Is it okay to eat chicken, the world's most favorite food, with the skin
There is no
doubt that chicken is the most popular meat in the world. It is the most widely
consumed meat globally.
According to
the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, 133 million tons of
chicken were consumed in the world in 2021.
Latin
America is the third largest region in the world where chicken is consumed the
most.
In 2019, an
average of 32.7 kg of chicken was consumed per capita. In Brazil, this figure
was 40.6 kg and in Argentina, it was 40.4 kg.
Chicken is
also popular for food because it is generally cheap and low in fat. In
addition, its consumption is less likely to face religious and social problems.
Chicken is
rich in protein and is an important source of vitamins and minerals.
It also
contains significant levels of monounsaturated fats, which are beneficial for
human nutrition, which benefit heart health and arteries.
But there
are also many doubts and misconceptions about the use of this popular food.
For example,
it is believed that chicken skin contains a lot of fat. So is it good to eat
chicken with the skin or should it be removed before cooking or eating?
Maria
Dolores Fernandez Pazos, a nutritionist at the Food Nutrition Information
Center in Argentina, "chicken skin contains 32% fat,
meaning that for every 100 grams of skin there are 32 grams of fat."
Nutritionists
explain that of the fats in chicken skin, two-thirds are unsaturated fats,
which we call 'good fats', which help improve blood cholesterol levels.
And one-third
of this is saturated fats, which we call 'bad fats', which increase the level
of bad cholesterol in the human body.
Chicken meat
also contains the same amount of fat. Therefore, nutritionists say, 'If we eat
chicken with the skin, it will increase the fat content and calorie intake by
about 50 percent.'
For example,
if we eat six ounces of chicken breast meat without the skin, we will consume
284 calories (according to the US Department of Agriculture's nutritional
data), of which 80 percent of the calories come from protein and 20 percent
from fat.
But this
number of calories will increase significantly when we eat this amount of meat
with the skin. Then we will eat 386 calories, 50% of which come from protein
and 50% from fat or grease.
Therefore,
nutritionist Dolores Fernandez says that 'the healthiest and most general
recommendation to the public is to remove (the skin) before eating, so that
extra calories or fat are not added to the plate.'
She adds
that 'for people who do not have any diseases, are at a healthy weight for
their height, are physically active and have a good body composition, we can
recommend that they leave the skin on the chicken during cooking and remove it
before eating, because the presence of the skin on the meat will help the meat
to dry out less during cooking and be juicier and tastier.'
Can
frozen meat be refrozen after thawing?
Regarding
this, the nutritionist says, 'No, frozen chicken meat that has been thawed once
is not recommended to be refrozen.'
She says,
'The purpose of freezing food is to prevent the growth of microorganisms
present in it. Therefore, thawing the food can cause those microorganisms to
start growing again.'
And this
advice applies to all types of meat that have been defrosted. The only safe way
to refreeze them is to cook them and freeze them.
Nutritionist
Dolores Fernandez says, 'By cooking and freezing the food, we will eliminate
the presence of microorganisms in it and ensure its organoleptic properties and
safety.'
What is
the best way to defrost chicken?
Experts say
that the best way to defrost chicken is to take it out of the freezer and put
it in the refrigerator.
They say
that 'Defrosting chicken at room temperature can increase the growth of the
microorganisms that we mentioned earlier and can spoil the meat.'
While the
defrosting process in the refrigerator is a little slower and it can take up to
24 hours for the whole chicken to soften. For this, we should prepare before
taking the chicken out of the freezer.
Experts said
that chicken should never be defrosted or softened at room temperature or in a
warm place.
Why do some
stores have yellowish meat while others have pink meat, is any of them better?
According to
experts, the color of chicken meat can vary based on the pigments contained in
the grains used in its diet.
Grains such
as corn have a higher content of pigments than white sorghum or wheat, which
contain a lower amount.
And in some
countries, due to consumer preferences, natural pigments are commonly added to
poultry feed to give the meat a yellow color.
But from a
nutritionist's point of view, according to Dollars Fernandez, 'there is no
difference in the characteristics and nutrition of yellow chicken and white
pink chicken.'
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