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Tuesday 15 June 2021

We love chicken skin in our house : Chicken skin is good for you

I'm re-posting this post from 2017, just in case you haven't read it!

Chicken Skin Is Good For You !

Don't know about you, but we love chicken skin in our house ...

This article was written by Michelle Leotta who is 'certified as a health coach through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and the American Association of Drugless Practitioners', and 'tries to get delicious, real food on the table every night.'

I thought it a good one to share.

She wrote ... " At a recent presentation, I made my audience gasp when I suggested they stop peeling the skin off chicken. And for heavens sake, stop paying top dollar for boneless, skinless breasts.

After all …chicken is a whole food. Until you start taking things away.

Ever really think about that?

When we talk about whole foods, we mean food that is minimally processed. A product of nature – in its natural form. Eating a whole food means eating all the edible parts. For instance, the fat found naturally in milk. The stem on kale. The skin on apples and potatoes and…yes, chicken.

But we’ve been told that chicken skin is terrible for us. Unlike beef, which is marbled with fat, the fat on chicken lies just below the skin. We strip it away and breed our chickens to be less and less fatty.

This quest for a low fat diet…ummm…it hasn’t exactly worked. Just look around.

Right.

So let me suggest that we stop manipulating food and allow our complex bodies, with systems scientists can barely wrap their heads around, eat food as nature provides it. We are not smarter than nature.

If this theory of whole food eating is still sinking in, here are 6 straightforward reasons why eating chicken skin is actually good for you.

I definitely recommend eating the highest quality animal products you can get your hands on. That means being picky about your source. If you don’t live near a trusted farm, you can order free-range poultry here

1. Let’s talk about the kind of fat you’ll find in chicken skin. It’s mainly monounsaturated, in the form of oleic acid. Oleic acid, also found in olive oil, is known for beneficial effects on cholesterol.

2. Of course there are also saturated fats in chicken skin. This is no accident. Nature provides what the body needs. The body does not need soda. The body does not need cotton candy. Or Gatorade. The body does, in fact, need some saturated fat. So eat it.

3. If you’re in the calorie-counting camp, there’s roughly a 50 calorie difference between chicken with or without skin. Seems a small price to pay for a huge increase in flavour and satisfaction.

4. Did I mention flavour and satisfaction? When your food satisfies your taste buds and body’s cravings, you don’t need to eat as much or as often. Sugar cravings subside and you can go back to loving food instead of fearing it. That’s huge, people.

5. Fat doesn’t make you fat. If it did, the low-fat/non-fat craze would have given us a country of slender people. Instead, we have an obesity epidemic. It just doesn’t add up. Here’s a thought. Eat the skin that occurs naturally on chicken. Don’t eat I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, Power Bars, Eggo Waffles or other foodstuffs made in lab. See what happens.

6. Forget marinades, seasonings and complicated recipes! Naturally occurring fats make chicken delicious, as-is. Cooking is easy.

Go forth and actually enjoy your food."
Michelle's article and recipe suggestion is here


Do you like chicken skin?
Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Dear reader, you will find a variety of articles and recipe ideas within this blog, and not all may be suitable for you. If you may have any food allergies, or underlying health issues these must always be taken into account. If you are a diabetic and not sure how certain foods may affect your blood sugars, test is best, i.e. use your meter.

All the best Jan

44 comments:

Christine said...

Thanks for sharing this Jan, good information.

Lowcarb team member said...

Christine said...
Thanks for sharing this Jan, good information

Hello Christine, many thanks for your comment.
It was reading your post about Chicken Teriyaki that prompted me to post this today!
Christine's post can be seen here
https://cmlk79.blogspot.com/2021/06/chicken-teriyaki.html

All the best Jan

DVArtist said...

We eat chicken skin here. Love it.

J.P. Alexander said...

Genial entrada adoro el pollo frito estilo kfc a pesar de que no es muy sano. Pero siempre hayq ue tener una dieta equilibrada. Te mando un beso

Tom said...

...I like chicken with or without the skin.

Victor S E Moubarak said...

News to me. I always thought we should not eat the skin. Thanx for this, Jan.

God bless.

Pam said...

Wow..that is , always heard that the skin was not good for you. It has always been my fave part so I am now glad to hear that it is okay to eat now...lol

William Kendall said...

Thanks for sharing!

Practical Parsimony said...

I never liked chicken skin, even before I heard of fat. My friend eats all of mine and I am horrified.

peppylady (Dora) said...

I also like crispy chicken skin.
Coffee is on and stay safe

Elephant's Child said...

