhances the sweetness. In a world full of people obsessed with sweeteners and chugging energy drinks this is a refreshing take. If you're happy with the sweetness of popular brands then this may not be for you but for those that find sweetness in those formulas off-putting, this is certainly worth a go. It's honestly just a nice, well rounded drink” - Ricky P.

“Absolutely love my cacao protein powder - so tasty and I can notice the impact on my gut health.” - Charlotte D.

“Best protein powder I've ever tasted hands down. I normally get bloated, but I did not experience any bloating this time, and it tastes lovely with just water. I would deffo be looking at purchasing other products from this company. Highly recommend.” - Natalia R.

Yes, we source our collagen from certified grass-fed cattle that roam freely outdoors on grass for as much of the year as weather conditions allow and are not exposed to hormones or any artificial chemicals.

Yes, here are the results from our latest batch: Ash content = 0.2 %, Heavy Metals = ≤ 50 ppm, Arsenic = ≤ 1 ppm, Cadmium = ≤ 0.5 ppm, Chromium = ≤ 10 ppm, Copper = ≤ 30 ppm, Mercury = ≤ 0.15 ppm, Lead = ≤ 3 ppm, Zinc = ≤ 30 ppm, Sulphur dioxide (SO2) = ≤ 10 ppm, Peroxide (as H2O2) = ≤ 10 ppm

These results are well below the legal limit and very safe to consume. All foods naturally contain small amounts of heavy metals like are seen here. However, it's important to avoid the consumption of foods that have unnaturally high levels.

If you are doing a water fast with zero calories, then they will break the fast, as a serving contains a very small amount of calories. However, if your fasting goals are autophagy or healing your gut microbiome, you can take the supplements without negatively impacting those goals.

Generally as people age, their collagen depletes. This starts in your mid-twenties and accelerating after your forties, which is why many people choose to include collagen peptides as part of their daily nutrition routine.

Collagen is a major component of the human body, making up around 30% of our total body protein. It’s the main structural protein in connective tissue such as ligaments and tendons. It’s also found in bones, nails, hair and makes up roughly 80% of our skin.

Pregnancy is a very sensitive and personal time in life, and for this reason we urge you to seek the guidance of a health professional or nutritionist, who can guide you personally.

Although many traditional cultures prize liver as a wonderful fertility, pregnancy and postnatal food, mainstream health advice currently warns against consuming liver during pregnancy over concerns of vitamin A toxicity.

For this reason, we advise you to research this topic for yourself, speak to a health professional or nutritionist and make sure you're comfortable with your decision to consume or avoid it during this time.

From our experience... when Izzi was pregnant we really looked into this topic, and found Dr Lily Nichols' (a prenatal and postpartum dietician) book Real Food for Pregnancy very helpful (excerpt from the book / her website below). As a result Izzi made the decision to consume a small amount of Beef Liver during pregnancy and took 6 Beef Organs capsules daily. These are made from 50% Beef Liver, 25% Beef Kidney and 25% Beef Heart. Izzi felt these really helped her maintain good energy levels throughout the pregnancy and we were blessed with a healthy baby at the end. As a side note, Izzi also felt our Collagen powder really helped her during this time and as soon as our son was born, started taking our Female Vitality Starter Pack to replenish nutrients post birth.  

“Many of you reading this may have been specifically warned to not consume liver during pregnancy, precisely because it is rich in vitamin A. This has sparked controversy over the years, mostly because old studies linked high-dose synthetic supplemental vitamin A to birth defects. However, we now know that naturally occurring vitamin A does not exert this toxicity, particularly when consumed with adequate vitamin D and vitamin K2, nutrients that are also found in abundance in liver. This illustrates perfectly why obtaining nutrients from food is far safer than getting them from supplements.

As one researcher points out, “Liver and supplements are not of equivalent teratogenic potential [risk of causing birth defects]. Advice to pregnant women on the consumption of liver based on the reported teratogenicity of vitamin A supplements should be reconsidered.”

