Dark Meat: 5 Reasons You Should Be Eating It Now
5 Comments | Written on April 11, 2012 at 11:00 am, by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN
We Americans love our chicken breasts. But it’s time to give legs and thighs the respect they deserve. Here are five reasons to put dark meat back on the menu.
It’s Moister Dark meat is higher in fat than white meat—but hardly the diet-wrecker it’s sometimes made out to be. A 3.5 ounce serving of roasted dark meat (without the the skin) contains about 11g of fat and about 200 calories. That bit of extra fat makes the meat much juicer and less likely to dry out during cooking. (Try the recipe pictured at left: Chicken Thighs with Snap Peas with Agliata, a garlicky Italian-breadcrumb mixture.)
Built-In Portion Control Even though it’s higher in fat, a thigh still has a lot fewer calories than a breast—thanks to the built-in portion control. The average chicken breast is more than twice as big as the average thigh (and technically counts as two servings).
Save Big You’ll also pay 30 to 50 percent less per pound for chicken thighs than you will for breasts—in large part, due to the higher demand for the white meat. (Why not cash in on what everyone else is missing?)
Protects Your Heart A new study found that the dark meat of chicken and turkey contains more taurine than the white meat. Higher intake of this amino acid appears to protect women against heart disease—especially those who have high cholesterol levels. Dark meat also contains twice as much zinc as white meat.
Tastes Great Chicken and turkey breast have a very mild flavor that can get, well, a little boring. Dark meat is richer and more flavorful. (Asian and Latin-American cooks prize dark meat’s depth of flavor.) If you’ve been stuck in the turkey- or chicken-breast rut, why not pick up a package of legs and thighs and see what you’ve been missing?
Try these Sweet and Spicy Chicken Thighs
***more healthy dinner recipes***
Categories:
Real Healthy | Tags: Boneless Chicken Breasts, Chicken Thighs, Turkey, Turkey Legs
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5 Responses to “Dark Meat: 5 Reasons You Should Be Eating It Now”
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What I took away from the linked article (and another on WebMD): dark meat *may* protect against heart disease… *only* (not “especially) for women with high cholesterol.
The study was small (446 women–80% Caucasian) and more research is needed.
[...] the possible dangers of consuming it every day. And finally, on the What’s Cooking blog I offer 5 reasons to stop avoiding the dark meat. Filed Under: Nutrition Over Easy About Monica ReinagelA licensed nutritionist, noted [...]
I agree with the article and Jim! Everybody always get the breast because it’s “bigger, tastes better, and it’s better for you “. Thank you Recipe.com for proving my point so I can continue eating my delicious thighs!
Couldn’t agree more. (Everyone else’s preference for white meat has always meant more of the good stuff for me!)