The Best Season to Eat Beef, Foods It Clashes With, and Who Should Avoid It

Beef is the third most consumed meat in the world, accounting for about 25% of the meat products market. Beef is rich in protein and amino acids, and has the functions of tonifying the middle and benefiting qi, nourishing the spleen and stomach, strengthening the sinews and bones, resolving phlegm and calming wind, and quenching thirst and stopping drooling. So what season is good for eating beef? What can't it be eaten with? Beef is a relatively warming and tonifying food ingredient, sweet and neutral in nature and flavor, suitable for eating in autumn and winter.

What can't beef be eaten with

1. Chinese chives

Beef is one of the main meats consumed by Chinese people, with sales second only to pork. Beef enjoys the reputation of “the pride of meats”; it not only has an excellent taste, but also has the effects of tonifying the spleen and stomach, benefiting qi and blood, and strengthening the sinews and bones. In contrast, eating more Chinese chives can enhance the qi of the spleen and stomach and benefit liver function. By rights, putting these two foods together should produce a better effect, but in fact this is not the case: beef and Chinese chives eaten at the same time will cause poisoning.

2. River snail

River snail meat is rich in vitamin A, protein, iron and calcium, and has a dietary therapeutic effect on diseases such as red eyes, jaundice, beriberi and hemorrhoids. But river snail and beef clash, are not easy to digest, and will cause abdominal bloating.

3. Chestnuts

The Yinshan Zhengyao (Principles of Correct Diet) records that “beef must not be eaten together with chestnuts.” At the same time, some people have also found that eating beef together with chestnuts causes vomiting. The vitamins in chestnuts easily react with the trace elements in beef. If the two are eaten together, the trace elements in beef will weaken the nutritional value of the chestnuts; not only will the nutrients obtained be greatly reduced, but after these two ingredients are eaten, they are also not easy to digest and absorb.

4. Honey

Beef is slightly warming, while honey moistens the intestines and stomach. If honey is eaten together with beef, it will immediately cause diarrhea. So if you eat beef, drink honey eight hours later. Or drink honey and eat beef eight hours later.

5. Olives

Eating beef together with olives will not cause poisoning, but it will cause abdominal bloating. An interval of about two hours, once the first food has basically been digested, is enough.

6. Ginger

Ginger contains volatile oils, gingerol and other components, and has a special spicy aroma, often used as a seasoning in cooking. However, beef should not be seasoned with ginger. This is because ginger is pungent and warm in nature and flavor, and generally anyone with yin deficiency and internal heat should avoid eating it. If ginger is paired with beef, which is sweet and warm in nature and flavor, it is undoubtedly adding fuel to the fire, causing internal heat to rise and fire to flourish, leading to various heat-pain syndromes. Therefore, beef should not be eaten together with ginger.

7. Pork

The saying that pork and beef should not be eaten together has a long history. The Yinshan Zhengyao points out: “pork must not be eaten together with beef.” This is mainly considered from the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine. First, from the perspective of the medicinal properties of foods in traditional Chinese medicine, pork is sour and cold, slightly cold, with a rich, greasy, yin-cold nature, while beef is sweet and warm in odor and flavor, can tonify the spleen and stomach, strengthen the waist and legs, and has the effect of calming the middle and benefiting qi. The two are one warm and one cold; one tonifies the spleen and stomach, while the other is cold and greasy and weakens a person. Their natures and flavors conflict, so they are not suitable to be eaten together.

8. Catfish

There is a component in beef that, when combined with a component in catfish, will produce an element toxic to the human body. Therefore, the two must not be eaten together, otherwise a person will be poisoned.

9. Baijiu

Eating baijiu and beef at the same time easily causes internal heat. This is because beef is sweet and warm, tonifies qi and helps fire, while baijiu is a greatly warming item; paired with beef it is like pouring oil on the fire, easily causing tooth inflammation.

Who should not eat beef?

1. Patients with infectious diseases, liver disease and nephritis should avoid eating it

Beef is a high-protein food. Patients with liver disease and nephritis should not eat much of it, so as to avoid increasing the burden on the kidneys. When used together with aminophylline-type drugs, it will also reduce their medicinal efficacy.

2. Those with sores, scabies, eczema, smallpox measles or itching should use it with caution

Beef is a pungent and stimulating food, and high-fat foods can produce a large amount of heat energy, which can cause internal heat to accumulate in the body and worsen the condition.

3. The elderly and children should not eat too much

Beef is high in cholesterol and high in fat, so the elderly, children and people with weak digestion should not eat too much. Eat it in moderation to ensure nutritional intake without excess.

Warm reminder

Beef has a very good nourishing effect on our bodies, but everyone must be sure to eat beef in moderation. We can choose to eat it in small amounts more often, which can effectively improve the utilization rate of beef. It is best not to exceed one hundred grams of cooked beef per day.