Contents:
- Medical Video: Drs. Rx: Just How Unhealthy Is Eating Chicken with the Skin?
- Facts about chicken skin
- 1. Fat content in chicken skin
- 2. Chicken skin can maintain moisture and enhance aroma
- 3. No need to add a lot of salt
- How to eat chicken skin so as not to endanger health
Medical Video: Drs. Rx: Just How Unhealthy Is Eating Chicken with the Skin?
Who doesn't like chicken skin? The savory and delicious taste makes many people unable to resist it. Cooked with boiled chicken and fried until dry, the chicken skin must still taste good. But wait, is it good if the chicken skin is eaten too much? Some people think eating chicken skin can endanger health, is this true?
Facts about chicken skin
Some people may specifically get rid of chicken skin when eating chicken, they assume that the fat content in chicken skin can be harmful to health. But, it turns out chicken skin isn't as bad as you think. You must know the facts about chicken skin first.
1. Fat content in chicken skin
This might be the main reason why many people don't eat chicken skin. It is true that chicken skin contains fat, but fat in chicken skin is more contained in types of good fats (unsaturated fats) than bad fats (saturated fat), according to the Harvard School of Public Health. The United States Department of Agriculture even reports that 1 ounce of chicken skin contains about 3 grams of saturated fat and contains 8 grams of unsaturated fat.
This means that chicken skin will not endanger your heart's health (if eaten in moderation). This is because the greater content of unsaturated fats in chicken skin can improve your heart health. In addition, unsaturated fats can also help lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
2. Chicken skin can maintain moisture and enhance aroma
The Harvard School of Public Health also mentions that cooking chicken with its skin can help maintain moisture in chicken meat and make chicken dishes more flavorful. Chicken skin can be an oil barrier so that it is not absorbed excessively into the meat, so that the moisture of the chicken is maintained.
This certainly can make your chicken dishes more delicious, thus increasing your satisfaction when eating it. Satisfaction when eating food can make your appetite more controlled, thus preventing you from overeating and from consuming unhealthy foods.
3. No need to add a lot of salt
Because the taste of chicken skin is already savory, you might not need to add a lot of salt to your chicken dishes. Adding a little salt in chicken dishes is enough to make the dish delicious. So, your salt intake is more controlled. This is good for your heart health.
How to eat chicken skin so as not to endanger health
You may not need to avoid eating chicken with the skin again. From the explanation above, chicken skin turns out to be beneficial to health and the taste of your food. However, consuming large amounts of chicken skin is also not good for your health. Some of the things below might be your notes when eating chicken skin:
- Don't eat excessive chicken skin. Although chicken skin contains more good fat than bad fat, but chicken skin still contains fat, which if eaten in excess can add excess calories to your body.
- Don't cook very dry chicken skin (like chicken skin chips). This certainly can eliminate the nutritional value contained in chicken skin and can endanger your health. The best way to enjoy chicken skin is by frying it slightly crispy or boiling it with soup.
- Do not coat chicken skin with flour. Flour will only make more oil absorbed into chicken skin. So, this can increase fat and calorie content in chicken skin.
- Dry it on oil absorbing paper after it is finished frying. This can help remove excess oil in chicken skin. Thus, the fat content in fried chicken skin can be lower.
