Eating steak when you are pregnant, is there any effect?

During pregnancy, of course, you have to pay more attention to every food you eat. The things that you consume don't only have an impact on yourself, but also the fetus in your womb. However, many times the desire to eat well while pregnant is irresistible, there are times when you are cravings appetizing and savory foods like steak.

Why can you crave steak when pregnant?

No one knows when cravings come. It could be that cravings are present at unexpected hours, it could be midnight, other times cravings can also come during the day.

There are several factors that can cause pregnant women to have cravings, namely hormonal changes during pregnancy and increased ability to smell and taste which also affect the desire of pregnant women to eat more specific foods.

Sometimes pregnant women's cravings are not normal can also be affected by a lack of certain nutritional intake. When your body lacks one nutrient element, the body will manifest this need into an urge to eat foods that can meet this intake.

Usually, pregnant women tend to want food with a salty and spicy taste. This is natural, considering that pregnant women need sodium intake which is useful for increasing blood volume.

When pregnant, the mother must consume more sodium than usual because the body needs an additional supply of blood which is important for fetal development.

No wonder the mother craves to eat steak while pregnant. Besides being full of flavor, meat also contains iron which will also help increase blood volume. As is well known, lack of iron can put the fetus at risk of premature birth.

Is it safe to eat steak while pregnant?

Actually, it's okay to want to eat steak while pregnant. These foods are full of nutrients that will be useful for the health of your fetus. However, if you are a steak connoisseur with a level of maturity rare, it's a good idea to change orders for a while until the pregnancy is over.

You may feel that as long as the quality of the meat ordered is the best, you don't have to worry about the risk of disease lurking. In fact, raw or uncooked meat still has the possibility of bacteria in it.

The following conditions commonly arise due to consumption of raw meat.

Toxoplasmosis

Bacteria or parasites present in raw meat can increase your risk of getting toxoplasmosis. Toxoplasmosis is a human infection caused by a tiny parasite called Toxoplasma gondii.

In addition to eating steaks with imperfect levels of maturity during pregnancy, Toxoplasma infection can be obtained from consuming unpasteurized sheep's milk. The parasite is also found in unwashed vegetables or fruit and cat litter.

Toxoplasmosis will cause symptoms similar to flu illnesses such as fever, headache, muscle aches, and fatigue after a few weeks of infection.

In some cases, these infections have no symptoms. The disease tends to be mild, but if you are infected early in pregnancy, this can cause serious problems to the health of the fetus and even miscarriage.

Toxoplasma will infect the placenta and fetus and cause congenital toxoplasmosis. Most babies affected by this condition are born healthy.

However, it turns out that the infection has a long-term impact on the baby in the following months or years.

Some of the symptoms in children are eye damage, hearing problems, and brain development problems.

Salmonella poisoning

If you eat undercooked steak while pregnant, you also have the possibility of salmonella bacterial poisoning.

The immune system during pregnancy doesn't work as well as when you are not pregnant. So, this will also have an impact on reduced immune work in protecting the fetus from foreign substances such as bacterial infections.

Although salmonella poisoning will not have a serious impact on the fetus, the effects will still torture you. Symptoms include vomiting accompanied by diarrhea, abdominal pain, headache and fever.

Not only raw meat, salmonella bacteria can also be found in other raw animal products such as eggs and milk.

Eat safe steaks while pregnant

Although risks such as toxoplasmosis are very rare in pregnant women, you still have to take precautions so that you and your baby are healthy until delivery later.

These bacteria can die when cooked at a temperature of approximately 80 ℃ or until cooked completely.

When you order a steak at a restaurant, ask for the steak with perfect doneness or well done. Maturity level medium not recommended because the meat in the middle is still reddish in color.

If you suddenly have a craving for steak and want to make it yourself at home, do the following tips to keep it safe for consumption during pregnancy:

Place the meat in the freezer drawer, making sure to place it in a separate and closed container so that the juices don't get into the other food.
Do not place cooked steaks on a cutting board that was used to marinate raw meat. If you need a place to cut the meat, first wash the cutting board with antibacterial soap.
Cook the meat until cooked. To be sure, you can use a thermometer. If you don't have a thermometer, check it by pressing your finger over the steak. Cooked meat has a texture like the surface of the inner palm under your thumb when you attach the tip of your little finger to your thumb. Here's the guide.
Wash hands and all utensils before you start cooking.