chicken

Similar to what I mentioned in my post about beef and sheep meat, I only agree with eating chicken meat and chicken eggs if the animals have been genuinely cared for and pasture raised. As I mention in those posts, industrial farming is one of the worst crimes in history. Essentially these are live beings we are taking life from to feed ourselves.

The least we can do is to be grateful for and respectful to these animals by ensuring they have a decent life. After all, a decent, organic life will mean better quality meat and eggs – without the toxins from anti-biotics and stressful living in battery chickens.

So buy organic, pasture raised chicken and chicken eggs from farmers and meat suppliers who practice the highest ethical standards in terms of animal welfare

PRIMARY MICRO NUTRIENTS	Iron, Phosphorus, Potassium, Zinc, Selenium, Vitamin B3, B5, B6, B12
SECONDARY MICRO NUTRIENTS	Magnesium, Copper, Vitamin B1
NUTRITIONAL HIGHLIGHTS and NOTES	High protein and nutrient content Chicken soup shown to boost immune function, especially good for colds Digestive health Chinese medicine – good for supporting GI function Gelatin in chicken broth highly nutritious and healing to GI lining
FUNCTIONAL BENEFITS	Immune support – healing colds Digestive health


DANGERS	High saturated fat content of skin – remove before eating Contamination with Campylobacter, Salmonella or Shigella bacteria – wash before and cook thoroughly Fed with antibiotics to inhibit bacteria due to poor sanitation and to stimulate growth – buy Organic Allergen food, particularly in children Low amounts Oxalates (Calcium binding and Kidney stones) Contains Purines – not good for Gout Rich in amino acid Arginine, needed to virus replication (eg Herpes) Free range and organic advised – pesticides and antibiotics in feed metabolized into saturated fat (in chicken meat and eggs)

		RDA	Chicken, meat only, roasted	% RDA	Chicken, breast, cooked	% RDA
Nutrient	Unit		per 100g		per 100g
	g	3700	63.79	1.7%	65.32	1.8%
Energy	kcal	2600	190	7.3%	157	6.0%
Protein	g	90	28.93	32.1%	32.06	35.6%
Total lipid (fat)	g	87	7.41	8.5%	3.24	3.7%
Carbohydrate, by difference	g	224	0	0.0%	0	0.0%
Fiber, total dietary	g	38	0	0.0%	0	0.0%
Sugars, total	g		0		0
Minerals
Calcium, Ca	mg	1000	15	1.5%	6	0.6%
Iron, Fe	mg	8	1.21	15.1%	0.49	6.1%
Magnesium, Mg	mg	420	25	6.0%	32	7.6%
Phosphorus, P	mg	700	195	27.9%	241	34.4%
Potassium, K	mg	470	243	51.7%	343	73.0%
Sodium, Na	mg		86		47
Zinc, Zn	mg	11	2.1	19.1%	0.96	8.7%
Copper, Cu	mg	0.9	0.067	7.4%	0.044	4.9%
Manganese, Mn	mg	2.3	0.019	0.8%	0.012	0.5%
Selenium, Se	Âµg	55	22	40.0%	31.9	58.0%
Vitamins
Vitamin C, total ascorbic acid	mg	90	0	0.0%	0	0.0%
Thiamin	mg	1.2	0.069	5.8%	0.098	8.2%
Riboflavin	mg	1.3	0.178	13.7%	0.187	14.4%
Niacin	mg	16	9.173	57.3%	9.45	59.1%
Pantothenic acid	mg	5	1.104	22.1%	1.585	31.7%
Vitamin B-6	mg	1.7	0.47	27.6%	0.921	54.2%
Folate, total	Âµg	400	6	1.5%		0.0%
Choline, total	mg		78.8		117
Betaine	mg		5.7		10
Vitamin B-12	Âµg	2.4	0.33	13.8%	0.2	8.3%
Vitamin A, IU	IU	5000	53	1.1%	33	0.7%
Vitamin E, total	mg	15	0.27	1.8%	0.41	2.7%
Vitamin D	IU	600	5	0.8%	1	0.2%
Vitamin K (phylloquinone)	Âµg	120	2.4	2.0%	4.3	3.6%
Lipids
Fatty acids, total saturated	g		2.04		1.01
Fatty acids, total monounsaturated	g		2.66		1.275
Fatty acids, total polyunsaturated	g		1.69		0.791
Amino Acids
Tryptophan	g		0.338		0.404
Threonine	g		1.222		1.438
Isoleucine	g		1.528		1.573
Leucine	g		2.171		2.652
Lysine	g		2.458		3.083
Methionine	g		0.801		0.834
Cystine	g		0.37		0.336
Phenylalanine	g		1.148		1.294
Tyrosine	g		0.977		1.155
Valine	g		1.435		1.66
Arginine	g		1.745		2.168
Histidine	g		0.898		1.195
Alanine	g		1.578		1.872
Aspartic acid	g		2.578		3.015
Glutamic acid	g		4.333		4.749
Glycine	g		1.421		1.419
Proline	g		1.19		1.019
Serine	g		0.995		1.222

RDA – Recommended Dietary Amount recommendations are based upon calculations for a 40 year old very active man that I have adapted from USDA’s Dietary Intake Guidelines. Using this link you can make your own calculations

Adapted from:

Murray, M. (2005). Encyclopedia of Healing Food. New York, N.Y.: Atria Books

USDA food database: http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/

Other information sources:

World’s Healthiest Foods – an excellent online food and nutrition encyclopedia

Self Nutrition Data: an online nutrient breakdown of foods