Chicken is widely considered to be one of the most versatile types of meat. Indeed, we often tend to use chicken in many a meal.
Being one of the easiest meals to prepare, it is the most preferred lean meat for a daily basis that also contains a lot of protein with less fat as compared to red meats. Even though chicken is usually known as one of the healthy meats apart from fish, nutritionists agree that one should not consume this meat every day. Too much chicken can lead to several health issues. It not only causes weight gain but can put a harmful effect on your heart. It can also cause food poisoning in some cases.
Here are some of the major reasons why this meat should not be consumed every other day.
Too much protein
Ideally, around 10 to 35 per cent of your daily caloric intake should consist of protein. Eating too much protein causes your body to store this as fat. This means your weight gain increases and leads to elevated blood lipid levels. Chowing down on a big piece of chicken every day will contribute to a massive portion of your protein intake, so be sure to keep a close eye.
Larger risk of heart disease
Eating too much chicken can lead to higher cholesterol levels. It won’t come as a surprise that this is related to cardiovascular disease. This way, eating chicken and other products rich in protein indirectly increased the risk of cardiovascular issues – health problems that could cause death.
Trouble maintaining weight
Consuming too much of animal-based protein such as chicken can make it hard to maintain a healthy weight. According to several reports, when compared to vegetarians, people who consume chicken meat on a daily basis tend to have a larger BMI.
Bigger chance of food poisoning
Handling chicken is always a hassle. If you haven’t cooked the meat all the way through or if your vegetables happen to come in contact with raw chicken, you may be exposing your meal to salmonella or campylobacter. These bacteria are notorious for their nasty effects on the human body, as they can lead to severe illness. It’s especially important to vulnerable groups of people, such as the elderly, children and pregnant women, to avoid this type of contamination at all costs.
A higher chance of antibiotic resistance
It’s common practice among poultry farmers to force antibiotics on their livestock. By eating this chicken, humans can then become resistant to these antibiotics. Of course, this poses a very real risk when you’re dealing with an infection and you have to take antibiotics. Chances are the medication doesn’t work the way it should.