Ongoing concerns over vitamin A toxicity from liver consumption are perplexing, considering that deficiency is fairly common in pregnant women. One study found that one-third of pregnant women were borderline deficient, despite having access to plenty of vitamin A-rich foods. This essential nutrient is widely recognised for its role in normal growth and development during pregnancy, including the developing lungs, kidneys, heart, eyes, and other organs. Even the National Institutes of Health states, “pregnant women need extra vitamin A for foetal growth and tissue maintenance and for supporting their own metabolism.” Certainly, an excessive amount of any nutrient is problematic, and since vitamin A is fat-soluble, it does raise the risk of toxicity. However, given what we know about deficiency and the safety of food-sourced vitamin A, this does not defend the recommendation to avoid liver, our most valuable food source of the vitamin.”

It depends on your specific requirements really... the Beef Organs contain a wider variety of micronutrients including some more unique nutrients like Selenium (great for immunity and thyroid function) and CoQ10, which is great for cardiovascular health. Whereas the Beef Liver contains less of a variety but the nutrients it does contain (Vitamin A, all the B vitamins, copper, etc) are in a greater density. Personally I usually opt for the Beef Organs as I have a history of poor heart health in my family and I generally recommend this to men over the Beef Liver as they need more heart support. Whereas for women I usually recommend the Beef Liver. That said, it might be worth trialing one and then the other and seeing which works best for you.

The capsules are a medium size and we haven’t come across anyone so far that’s said they’re too big to swallow. However, if you would prefer to open them and add them to bone broth or other dishes this is absolutely fine.

Beef organs are actually very high Ibn DAO, which is needed to break down histamine and deal with histamine intolerance - kidney is particularly high in it, and our beef organs are made with kidney, heart and liver. Beef organs are also very unlikely to raise histamine levels, so they should be fine to take.

That said, if you are concerned, please do speak with a healthcare provider before taking, as everyone is different and has different reactions to certain foods.

We also had this review regarding histamine intolerance:

“I bought these hoping for an overall boost, and as nutritional support when I don't have access to fresh organs. However, I've found they also serve as an anti-histamine support! After realising I have histamine issues I did some research on whole food support, to find that beef organs have DAO, an enzyme necessary for the production of the body's own anti-histamine response. I hadn't opened the bottle before learning this, because I wanted to try some other supplements on their own first. Now I have taken two capsules with every meal for a couple of weeks, and notice a huge difference - if I forget, I notice while I am eating or shortly thereafter. I am thrilled to have found a whole food ally for these specific issues, and excited to see what else it can support in my body!”

We gently freeze dry raw organs sourced from a grass-fed and organic certified farm to maintain as many of the fragile nutrients and enzymes found within them. 

It takes roughly 15g of raw beef organs to create 6 capsules. Weston A Price and other leading nutritions in this field like Chris Masterjohn recommend consuming around 170-225g of beef liver per week. Our capsules will cover 90g of this split out on a daily basis to ensure the key micronutrients they provide are continuously circulating in your system. We recommend consuming one portion of organ meat (around 80-135g) on top of this per week.

It’s difficult to answer this without knowing specifically what multi-vitamin you are taking. However, often multi-vitamins, like plant foods, contain pre-cursor versions of vitamins and minerals. For example, beta-carotene instead of vitamin A. If you have the BCM01 gene, which one study estimated that between 32-69% of women in the UK have, you will struggle to convert beta-carotene into the active form of vitamin A called retinol. Our organ meat capsules contain vitamin A in this active form. The same can be said for for minerals like iron. Most plant foods and supplements contain non-heme iron, which is much less bioavailable (able to have an active effect) when compared to heme-iron, which is abundant in animal foods especially organ meats. Generally speaking, we recommend to get as much of your micro-nutrients as possible from whole foods and if you’re not keen on how organ meats taste or you want to have the nutrients they provide constantly circulating in your system to perform optimally, our capsules are a great way to achieve this.

Yes. All of our products are rigorously tested for microbiology and heavy metals to ensure they meet the highest quality standards and don’t contain anything you wouldn’t want to consume. Results can be found on the product page.

All of the capsules containing beef organs are made from beef gelatine.

