Why Safe Chicken Meat should be part of Healthy Diet and How to prepare it?

Why Safe Chicken Meat should be part of Healthy Diet and How to prepare it?

By: Vijay Sardana

Pulses are becoming expensive & luxury food item for common man world-over. Consumers should explore cheaper and better option to ensure good health.

For non-vegetarians, from soup preparations to fried and roasted forms, safe chicken is a popular food in India that is cooked in multitude ways in every household. Safe Chicken is one of the most valued foods among people of all ages, throughout the world. Not only it forms a crucial part of various culinary traditions but it is also highly nutritious and delicious to taste. Here are some amazing health benefits of eating chicken.

·  Helps build muscles: Chicken is one of the best non-vegetarian sources of protein. Chicken is a great source of lean, high quality protein and less amount of fat, which is an essential nutrient for growth and development. It plays a significant role in aiding obese people in weight loss too. A 100g serving of roasted chicken offers you 31g of protein, making it great for those who want to bulk up and build muscles.

·  Keeps your bones & teeth healthy: Apart from protein, chicken is rich in several minerals like phosphorus and calcium, that helps keeps bones in mint condition. Also, it has selenium which has been known to cut risk of arthritis. Phosphorus present in chicken helps in maintaining healthy teeth and bones

·  Relieves stress: Chicken has two nutrients that are great for reducing stress – tryptophan and Vitamin B5. Both of them have a calming effect on your body and this makes chicken an excellent option after a stressful day. Also, it tastes great and that too adds to its stress releasing, happiness inducing properties.

· Reduces PMS symptoms: Magnesium, a nutrient present in chicken helps soothe symptoms of pre-menstrual syndrome and fight the various mood changes that a woman might experience during her periods.

·  Helps boost testosterone levels: Men should consume foods rich in zinc as it helps regulate testosterone levels as well as boost sperm production.

·  Boosts immunity: Chicken soup has long been used as a home remedy for relieving cold, flu and other common respiratory infections. The hot steam of chicken soup helps clear nasal and throat congestion while the thick fluid coats the throat to prevent invasion of respiratory linings by microbes to cause infection. A study evaluating this effect suggested that chicken soup inhibits migration of neutrophils, a type of immune cells, thereby preventing inflammation during common infections and boosting immunity.

·  Promotes heart health: Chicken, being rich in vitamin B6, plays an important role in preventing heart attack. Chicken contains vitamin B6 which plays a crucial role as a methyl donor in the basic cellular process of Methylation. Vitamin B6 present in chicken is necessary for the body’s processing of carbohydrates, especially the breakdown of glycogen; the form in which sugar is stored in muscle cells. Regular consumption of chicken is essential for maintaining steady availability of methyl groups; hence, preventing damage caused to the blood vessels. Vitamin B6 helps by lowering the levels of homocysteine, one of the key components linked to an increased risk of heart attack.

· Maintains health of Central Nervous System & Vital Organs: Phosphorus present in chicken ensures healthy functioning of the kidneys, liver and the central nervous system.

· Helps lower cholesterol: Besides, chicken is also a good source of niacin that helps lower cholesterol, a risk factor for heart disease development. Niacin present in chicken is exceptionally beneficial for the body. It facilitates the conversion of body’s proteins, fats and carbohydrates into usable energy. Besides, it also helps in optimizing blood sugar regulation as a component of a molecule called glucose tolerance factor, which optimizes insulin activity. The American Heart Association also recommends consumption of chicken over red meat since it contains less amount of saturated fats and is also a good source of omega-3 fatty acids that exhibit beneficial cardiovascular effects.

·  Prevention against Alzheimer’s Disease:  Consumption of niacin-rich foods, like chicken, is necessary for providing protection against Alzheimer’s disease and age-related cognitive decline.

· Help in synthesis in damaged cells and effective in cancer protection: Chicken provides good amounts of the trace mineral, selenium. It is highly effective in thyroid hormone metabolism, antioxidant defense systems and immune functioning. Selenium is known to induce DNA repair and synthesis in damaged cells, to inhibit the proliferation of cancer cells and to induce their apoptosis. Selenium is an important constituent of many proteins, including glutathione peroxidase, which may be very effective in cancer protection. Glutathione peroxidase helps in the detoxification of a wide range of potentially harmful molecules in the liver. Any decrease in the levels of glutathione peroxidase can cause damage to cellular DNA and promote development of cancer cells.

