Yes, you can have steak while pregnant. Steak, most commonly refers to a cut of red meat and often part of home meals as well as restaurant orders. Apart from being a good source of protein, it is a great source of L-carnitine, which is an amino acid. Amino acids are essential nutrients for pregnant women as they are necessary for the growth of the baby. Steak is also a rich source of antioxidants, which offer anti-aging benefits, boost your immunity, increase your longevity, and reduce your risk of heart disease. It also contains numerous minerals including calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, and potassium.
It is safe to eat steak as long as you cook it properly. If the meat is raw or under-cooked, it is susceptible to contamination from salmonella and listeria. While consuming contaminated meat may mean nothing more than an upset stomach in some cases, for pregnant women it can cause serious damage to your baby and can even be fatal for the growing fetus. Hence, if you’re eating steak during pregnancy, you must be extra careful to not eat under-cooked meat.
To ensure that the meat is properly cooked, you must use a meat thermometer. According to the FDA, meat with a temperature of 145F or 63C is considered ‘medium well’ or ‘well done,’ which is safe for pregnant women to eat. Rare and medium rare steak are not safe to eat. General rule of thumb is that if it is pink, it is probably not safe for you.
As for cuts, lean cuts of steak, such as the sirloin and top/bottom round steak, are probably better choices rather than high fat cuts such as rib-eye and T-bone steak.
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