I (maybe like 0.1 pounds of beef total), and it sent me into anxiety-like breathing issues all night long… and makes me jittery and a total insomniac.
Does anyone else react to beef this way? Red wine does the same thing.
But meat in general has made me feel really weird during this pregnancy. It’s not a flavor thing… it tastes good to me… but it’s definitely some sort of body chemistry reaction thing. Not fun.
So
Thanks!
there is a great old meatless recipe thread, might even be a postie above for Lent, with also great links, if somebody does not link it in a bit I will look for it.
Mexican restaurants here also serve shredded chicken tacos and flaked fish tacos, the fish are great and a favorite in Lent.
I had a huge problem with meat during pregnancy, roast pork literally destroyed my system inside out.
daughters have similar problems. we also share a familial arthritis that begins and flares in pregnancy, with the other females in the family.
grain fed meat has the “wrong” kind of fats, fats that do not occur in the animal when it eats its natural diet of grasses. I don’t recall the acronymns but there is an exhaustive explanation on the website for texas grassfed beef (not just texas beef), ted slanker’s site. when we were eating only Amish local raised grassfed meats beef, chicken and pork there was no problem. DDs and I only had problems during the pregancies where she had no access to grain fed local produced only when we relied on supermarket meat for convenience, cost or locality.
the arthritis-grain fed meat connection to me makes it clear. the same “wrong” fats and proteins that made us sick in pregnancy, even today cause headaches and arthritis flare-ups.
the protein power diet people also discuss this issue on their website.
my guess–and we are talking opinion based on experience and reading, not expertise–is that it is not beef or pork per se, it is how the animal was raised. by the way just because meat is labelled “natural” does not mean exclusively grassfed.
even today things that are allergy, headache or arthritis triggers for me, seem to be the same–good red wine bottled in glass, with no additives is fine, cheap wine in plastic boxes causes problems. for me and my daughters headache, esp. migraine, allergy symptoms esp. breathing related, and arthritis have the same or similar triggers. IMO such reactions are systemic and caused by underlying inflammation.
I think you are very wise to keep track of what you eat and make observations and choose accordingly. I am guessing what causes a major reaction in pregancy is still problematic afterward, but maybe symptoms are not severe enough to get on the radar.
we have eaten meatless tacos for so many years I have forgotten about it, and my kids actually always liked them better than those with ground beef.
we used to frequent a natural foods co-op that had a soy TVP-based burger substitute, which we could buy in bulk, cheaper than ground beef. Now I buy morningstar farms burger crumbles, soy based, better for small family, but I would look for a bulk product for large families.
saute a diced sweet onion in olive oil
add the crumbles and brown it
add fresh or canned diced tomatoes (your own garden canned or frozen tomatoes are the best of course), canned green chilis if you like them (I don’t kids do), if you don’t use the chilis, or chili style canned tomatoes, add chili powder to taste. you can use a package mix but I can’t because of sodium, your choice. you can add fresh chopped or dry cilantro, or cumin seed whole or ground. cumin is what makes the distinctive “taco” flavor along with the dry chiles, but it is such a personal taste matter just experiment.
serve in taco shells with the usual toppings–I add the tomato onion and pepper while cooking, but it you want them as toppings just cook the crumbles alone
our family hates green pepper in food but if you like it, dice it and brown with the onion, I simply could not eat peppers during pregnancy although I like them.
we also use the crumbles in tomato sauce, and other burger recipes.
however when i can get grassfed beef I prefer it, and now it is becoming available in local markets as local ranchers have decided to capitalize on a trend and save costs in raising cattle.
if you are allergic to soy read labels on meat substitutes carefully. some TVP is soy based, some is not (textured vegetable protein).
otherwise, make friends with a bean. my brother makes a red bean-scrambled egg taco filling that is delicious. be aware that eggs can also pose a problem for sensitive people because eggs from grain fed factory chickens can have the same compounds as the beef that are problematic. the Omega 3 eggs now on the market pose no problem for me.
