Doctors say poultry is much healthier than pork, beef or lamb. We have no reason not to trust specialists. But today there is such a large selection of products on the shelves! Which bird to choose? What is more useful - turkey or chicken? These issues are addressed in our article.
What is the difference between chicken and turkey?
Both are considered dietary and healthy products. But the price of turkey meat is much higher than chicken. This alone makes you wonder what is more useful - turkey or chicken?
It turns out that the composition of these products has significant differences, which are largely determined by the difference in the conditions of keeping two species of birds.
Chickens that are raised for slaughter in special industrial plants are kept in very tight cages. At the same time, the birds are given food with high nutritional value.
Thanks to these two factors, the chicken grows faster and gains weight, which is very beneficial for the producer. But the meat of such a bird becomes too fat.
Another problem: in conditions of severe crowding, birds often fall ill. To prevent the spread of infections, chickens add various chemicals to the feed, including antibiotics.
Harmful substances are concentrated in the muscle tissue of the bird and then enter the human body, which is very harmful to health.
Turkeys are birds more demanding of living conditions and feed. Therefore, they are grown in spacious enough enclosures on natural feed without chemical additives.
What is more useful - turkey or chicken? Turkey meat does not contain hazardous substances, and it is much more lean than chicken. It is because of this that turkey poultry is considered the more preferred product for a healthy diet.
Homemade chicken
It would seem that it has become absolutely clear which meat is healthier: chicken or turkey? But all the negative that has been said above about chicken does not apply to domestic chicken meat.
The only problem is that today for a city dweller to buy domestic chicken is a difficult task. You won’t find one in stores, and you can’t always find one in the market.
The price of domestic chicken will far exceed even the price of turkey. So here you can ask the question, which is more beneficial - turkey or chicken? For a consumer wallet, turkey meat from the store is much more profitable than chicken from the bazaar.
How to cook chicken meat?
If the chicken meat bought in the store is cooked correctly, then this product will not cause any harm. These simple rules are:
- Before cooking, the chicken carcass must be very well washed under running water.
- It is necessary to carefully cut off all the fat, chicken skin is also best not to use in cooking.
- Before cooking or stewing, chicken should be boiled and boiled for 2-3 minutes. During this time, all carcinogens will pass from meat to broth, which must then be drained.
- After the first broth has been drained, the chicken can be safely used to make soup or some other main dish.
You also need to remember that the hottest parts of the chicken are the hips and lower legs. The leanest part of it is the breast.
Turkey benefits
Let's go back to the question: what is more beneficial than chicken or turkey meat? Here are some facts about turkey that will help you make your choice:
- turkey meat has less cholesterol and saturated fat than chicken;
- calorie turkey meat is also lower;
- the turkey contains a sufficiently large amount of sodium, so when cooking it does not need to use a lot of table salt;
- the meat of this bird is hypoallergenic;
- in it is higher than in chicken, the content of vitamins A, B, E, as well as phosphorus, calcium and iron;
- turkey contains tryptophan, which promotes the production of endorphins;
- turkey is more than chicken suitable for feeding obese people, and it is also more beneficial for hypertensive patients and diabetics.
Final word
We found out why turkey is healthier than chicken. However, I would not want to exaggerate too much and scare our readers with chicken meat. Still, it is a delicious product that is available to most consumers.
The enterprises carry out sanitary control over the quality of products. In addition, as mentioned above, all negative aspects can be reduced to zero, if the chicken is cooked correctly.