Hooray for whole foods.

Angie's Recipes said...

That's the BEST part of the whole chicken. Whenever I make chicken quarters, I eat all the skin first :-)) Fat doesn't make you fat...and I love saturated animal fat.

Margaret D said...

Good information and we like some chicken skin, not all.

PerthDailyPhoto said...

Nope, still not eating it Jan 😀 it's nothing to do with calories it's just the thought of it, which I know makes no sense because I'm eating the chicken.. but still not doing it 😉

baili said...

back in my native village one of my aunt who was from another city would peal off feathers of chicken and hold it on fire to burn thin hair on it's skin ,she would than cook it sometime whole and sometime in pieces ,we never cooked chicken with skin
so true about paying high for boneless skinless chicken
thank you for great post
more blessings to you and family!

Valerie-Jael said...

I love chicken with skin, too, it tastes so much better! Valerie

Jo said...

Eleanor and I fight over the chicken skin, we both love it.

Francisco Manuel Carrajola Oliveira said...

Muito interessante esta informação.
Um abraço e boa semana.

Andarilhar
Dedais de Francisco e Idalisa
O prazer dos livros

eileeninmd said...

Hello,
Thanks for sharing the information. I have been picking off the skin.
Take care, have a great day!

R's Rue said...

I like chicken skin too.

CJ Kennedy said...

😲 Who knew?

Ananka said...

I don't eat meat but this is interesting. I always leave the skin on the for cats haha when I give them chicken.

Jeff said...

Thank you, this is the best news I've heard in months! I love the skin and have always felt guilty for eating it.

Rajani Rehana said...

Amazing blog

Maria Rodrigues said...

Hi Jan,
Here at home we really like chicken but I usually take the skin off, after reading your post I'll start cooking with the skin.
Thanks for sharing.
Hugs

happyone said...

I like chicken both ways with or without the skin but usually eat it without.

Creations By Cindy said...

Thanks for this information. My grandmother always said that we should always cook chicken with skin on as it gives the chicken so much flavor and that is very true. I did not know that about the chicken fat being actually healthy for you to eat. My favorite piece of the chicken is the thigh though. Always juicy. Thanks again for this information. Hugs and blessings, Cindy

Mary Kirkland said...

We eat chicken mostly in my home. There's so many things you can do with it.

https://linsartyblobs.blogspot.com said...

I thought I wasn't supposed to eat it but I only like it if it's crispy.

Elderberry-Rob said...

the men here like crispy chicken skin - my brother married a Thai lady, their children grew up in Thailand - the children there eat chicken bones, in fact the Government encouraged it when they were little as a source of calcium ... not something I would savour though.

Hootin Anni said...

My cardiologist told me chicken skin raise the bad cholesterol in my arteries after I suffered a heart attack & to skin it...never fry. Now, I wonder who has the scientific proof one-way or another. Besides, I don't like the skin. lol

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I'm SO glad there is now scientific proof that what I love on the chicken is actually good for me. The skin has always been my favorite part.

Little Wandering Wren said...

You have totally made me rethink this! I always take the skin off too! Thank you :)
Wren x

Phil Slade said...

That's an interesting take on a perhaps controversial subject. Must admit we buy only chicken fillets and if we cook a whole chicken tend not eat the skin. I think we'll reconsider now.

Miss Val's Creations said...

I loved the chicken skin as a kid. I never thought about how we as a culture started removing the skins. They tend to have the most nutrition in fruits and vegetables so it makes sense the that same goes for chicken.

Sue said...

I like the skin when the chicken comes out of the oven, but not when it's cold. x

DeniseinVA said...

I'm so glad you wrote about this. We have been discussing this for a while now and had just about decided not to buy skinless chicken parts any more. I'll have to bookmark this for my husband to read. Thanks so much!

Sami said...

I only like the skin when crispy, otherwise I won't eat it :)

Magic Love Crow said...

This is a great post and yes I do love chicken skin, but have felt guilty eating it! Big Hugs!

Teresa said...

Como la piel del pollo cuando es asado, pero guisado no. Besos.

aussie aNNie said...

Exactly how I cook my chicken nothing different and agree the flavour and the skin which is so crispy is mwah...xx

Kay said...

No kidding??? Wow! I had no idea. I shall follow your advice.

Conniecrafter said...

It's funny when I bake chicken breast I take the skin off but when we have legs and thighs and wings I leave the skin on most of the time.

David M. Gascoigne, said...

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts probably feature more than any other single ingredient in our meals, and after fifty years of doing it I doubt that we are going to change now!