Who doesn’t love a nice piece of dried beef covered in salt and delicious marinade sometimes, am I right? This traditional snack is popular among hikers beside others because it’s one of the easiest to store powerful sources of energy out there.
But let’s be honest, most of us don’t really care about that; we rather just like it – beef jerky is simply one of the most popular snacks out there. Therefore it is really possible, that you’re craving that delicious slice of dried beef right now, especially if you’re pregnant.
But can you eat beef jerky while pregnant? Unfortunately, you can’t eat beef jerky while pregnant. Well, at least it is not recommended because there are a handful of problems that may result in you/your baby being harmed. What are they?
That is exactly what we’re about to share with you in this article. So let’s get started!
Table of Contents
Is beef jerky safe during pregnancy?
Even though beef jerk isn’t just tasty, it can be generally considered pretty healthy (it is made organically, comes with tons of proteins, and doesn’t contain nearly any fat at all), eating it while pregnant definitely can’t be considered safe.
Why? There are more reasons, including the risk of getting toxoplasmosis, but we yet have to get into that.
What happens if you eat beef jerky while pregnant?
So, you’re asking yourself: I ate beef jerky while pregnant, what will happen?
To be fair, probably nothing if you take just a little bite or two. That doesn’t make it safe, though – eating a big portion of beef jerky will nearly surely result in you feeling sick and can have even serious consequences.
And don’t get us wrong, you should still try to avoid beef jerky completely while being pregnant since there is a slight chance even that one bite will result badly.
“But why is it so, what exactly is the reason for that, what in the jerky can harm you while you’re pregnant?” you’re probably asking yourself right now. So without further ado, let’s get to the heart of the matter!
Related: Are Beef Sticks Safe During Pregnancy?
Are there any risks associated with eating beef jerky while pregnant?
Yes, there are a handful of risks associated with eating beef jerky while pregnant, as you’ve probably already guessed by now. The first and most important one is simply the fact that jerky isn’t cooked in the traditional sense and therefore may not unlikely cause foodborne illness.
And even though that may affect everyone, pregnant people’s chances are higher due to pregnancy causing damage to their immunity system. Therefore, jerky can cause, for example, toxoplasmosis to them more likely, and that may affect their babies as well.
Besides this BIG risk, there’s also the enormous amount of salt jerky contains. Believe it or not, that salt may spike your blood pressure and high blood pressure is something you should try to avoid while pregnant.
Can I eat homemade beef jerky while pregnant?
NO! Homemade beef jerky is even more prone to cause foodborne illness than store-bought one. That’s because those should be (or at least should be) made safely by professionals and inspected as well.
What does it mean if you crave beef jerky while pregnant?
Craving beef jerky while pregnant doesn’t mean anything special, don’t worry – pregnancy cravings are common (some researchers say that nearly 90 % of women will experience them throughout their pregnancy!).
It isn’t unusual for them to be weird, either – trust us, there have been more pregnant people that experienced things like “I ate four pepperoni + Nutella + pickle sandwiches this week” than you think.
So yeah, craving a beef jerky is absolutely normal, especially when you’d liked this snack before the pregnancy.
Summary
Beef jerky is a popular snack, and it doesn’t come as a surprise many people crave it while pregnant. But no matter how hard you crave it, you definitely shouldn’t eat it – it can be harmful to you and your baby, too, due to the amount of salt in it and the way it is prepared.
Resources
Image credits – Canva
