Thanks to marketing and fast food, we’ve been consuming more chicken these days than ever before. Sure, we all need to get our protein somehow, and a lot of us prefer white meat to red. Furthermore, being one of the few forms of meat that it’s okay to eat no matter where in the world you live, it’s likely you’ve made chicken a regular part of your diet.
Nevertheless, it’s important not to overlook the potential dangers of overconsumption (or as some believe, the consumption of any chicken at all). Is eating this meat really as healthy as we’ve been led to believe, and/or at what point does it begin to become too much?
The following article was originally published by Diane Vukovic for the Beyond Meat blog. It has been re-posted here to help spread the word on the potential dangers of chicken, and to point the way to healthier alternatives.
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Most Americans today know that red meat like beef is high in saturated fat and is considered unhealthy – especially in light of the rising heart disease epidemic. Yet, chicken routinely is considered “healthy” and numerous nutrition sites recommend it as a good source of lean protein. The American Heart Association even recommends replacing beef with chicken meat. But the notion of chicken being a “healthy meat” is a myth and the reality of chicken is daunting.
How Did Chicken Get a Reputation as Being Healthy?
In 1920, chicken consumption in America was at just about 10 pounds per capita. To give you an idea, this is about 2 ½ of today’s-size chickens eaten per person yearly (today’s chickens are much fatter than chickens in the 1920s). By 2008, chicken consumption had increased to nearly 60 pounds per capita. This is in large part due to the work of the National Chicken Council.
The National Chicken Council (NCC) was founded in 1954 as the National Broiler Council with the goal of promoting chicken consumption. According to their own website, the NCC now represents 95% of broiler chicken production in the US. They were responsible for many successful marketing campaigns in the 50s and 60s, such as “Chicken: The Food of the Future” and “Chicken Is a Wise Buy.” They also sponsored a chicken recipe contest and published chicken recipes to encourage people to eat it.
In 1960, the campaign “Chicken, the high-protein, low-calorie meat” was used. Within a decade, chicken consumption nearly doubled. The timing of the health-oriented ads worked out very well for the chicken industry. In 1976, the findings of a national health report were released in which fat was linked to heart disease. The health report caused beef consumption to plummet from nearly 90lbs per capita yearly to about 73lbs. Yet, chicken consumption surged.
The NCC isn’t the only one responsible for hyping chicken as a healthy meat. Individual producers have also marketed their products as healthy. One famous example is the “Eat Mor Chikin” and “Don’t Be a Big Fat Cow” campaigns from Chick-fil-A which positioned chicken as an alternative to beef. They made this campaign despite the fact that their chicken sandwiches contain 440 calories, 18 grams of fat, and 1,390 grams of sodium – not to mention a long list of additives.
Despite the hyped claims from the chicken industry, chicken is NOT a healthy meat. Below are just some of the reasons why.
Chicken is Not Low Fat
Chicken might be lower fat than beef, but not by much. A 100 gram portion of chicken meat has 13 grams of fat compared to 15 grams in 85% lean beef. When it comes to artery-clogging saturated fat, chicken is better than beef, but shouldn’t be considered a “healthy” alternative. A 100 gram portion of chicken has 17% of the recommended maximum amount of saturated fat!
It is interesting to note that today’s chicken is actually fattier than the chicken of the past. According to One Green Plant, today’s chicken has 15% more fat than that of the 1960s. This is due to genetic selection of chickens based on body weight and because chickens cannot properly synthesize the high-calorie diet they are fed.
Chicken is Loaded with Cholesterol
Like ALL animal meat, chicken contains cholesterol. A 100 gram portion of chicken has 78mg of cholesterol, or 26% of the maximum daily recommended amount. This is similar to the amount found in beef! To make matters worse for your heart, the saturated fat in chicken triggers the liver to make more cholesterol.
Vibrancy UK reports that, in studies by Dean Ornish, MD, heart disease patients who followed his vegetarian plan were compared to patients who followed the American Heart Association’s recommendations to eat less beef and replace it with chicken and fish. The 5-year follow-up found that the vegetarian patients improved whereas those following the AHA guidelines got worse.