Our Beef Protein contains naturally high levels of glycine, which is a powerful anti-inflammatory amino acid. Many people also have issues digesting dairy protein, which can cause an inflammatory reaction in the body. By including these amino acids and being dairy-free, our Beef Protein can help to both prevent and lower inflammation. 

Our Beef Protein contains all amino acids, making it a ‘complete protein’. Please see the graphic of our amino acid break down for full information. Yes, the combination of amino acids present support muscle mass and muscle growth when combined with resistance training.

“Amazing product. I’m using it as part of a stack but my gosh…. My strength has gone up!”
- Jay A.

“A great step up from Whey protein. Easy on the stomach, pleasant taste and (apparently- as still early days) sublime muscle growth/recovery. Love the product and the ethos behind APE - can not recommend too highly” - Michael R.

“Was a little sceptical when I first purchased, but have been blown away by the gains since using this protein supplement” - David R

Yes! If you don’t digest dairy well, our beef protein is perfect for you. It’s 100% free of dairy and tends to be much easier to digest than whey. Many of our customers have shared how much better they feel when using our protein compared to dairy proteins:

“As I have a dairy intolerance I decided to give this a try and I am not disappointed. Tastes great and no digestive issues.” - Emma B

“Great stuff ! Love it ! No digestive side effects as with whey protein.” - Ross B.

The beef protein is perfect as a post-workout drink, on-the-go snack or even meal replacement. Here are some of the ways we like to use it:

• Whizzed into coffee for a protein boost
• As an on-the-go breakfast blended with milk of choice, seasonal fruit and a healthy fat
• Stirred into yoghurt for a high protein snack
• Mixed with warm milk as a bedtime drink

Additionally, you have have a peek through our image gallery at the top of the page where you'll find some tasty recipe inspo too!

This all depends upon your goals. The beef protein works primarily to support muscle health, aids exercise recovery and muscle building, as well as helping to increase your protein intake through the day. The protein does naturally contain collagen, so you'll be getting the benefits of collagen within it (such as supporting skin, hair, joints, nails and gut health). 

The collagen is purely 100% hydrolysed collagen, so it gives you a more concentrated dose to support skin, hair, nails and gut health, and may be a little more convenient to mix into your morning coffee without altering the taste at all. So essentially, it all depends upon your needs. Traditionally, we would have eaten a diet really high in collagen which is not common in the modern world today - on that basis, taking both of the products at different times of day or even together helps mimic our ancestral nutrient intake to support optimal nutrition. This is something we do personally.

We don’t add synthetic vitamin C to our collagen as this isn't how we would have consumed collagen ancestrally. Although there’s a lot of hype at the moment about vitamin C being important for collagen synthesis, research shows that as long as you’re getting sufficient vitamin C in your diet already, there’s no need to consume it directly alongside collagen to make it work better for you. 

Many other companies add vitamin C to collagen because it’s a cheap way to bulk out the packet, and it sounds good to customers.

There are plenty of other co-factors that are important for collagen synthesis as well as vitamin C, such as vitamin A, zinc, copper, vitamin D, and B vitamins, all of which you can obtain through an animal-based diet and many of which you can get from our Beef Organs capsules.

Yes. All of our products are rigorously tested for microbiology and heavy metals to ensure they meet the highest quality standards and don’t contain anything you wouldn’t want to consume. Results can be found above in the Why Grass-Fed Collagen Powder drop down section above (next to the main product images).

Our collagen is made up of types 1 and 3 because these are the types that naturally occur in bovine collagen, and we source ours from regeneratively farmed and grass-fed cattle.

Type 1 is the main type of Collagen in the body associated with skin, hair, nails, bones and ligaments.

Whereas type 3 is associated with skin and bone.

Our grass fed collagen is hot and cold soluble, meaning it can be mixed into hot or cold drinks easily. Lots of people choose to mix it into their morning tea or coffee, or blend it into a smoothie. It can also be mixed into soups and stews, or stirred through yoghurt. 

Our collagen is sourced from 100% grass fed cattle from Switzerland. Here, the cattle a free to roam and consume fresh grass and forage, and the farming method mean they’re not exposed to pesticides, vaccines or hormones.