Meat Hangover Prevention

I figure with all the steakhouses in Vegas someone here may have some tips. After I eat a big, delicious, steak I will sometimes get a meat hangover. I'll wake in the middle of the night with a stomach ache and not be able to sleep for a few hours. Of course I could get a smaller cut but sometimes the cuts are large and honestly I'm there to indulge. I had a great steak at Keens last night but at 2 AM I woke and just laid there and waited it out. The steak was delicious though!

Does anyone else have this? Do they have any tips? I drank some water before I went to sleep but that didn't help. I did drink alcohol at dinner but not ridiculous amounts.

Yes, I want my cake and to eat it too, if possible.

 

There's no delicate way to say this. But, it sounds like you didn't have a poop before bed.

 

Could be something to do with the iron in the steak disrupting your body clock, if the Daily Mail is to be believed (which quite often, it shouldn't - allegedly)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2803354/Why-shift-workers-avoid-tucking-steak-brown-rice-green-veg-night-Iron-rich-foods-disrupt-body-clock.html

 

I think beef is pretty hard for the body to break down from steak form, so your body may be working extra hard to process it. When I eat a big steak, I honestly feel like it takes about a week to get my stomach back to correct.

Many people advise chewing the steak a little bit extra so that the gut doesn't have to work as hard. If this always happens when you eat steak, you may have a minor intolerance to beef.

I don't have any idea why, but leaner cuts are supposed to be easier to digest, so maybe try something like a 10 oz filet instead of that 20 oz ribeye, and indulge more on liquor and dessert.

 

Sounds like the steak doesn't agree with your body.

Listen to it or pay the price.

 

Ah yes, the meat sweats. If you've ever been to Fogo de Chao, they provide you with a caramalized plantain for this very issue. The plantain is supposed to be consumed intermittently along with the steak to help smooth the digestion. I'm not sure if there's any scientific proof of this, but it works for me!

 

Try taking some enzymes throughout the day before and after you are going to consume a big meal. If you live near a trader joe's then you can get their chewable pineapple and papaya enzyme tablets. They taste like candy. Enzymes aid in digestion

 

Your problem may well be solved by including some fiber in the meal. If your entire meal is a huge steak and nothing else, then intestinal cramps are likely (which is almost certainly what you're identifying as a stomach ache). Eating vegetable sides will probably help, which is why steak is often served with, for example, broccoli and a baked potato (or plantains, apparently, in Brazil).

 

Bring a few ziploc bags with you. Eat carbs and fiber. Don't finish the steak; servings are obscenely big at those places. Cool the steak overnight in your room fridge or in an ice bucket. Steak is good for breakfast or lunch.

 

I did have a poop before bed, in fact it was quite explosive.

I try to have a salad as an appetizer, although last night it was Caesar's salad and my friend and I split some bacon, maybe not the best choice. Sides were hash browns and green beans. Hash browns probably don't work as fiber!

I may have to be more strict with lunch and salad and sides. I'm looking into enzymes.

 

I've never had what I would call a meat hangover, but I've sometimes had that bloated "food coma" feeling after pigging out and ODing at Las Vegas buffets. What I will sometimes do when I know I am going to overeat is to pop a Nexium/Prilosec/whatever and a fiber based laxative such as Senakot. Kind of the same thing as popping a few aspirin when you go out drinking.

 

I think you're getting some good advice in here. I guess at the very worst you could have a smaller portion of beef. It might just be getting too rich for you now.