Chicken Isn’t the Best Source of Protein
Chicken is usually hyped as a healthy food because of its protein content, which is about 25grams per 100 gram serving. But, considering the high amounts of saturated fat and cholesterol in chicken, you’d be better off getting your protein elsewhere. By comparison, a 100gram portion of beans or lentils has about 9 grams of protein and absolutely NO cholesterol or saturated fats. Most adults only need about 46-56 grams of protein per day, so the high amount of protein in chicken is a really hyped-up benefit.
Conventional Chicken is Loaded with Antibiotics
One of the biggest health issues with conventionally-farmed chicken is that the chickens are routinely fed antibiotics – even when they aren’t sick. This is done as a preventative measure against sickness because the animals are kept in such dismal, dirty conditions, and also because antibiotics cause chickens to gain weight faster. The first issue with this practice is that routine use of antibiotics causes antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria to develop. As Huffington Post reports,
“In every instance of antibiotic use identified by Reuters, the doses were at the low levels that scientists say are especially conducive to the growth of so-called superbugs, bacteria that gain resistance to conventional medicines used to treat people. Some of the antibiotics belong to categories considered medically important to humans.”
The use of antibiotics in chickens shouldn’t be taken lightly. 80% of all antibiotics sold in the United States go towards livestock and poultry.
In addition to bacteria resistance, the use of antibiotics in meat production is linked to problems like obesity and, because antibiotics disrupt our gut flora, to problems like cancer, diabetes, and digestive problems.
Chicken is Contaminated with Bacteria and Feces
If you read “The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair, then you heard about how terrible the meat packing industry was in the 20th century. Standards may have improved, but don’t mistakenly think that the chicken meat you eat is clean.
In a special report by the Atlanta Constitution, virtually all of the 84 poultry inspectors interviewed said that chickens tainted with feces are rinsed and sold, diseased birds make it to store shelves, and poultry plants routinely salvage meat by cutting off diseased parts and selling the rest as wings, legs, or breasts.
Chicken is so badly tainted that Men’s Health called it one of the “Dirtiest Foods We Eat.” They go on to say that the Surgeon General should slap a warning label on chicken because of the risks of bacteria. In nationwide testing, it was found that 42% of chicken meat was infected by Campylobacter jejuni, and 12 percent by Salmonella enterides.
Combine the presence of bacteria with the antibiotics routinely given to chickens and you’ve got a major problem. Alt Net reminds us of a recent outbreak of antibiotic-resistant salmonella and caused almost 300 people in 18 states to be hospitalized.
Chicken May Contain Arsenic
What is arsenic doing in chicken? Bloomberg reports on the practice of putting arsenic in chicken feed because it prevents some disease and causes the birds to gain weight. In the US, producers have mostly stopped giving arsenic feed to chickens (though one arsenic compound is still on the market), but it is still common practice in China. Think that the chicken you buy comes from the US? There is a good chance that it is actually originating in China – and there is no labeling requirement for the origin of the meat.
Chicken Is Linked to Cancer
The arsenic in chicken is linked to cancer – but this isn’t the only link between chicken and cancer. When chicken is grilled (which is supposedly a healthy way of preparing chicken), the hot temperatures and long cooking time cause the creatinine, amino acids, and sugar found in muscle tissue to transform into PhIP.
According to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, PhIP is a group of carcinogens heterocyclic amines (HCAs). As mutagens, HCAs can bind directly to DNA and cause mutations—the first step in cancer development. The levels of PhIP were so high in KFC grilled chicken that the PCRM asked them to withdraw the product from sale.
Environmental Impact
Chicken is incredibly detrimental for the environment and produces vast amounts of greenhouse gases. Chicken waste contaminates land and seeps into water, and uses vast amounts of resources. Obviously this isn’t good for the planet’s health, but what does this have to do with our health? Well, when you have a polluted world, you have more problems like respiratory illnesses due to poor air quality, spread of infectious diseases, and cancer. To save the planet and your health, it is time to give up eating chicken for good and opt for plant-based alternatives instead.
The Five Dimensions of Health 
