Can you eat lamb when pregnant?
In this article we are going to answer: can you eat lamb when pregnant, what is a lamb, is lamb healthy to eat when pregnant, what is the risk of eating lamb when pregnant, and how can you add lamb to your diet when pregnant.
Can you eat lamb when pregnant?
Yes, you can eat lamb when you are pregnant. Lamb is safe to eat as long as it has been thoroughly cooked. According to the NHS, all meats including lamb must be fully cooked when you are pregnant to prevent any food-borne illnesses.
What is a lamb?
Lamb or also called hogget or mutton refers to the meat of domesticated sheep. The sheep in their first year of life is called lamb while in their second year is hogget. When it is older, it is called mutton.
- Lamb: a young sheep under 12 months with no permanent incisor teeth in wear.
- Hogget: a sheep with no more than two permanent incisors in wear.
- Mutton: is the meat of the female or castrated male with two or more permanent incisors.
Lamb is the most popular and expensive of the three types of meat. Lamb meat is taken from the animal between one month and one year old. It is tender meat and it can be sorted into three types of meat
- Forequarter: it includes the neck, shoulder, front legs, and ribs up to the shoulder. It contains more connective tissue than some other cuts.
- Loin: includes the ribs
- Hindquarter: includes the rear legs and hip
The cuts of the lamb according to the UK, Canada, and Commonwealth countries include
- Scrag end
- Middle neck
- Best end
- Loin
- Chump
- Leg
- Shank
- Shoulder
- Breast
Lamb chops are cut from the rib, loin, and shoulder areas while the rib chops include a rib bone and the loin chop has only a chine bone.
Is lamb healthy to eat when pregnant?
Lamb is a healthy protein to eat and to add to your diet when you are pregnant. 100 grams of lamb contains 258 calories, 25.6 grams of protein, 0 grams of carbohydrates, and 16.5 grams of fat.
Lamb is primarily composed of protein and when cooked, is about 25% of lean protein. Protein is essential for the proper build and repair of tissues when pregnant.
Fat content in lamb may vary depending on diet, age, gender, and feed but normally it contains about 20% of fat. 100 grams of roasted lamb contains 6.9 grams of saturated fat, 7 grams of monounsaturated fat, and 1.2 grams of polyunsaturated fat.
Lamb is one of the proteins that contains more CLA compared to beef and veal. CLA is a linoleic acid that has a lot of health benefits. Also, lamb is high in vitamin b12, selenium, zinc, niacin, phosphorus, and iron.
What are the benefits of eating lamb when pregnant?
Lamb contains a high amount of protein paired with a lot of vitamins and minerals that are essential for proper fetus development. Some benefits of eating lamb when pregnant are
Promote growth and development
Lamb meat is high in protein with a moderate amount of fat. Protein is essential for the proper growth and development of the baby. Also, it helps repair tissue if there is any damage.
Prevents Anemia
Lamb has a high amount of heme iron. When paired with enough vitamin C, iron from lamb meat helps the formation of red blood cells. Heme iron is more easily absorbed than non heme iron.
Helps maintain a healthy immune system
Lamb has a high amount of zinc in its meat. Zinc is essential for the proper development of the immune system of pregnant women and fetuses. Also, it helps to promote proper cell division.
Promotes proper nervous system formation
Lamb is rich in vitamin B12. This vitamin is very important because it keeps the nervous system healthy, aids the formation of red blood cells, and prevents anemia.
Promotes healthy growth of the baby
Together with protein, fat, and all the vitamins and minerals present in lamb meat they promote a healthy pregnancy with proper healthy weight gain for the mother and ensure maximum growth of the unborn baby.
What is the risk of eating lamb when pregnant?
As all protein, especially animal protein, lamb has to be eaten in moderation. Lamb contains high amounts of cholesterol and saturated fats that slightly increase the risk of high levels of lipids in the blood.
Lamb is also a protein high in histamine so it might give allergic reactions in some people.
Lamb must be eaten fully cooked. According to the FDA, it has to be cooked at least for 145 F or 63 C and let rest for about 3 minutes before eating it. This is to prevent food poisoning.
How can you add lamb to your diet when pregnant?
Look for cuts of lamb that are low in saturated fat such as tenderloin, loin chops, or leg. When you are preparing lamb meat, try to trim as much fat as you can and cook it by grilling it, roasting it, broiling, or baking it. This type of cooking adds fewer unhealthy fats to the meat.
Follow this link for some healthy lamb recipes.
Conclusion
This article answered can you eat lamb when pregnant, what is a lamb, is lamb healthy to eat when pregnant, what is the risk of eating lamb when pregnant, and how can you add lamb to your diet when pregnant.
Citation
https://www.momjunction.com/articles/health-benefits-eating-lamb-pregnancy_0086651/
