EP136: The Power of Organ Meats on Health with James Barry

Perfect Practice

In this episode, Sachin interviews chef James Barry about his career as a personal chef to celebrities, how James became interested in organ meats, what inspired him to formulate an organ meat supplement called Pluck, and his passion for eating the whole animal as our ancestors did. James shares some research on the nutritional density of organ meats. Sachin tells how he broke his meat fast to try Pluck so he would be able to endorse it with integrity.

Listen in for ancestral knowledge about eating for your biological needs.

Key Takeaways:

[1:02] Sachin introduces James Barry, a chef, and the Founder of Pluck, a company that makes organ meat-based seasoning. James had talked about Pluck on the stage at Mindshare where he pitched the idea to Joe Polish in a mock Shark Tank.

[2:15] James has found a way to make the delivery of organ meats simple and tasty for anyone. Sachin had lunch with James at Genius Network and they had a fascinating conversation they wish they had recorded! They will try to replicate and extend that conversation in this episode.

[2:40] Sachin welcomes James Barry to Perfect Practice.

[2:51] James Barry has been a celebrity personal chef for over 20 years. He names some of his clients.

[4:25] There was no blueprint for how to be a celebrity chef when James started. When he began, he found a private chef who mentored him. James has mentored many chefs since.

[5:22] Most who hire a private chef do so because they value their appearance and their time. Many of us don’t value our precious time. Outsource things that are not your specialty.

[6:17] A lot of celebrities are just following the trend. They talk about the most popular book. When James first got out of culinary school the trend was the fat flush diet.

[6:38] James learned he had to understand the trending diet, not only by reading but also by working on the recipes to be very good at them. If a celebrity has a nutritionist, you need to execute that nutritionist’s instructions or already know that diet to work with them.

[7:11] James had also studied nutrition. When he cooked for celebrities, they only wanted to eat what he cooked for them. Everything was from scratch. He used Whole Foods. He didn’t use anything that was ultra-processed. He focused on clean eating and fairly low-carb.

[8:37] James describes celebrities as human beings with extraordinary attention focused on them, more money and resources, but just normal human beings. James treated them like regular people. He didn’t try to become their best friend. He focused on fulfilling his role, honoring their environment and privacy.

[9:50] James thinks that sometimes a celebrity’s “why” is a lot clearer. They know why they want to be healthy and mindful of what they put in their mouths. If you have a $300 million movie you are performing in and want to perform at your top, that’s a lot of pressure.

[11:17] James has always strived to support people where they are. He learned the culinary arts to help people. Humans are inconsistent and gravitate toward comfort foods. He wanted to improve the foods people were eating.

[12:01] James has researched organ meats and calls them the most nutritionally dense foods on the planet. He wondered how to get over the hurdles that people had, eating them. They struggle with the taste, sourcing, how to cook them, and what to do with them.

[12:22] On a trip, James’ two young girls got Shiga toxin from E. coli and couldn’t hold anything in. James was warned not to give them antibiotics as it would release the toxin faster and overwhelm them. The two-year-old got to almost skin and bones and recovered slowly.

[14:01] When she recovered, all she would eat was toast. James wanted something he could sprinkle on the toast to make it healthier. He realized we have freeze-dried organ meats but it’s in capsules because it doesn’t taste good. James wanted to make organ meats taste better.

[15:13] Deconstructing paté, James found the ingredients he needed to add to make it taste better. James recreated the taste of paté with dry ingredients. The result is Pluck. It contains five organ meats, which are the liver, heart, kidney, spleen, and pancreas from 100% grass-fed cows. [15:44] It removes the barriers. You can sprinkle it on anything. It tastes delicious. Most people don’t even realize they’re eating organ meat. James gets amazing feedback from parents who sprinkle it on everything.

[16:33] When Sachin and James were at lunch, James was giving people samples of Pluck. Sachin, though a vegetarian, decided to try it so he would know if he could endorse it to listeners with an honest opinion.

[17:26] Sachin tried it and it tasted quite good. He sprinkled it on his salad and enjoyed it immensely. Sachin’s honest truth is the product tastes amazing. It tastes good, it’s healthy, and it upgrades the things family members are consuming without them realizing it.

[19:00] James has learned that for healthy food to become a lifestyle, it has to be easy because humans will do hard things for a while, not that long, and it has to be delicious because we will eat something that tastes bad for a bit, but then we default to what stimulates our dopamine.

[19:42] James knew he had to make a product that was easy and tasted good. James also wanted eating the whole animal, not just the muscle meat, to be as easy as possible.

[20:16] Ancestrally, archeologist Dr. Bill Schindler, author of Eat Like a Human, said humans are the only species in the world that look to someone else to tell us what to eat. We have lost our way around our food. James speaks about ancient tribes eating the whole animal.

[22:59] James tries to get to what is simple, easy, and delicious, so you’ll eat it, feel better in your body, and treat others better. Once we feel better, we treat others better.

[24:06] The organ meats are raw frozen, processed to be a uniform size, freeze-dried, and powdered. There’s no flow agent added to it. It’s very pure. No one had combined them with spices before. The USDA and FDA didn’t know what to do with it.

[26:22] When it was called food, a USDA-approved food processor had to do the packing. James tried for eight months to find a processor who could handle the powder without contamination by air but no one could. James had to repurpose it as a dietary supplement.

[27:29] A lot of people don’t realize it’s a dietary supplement. The box on the back of the package says Dietary Supplement, not Nutritional Facts. So it’s an FDA product. James sources from New Zealand.

