I am feeling like I've been too much being a carnivore myself, by eating 100 grams of meat each day in order to increase my iron level which was dropped to 8 where mine was supposed to be within the normal range of 20-100 points. That was a lot to lose, really.
I had had iron deficiency twice during my two pregnancies but it wasn't as worst as this time. It was only dropped to 12 which then within weeks I could correct the level to 18, then got it normal again to 22 before the time of labour. I didn't consume chocolate, tea, or coffee during my pregnancies in order to help the iron taken from the iron-rich foods I took was absorbed easily in the blood. I had lots of nuts, dried fruits, orange juice and red meat as well as spinach (I felt like Popeye).
Red meat isn't our favorite menu at home. I used to be a vegetarian and my husband is not fond of meat, either. My daughter is the only one who loves meat. Nowadays, I have to make everyone eat meat although I cook different menu each day with different types of meat. I want us all to keep the iron level on the safe point. This is important to keep us balanced and stay healthy.
Iron deficiency anemia is told to be a common problem in most women, especially those who are pregnant and those who have heavy periods. The loss of blood after-natal sometimes can be a deathly trigger to drop the iron point to the lowest level which makes women feel uncomfortably dizzy and look pale.
I watched the news of Indonesian women who had blood loss after-natal almost any of them were died because of it. The KOWANI or Kongres Wanita Indonesia (Indonesian Women Congress Board) and other women organizations in Jakarta have been giving Indonesian women a shout-out to be aware of iron deficiency anemia by many trainings they do in rural areas. Many of these women didn't include red meat in their diet or eat less meat and other iron-rich food, especially within their pregnancy. It is caused by either the price of the meat itself as most of these women are living in poverty, or solely the disliking of the products. I am sure there are many other women in the world have similar reasons or many other reasons not to like meat, but let us hope they will consider to eat meat soon after they have read our recipes.
Red meat is a very good source of iron as it contains the essential amino acids which we sometimes are lacking of. The intake of 100 grams of lean meat daily will gradually increase your iron point to the normal one if you're suffering from iron deficiency anemia. Of course we have to trim the meat in order to get rid of most fat enveloped in it. It is said that,
“a lean, cooked and trimmed sirloin will contain 65% protein and 35% fat compared to untrimmed sirloin which will contain 24% protein and 76% fat” [Diet and Nutrition-A Holistic Approach. Rudolph Ballentine, M.D. The Himalayan International Institute. Honesdale, Pennsylvania. 1978. p.116].
Other meat is as good as red meat although they have different iron source percentage from red meat.
I am asking you to raise the awareness together for all the women in the world to eat meat in order to correct the iron level, to keep the iron level steady, and to keep healthy by sending me your entry on Cook and Eat Meat as a one-off event. I believe the various recipes of meat will help other women to prepare meat for themselves as well as for the family for a little bit of change in the daily menu.
You can cook any meat you usually do at home and share with us. If you have had or had had iron deficiency anemia during your pregnancy(ies) or are still working it out, we'd like to hear your story if you don't mind to tell us. I know this uncomfortable disease can be cured if we watch what we eat and increase iron-rich food in our diets.
Please send me your entry by 16 June 2007 to cookandeatmeat(at)gmail(dot)com, together with your name, your blog URL, and the link of your post for this event . I will be happy if you would like to spread the words to your readers and might as well to announce this event in your own blog. Feel free to use the logo above and please give the credit to the event by the link.
I'll be waiting for any creative meat recipes shall there be sent!
Ikutan ya Temans!! Ditunggu kreasinya!
Buat yang belum jelas: ini event untuk memasak berbagai jenis daging. Boleh dikreasikan macam-macam untuk event ini sebagai wadah untuk mewspadai bahaya kurangnya zat besi dalam darah pada wanita yang dapat menyebabkan hilangnya keseimbangan tubuh.
Silakan masak masakan kesukaan masing-masing, lalu tulis di blog, kemudian kirimkan nama, nama blog berikut URLnya, link post tentang masakan dagingnya berikut link event Cook and Eat Meat, ke cookandeatmeat(at)gmail(dot)com. Batas akhir pengiriman adalah 16 Juni 2007. Round-up akan diumumkan tanggal 21 Juni 2007. Ikutan yaaa!!!
