Can I eat beef kidneys? Why would you want to do that? Low Hb

[Roopachoo]

My Hb levels have dropped again despite increasing my iron dosage... if not sorted in two weeks I will have to start going in for weekly iron transfusions. So, beef kidneys apparently has a really high iron content? Can't have the livers because of the high vitamin A content, so kidneys seem the next best(??!) thing... uggh...

Ermm, what's wrong with kidney? Sorry don't get.

Yummy Steak and Kidney pudding?

my MW said no heart and no kidney. no idea why but she said no.... i'm sad cause i love them both, especially lamb heart...

I love lamb heart. Not too crazy about the texture of kidney, but I guess I'm imagining eating truck loads of it... maybe mixed up with some potatoes...

Anyone else heard that kidneys are off the menu? Maybe because they're filter organs?

Can't seem to find anything official - but on the plus side kidney doesn't seem to be on the official "don't eat" list produced by the Food Standards Agency.

The only suggestion I could see as to why eating kidneys was a bad idea was that "the cow might have been injected with something before hand and some toxins might have got into the kidneys" (presumably because they're the filters as was suggested previously). I'm a bit cynical of this, tbh - we've got a horse and there's a massive list of drugs that she can't have unless we sign a disclaimer to say that she is not for human consumption, and another list of things that would exclude her from the food chain for a given period. Anything she is injected with is recorded in her passport. She cannot go to an abattoir without it (not that we'd particularly want her to wind up on a plate, but we're legally obliged to be aware of the issues and to abide by the legislation). All of this was brought in to be in line with the way the EU handles drug administration for animals that may reach the human food chain so I would be extremely surprised if beef cattle could be injected with anything risky and still wind up under cellophane in Sainsburys/on the butcher's counter.

If it were me I probably would, although if I was feeling cautious (not unusual when I'm pregnant) I might try and check with MW/Dr first.

lolajane2009 - I'd be very interested in knowing why your MW said no as I hate not understanding things. Any chance you could ask at your next appointment ?

she said no offal.

But why? The reason for avoiding liver is very specific and doesn't apply to other offal. So what's wrong with it?

I'm not doubting that's what she said, btw, I just really don't understand why and can't find anything that justifies avoiding it the rest of it. (And things I don't understand bug me like mad )

Thanks for that Tangle. Reassured to know about your horse!

I too can't think why kidney would be on the forbidden list. 'Offal' does refer to a wide range of entrails and internal organs, of which only liver, brain and possibly trotters seem to be of any potential risk.

Dark chocolate is high in iron........

I am so going to run with that new piece of info...

And good red wine.

I love my MW... :o

i think heart might be because if you don't clean it properly it can give you food poisoning, same with kidneys.

It's something to do with kidney, liver .etc carrying the wrong type of vitamin A supposedly!

You can get a wicked iron kick from a lamb, spinach & guinness casserole with lots of dark green veg e.g. brocolli, plus it's delicious! Hope this helps!!! :)

Beef kidneys and liver contain a MASSIVE amount of cholesterol (like 200% of your RDA) and the kidneys can provide about 50% of your iron RDA. But they arent a source of Vitamin A.

I do think some MWs just say 'offal' is banned so ladies dont eat the liver/brains and there is no confusion about what's allowed and what isnt (my MW was pretty unadventurous about food anyway, judging by her horror at what I eat regularly!) My friend was told 'no mayonnaise' (because the homemade stuff has raw eggs in it)...she was 7 months before someone pointed out that you can get it in a jar and is perfectly safe

I stopped asking my midwife if foods were safe - she always defaulted to 'No', especially if she wasn't too sure what they were! But even she never imposed a blanket ban on offal.

Have you looked at/considered taking a chelated iron supplement? Chelated supplements tend to be better absorbed that the ordinary mineral salts so might help.

TooCold- do you mean kidneys aren't a source of Vit A? Liver definitely is, but a quick google seems to find none in kidneys. The 'bad' kind is retinoid, a preformed vitamin A.

Wow. That's a lot of cholesterol. On top of my new dark chocolate habit things aren't looking good...

Liking the Guinness casserole idea. Guess all the alcohol is burnt off.

Woops! I thought it was a Vit A source, sorry folks!

Yes, only about a pint used for the whole thing iirc & it's left simmering! ;)

I'm uessing you've already considered/dismissed/already taking spatone/floradix or somesuch?

But on midwives not being the best source of information as to what we should or shouldn't eat, mine told me at booking on Monday that if I had a steak it needed to be cooked very well (her words: until it's dry and brown). When I challenged this and said I understand mince (ie hamburgers) needing to be cooked throughly but why is a medium steak a risk as the germs on the surface of the meat will have been killed off? Her reply 'Oh, it's the blood' At that point I just decided she didn't know her arse from her elbow stuff on this matter and resolved to enjoy a medium steak at some point, as I have done with my other three pregnancies (ok, I'm lying, two - one I was so sick all the way through I didn't enjoy a single mouthful of anything the whole time...)

So, roo do tell - did you go for the kidneys or not?

I most certainly did and they were yum! Did them in a kind of rezala curry. And my medium steak last night was heavenly too. Steak burgers tonight. Not so bad this low Hb malarkey after all...

But midwife rang the other night and said my Hb has dropped further so looks like I'll have to go for the iron infusions after all. Better than risking a blood transfusion later on, and I'll do anything to get into my cosy birthing centre.

Manda yes have looked at all those supplements but the concentrations are quite low. My tablet dosage is about 600mg without taking into account diet.

Medium steak, roo? You know, you can't have that because of the blood?!

If I wasn't still in the grip of ms I'd be very jealous right now!

Also, re the supplements, yes you're right that the concentrations compared to traditional tablets do seem low... but the iron in the tablets is very difficult for our bodies to process/asorb, whereas the iron in those particular supplements is very easily absorbed so in real terms you need far less of it to 'equal' a traditional iron tablet.

How many weeks are you? If you're going to need infusions your Hb must be pretty low (hope you're feeling ok?) and it can't really hurt to attack the problem from all sides if you're determined to get your birthing centre experience! Which is to say, why not give spatone a go too? Two, or three sachets a day and I'm sure you'll see an improvement (I responded very quickly to it (within a week or so my Hb jumped two points) so I'm an advocate )

I guess it's all down to the absorption issue in the end...2 points in a week? V impressive. I'll give the spatone a whirl from now and hopefully by the time I see my consultant on 1 March it would've made a difference.

I'm almost 21 weeks now and Hb was 8.5 a week ago- not dangerously low yet, although below 9 is supposed to be 'severe anaemia'. I think the main worry is it will continue to drop as the pregnancy progresses.

Now off to devour some entrails of some such swimming in bovine blood.

Don't know if this will help but found an NHS sheet online that states steak and kidney pie is a good main meal and source of iron.