[29:47] New Zealand has very high standards. They have green grass year-round and cattle is one of New Zealand’s major exports. The whole animal is accessible. You can get brains in New Zealand, but not in the U.S. James is trying to source through the U.S. but it’s not possible yet.

[31:54] James launched Pluck during COVID-19. People didn’t know what it tasted like and he had no means of getting samples to people. He got on as many podcasts as he could and sent the product ahead of time to the podcast host for an honest assessment. That was the launch.

[32:50] The biggest questions James gets are “How much am I really getting?” and “How do I know it’s really working?” Our bodies know what they need. How do you get back to that intuitive knowledge? You won’t get it by swallowing capsules and bypassing biological communication.

[33:54] James says digestion starts with your eyes. You see something that looks good. When you get closer, you smell a good aroma. That triggers something in your brain. You take a bite and you taste it. Your saliva starts breaking it down. Your body decides if you want more.

[34:57] If you eat slowly, your body will tell you when to stop. Too many of our foods have more flavor than nutrition, and that confuses the body. Swallowing a capsule bypasses biological communication. Eating a salt tablet instead of tasting salt bypasses communication.

[36:18] James emphasizes to people that when you eat, your body will tell you how much you need or don’t need. Beef liver is huge and hard to eat in one sitting. If you eat a lot, it starts to taste different. If you keep eating when it doesn’t taste good, you’re not listening to your body.

[37:10] We’re already seasoning our food. Instead of an all-purpose seasoning, Seasonings have anti-caking agents and stabilizers, that are not good for us. Most blends will be high in salt. That’s the cheapest ingredient. Pluck gives you nutrients you do not get from seasonings.

[40:06] Organ meats are natural multivitamins. You don’t have to worry about eating it with food; it is food. Like supports like. The liver can support your liver. Orcas are known for attacking a shark and eating only one part of the shark, the liver. Animals in the wild go right for the organs.

[44:03] James cautions us about getting too “heady” about things. Our bodies have responses we can learn from as we listen. Our body knows. You can’t escape the truth your body will reveal. Follow it where it goes vs. your head leading you. James lauds Sachin for trying Pluck.

[46:45] Sachin agrees that the body never lies. Let’s put our dogma aside and give our body more of what it needs so that we can be around longer and be of service to others longer, as well.

[47:10] To get Pluck, go to EatPluck.com or get it on Amazon under Pluck seasoning or organ seasoning. Also on the website, there are some clinics listed where Pluck is sold. There are some places in Canada where it is sold. There are also recipes on the website.

[47:48] If you have any questions about organ meats and how to cook them, James’s mission is to help people learn how to eat that whole animal. They have resources about how to ease organ meats into your diet, besides Pluck.

[48:10] Sachin thanks James Barry for taking time out of his schedule to guest on Perfect Practice, spend time with Sachin, and share his passion with the audience. Here’s to an amazing epic year for James and the team at Pluck!

[48:32] Here’s to our listeners’ health, wellness, and happiness! Get your products at EatPluck.com, check your grocer; if you’re a practitioner, see if you can try out the products yourself first, and perhaps even encourage and endorse them to your patients, as well.

[48:55] James wishes everyone a fabulous year and please know to reach out. Pluck has affiliate programs and wholesale. “We’re always happy to answer any questions and to support the eating of the whole animal, so please ask.”

[49:15] Sachin thanks James and wishes him a wonderful rest of the day.

Mentioned in this episode

Perfect Practice Live

Mindshare

Genius Network

Eat Like a Human: Nourishing Foods and Ancient Ways of Cooking to Revolutionize Your Health, by Dr. Bill Schindler

More about your host Sachin Patel

How to speak with Sachin

Go one step further and Become The Living Proof

Perfect Practice Live

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To set up a practice clarity call and opportunity audit

Books by Sachin Patel:

Perfect Practice: How to Build a Successful Functional Medical Business, Attract Your Ideal Patients, Serve Your Community, and Get Paid What You’re Worth

The Motivation Molecule: The Biological Secrets To Eliminate Procrastination, Skyrocket Productivity, and Get Sh!t Done

Tweetables:

“Many of us don’t value our time. As I get older, I’m realizing that time is much more precious than I’ve ever valued it.” — James Barry

“If it tastes good and it’s good for you, and it’s easy to apply, why wouldn’t you use it? I’m not just talking about Pluck, I’m talking about anything!” — James Barry

“For health food to become a lifestyle, it has to hit two things. It has to be easy, … but then it also has to be delicious.” — James Barry

“Once we feel better, we treat others better.” — James Barry

“You can get too little of something, you can also get too much of something.” — James Barry

Chef James Barry: FB: Eat Pluck

Website: Eat Pluck

Bio: James Barry

James Barry’s 20 years in the culinary field started as a private chef cooking for celebrities such as Tom Cruise, Mariska Hargitay, George Clooney, Gerard Butler, Sean “Puffy” Combs, Barbra Streisand, and John Cusack. Most recently, James launched his first functional food product, Pluck, an organ-based seasoning. It's the first of its kind and an amazingly easy and delicious way for people to get organ meats into their diet.

James is also a published cookbook author having co-authored the recipes in Margaret Floyd’s book Eat Naked and co-authored the follow-up cookbook The Naked Foods Cookbook. He most recently co-authored the recipes in Dr. Alejandro Junger’s book, Clean 7.