Nutritional Value of Safe Chicken Meat (Raw):

Nutrients in Chicken Meat	Unit	Value per 100 g
Proximates
Water	g	74.940
Energy	kcal	111.000
Energy	kJ	464.000
Protein	g	20.330
Total lipid (fat)	g	2.700
Ash	g	1.070
Carbohydrate, by difference	g	0.000
Fiber, total dietary	g	0.000
Sugars, total	g	0.000
Minerals
Calcium, Ca	mg	10.000
Iron, Fe	mg	1.030
Magnesium, Mg	mg	23.000
Phosphorus, P	mg	198.000
Potassium, K	mg	238.000
Sodium, Na	mg	75.000
Zinc, Zn	mg	1.190
Copper, Cu	mg	0.050
Manganese, Mn	mg	0.018
Selenium, Se	µg	16.900
Vitamins
Vitamin C, total ascorbic acid	mg	0.000
Thiamin	mg	0.069
Riboflavin	mg	0.134
Niacin	mg	7.875
Pantothenic acid	mg	1.032
Vitamin B-6	mg	0.420
Folate, total	µg	7.000
Folic acid	µg	0.000
Folate, food	µg	7.000
Folate, DFE	µg	7.000
Vitamin B-12	µg	0.360
Vitamin A, RAE	µg	13.000
Retinol	µg	13.000
Carotene, beta	µg	0.000
Carotene, alpha	µg	0.000
Cryptoxanthin, beta	µg	0.000
Vitamin A, IU	IU	45.000
Lycopene	µg	0.000
Lutein + zeaxanthin	µg	0.000
Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol)	mg	0.220
Vitamin K (phylloquinone)	µg	2.400
Lipids
Nutrient	Unit	Value per 100 g
Fatty acids, total saturated	g	0.670
4:00	g	0.000
6:00	g	0.000
8:00	g	0.000
10:00	g	0.000
12:00	g	0.010
14:00	g	0.020
16:00	g	0.450
18:00	g	0.180
Fatty acids, total monounsaturated	g	0.830
16:1 undifferentiated	g	0.120
18:1 undifferentiated	g	0.690
20:01	g	0.010
22:1 undifferentiated	g	0.000
Fatty acids, total polyunsaturated	g	0.670
18:2 undifferentiated	g	0.480
18:3 undifferentiated	g	0.020
18:04	g	0.000
20:4 undifferentiated	g	0.080
20:5 n-3 (EPA)	g	0.010
22:5 n-3 (DPA)	g	0.010
22:6 n-3 (DHA)	g	0.030
Cholesterol	mg	65.000
Amino Acids
Nutrient	Unit	Value per 100 g
Tryptophan	g	0.237
Threonine	g	0.859
Isoleucine	g	1.073
Leucine	g	1.526
Lysine	g	1.727
Methionine	g	0.563
Cystine	g	0.260
Phenylalanine	g	0.807
Tyrosine	g	0.686
Valine	g	1.008
Arginine	g	1.226
Histidine	g	0.631
Alanine	g	1.109
Aspartic acid	g	1.812
Glutamic acid	g	3.045
Glycine	g	0.998
Proline	g	0.836
Serine	g	0.700
Other
Alcohol, ethyl	g	0.000
Caffeine	mg	0.000
Theobromine	mg	0.000

How to cook chicken in a healthy way?

Different parts of chicken have different levels of fat and cholesterol. The breast meat is the leanest with 28g containing just 1g of fat. This is followed by the chicken’s legs which has 2g of fat per every 28g.

Before you decide to cook chicken, make sure you cut of all the visible fat as it isn’t good for your heart. These fat deposits usually look white in color, and you can ask your vendor to point it out for you if you have trouble identifying it. To make it healthier, you should first marinate it with healthy spices like turmeric, coriander along with curd so that the chicken absorbs all its nutrients and becomes tastier. After that, you could try cooking it in a pressure cooker so that the chicken is soft and tender to eat. Baking or grilling it in a microwave is also a healthy option that you can consider.

While preparing in open fire, please ensure marination and do not allow chicken to burn and turn black. Slow flame and proper cooking is key to healthy and safe dish.

Enjoy your chicken dish and share as well.

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Vijay Sardana is well known food and dairy technologist with rich experience in food, industry and commodity trade. For more information, you may long on to his blog: “Vijay Sardana Online”.