So, you thought you were playing it safer by swapping that steak for chicken, didn’t you?
“Red meat is the devil,” they said. “Eat more white meat,” they said. Of course, many influencers and self-appointed health experts are now saying red meat is great if it is grass fed, organically raised, and ethically slaughtered. Well, buckle up, because a new Italian study just crash-landed on the Internet, and it’s got more plot twists than a daytime soap opera and more chicken than a drive-thru bucket meal.
The Cluck Heard ‘Round the World
According to this study, if you’re eating more than 300 grams of poultry a week (that’s about 10.5 ounces, or roughly two sad, boneless, skinless chicken breasts), you might be upping your risk of dying from gastrointestinal cancer by 2.3% and your risk of dying from anything by a whopping 27%. Yes, you read that right, an increased risk of all-cause mortality by 27%.
Let’s pause. For decades, the health gurus, government guidelines, bodybuilding gurus, and your cousin who “read something on WebMD” have all sung the praises of chicken as the lean, mean, protein machine. The Mediterranean Diet? Chicken is practically the mascot. Now, suddenly, eating too much chicken is like playing Russian roulette with your colon.
“Science” or Just Another Cluck-Up?
Before you torch your rotisserie and start raising kale, let’s get cynical (and holistic). This study is observational, meaning it’s about as conclusive as your horoscope. Did the researchers account for whether the chicken was fried in a bucket of industrial seed oil, or lovingly massaged with organic olive oil and herbs? Nope. Did they consider if the participants were couch potatoes or marathon runners? Not a chance. The only thing they tracked for sure was the amount of chicken the participants reported eating.
That doesn’t mean the study is worthless by any means, it just gives us little good data to make lifestyle choices based on. Personally, I haven’t eaten chicken or meat for over 50 years and don’t feel any need or desire to do so ever again. For me it is more ethical than nutritional, however, this study does raise some serious questions about the amount of chicken a health-conscious person might want to consume regularly. By the way, I don’t advise my patients to not eat meat just because I made that choice. One’s diet, like one’s religion, is a very personal, individual choice.
The Real Chicken (and Egg) Problem
Here’s a thought: Maybe it’s not the chicken, but what we do to it. Factory-farmed birds pumped with antibiotics, cooked at temperatures that would make a crematorium blush, and then served with a side of processed carbs and pesticides. And yes, it could have been the bird itself. Given that the study was done in Italy, and that Italians generally eat healthier, fresher meals than Americans, it makes one pause. We aren’t talking about fast food chicken alone.
The “Healthy” Takeaway (Hold the Ranch)
- Don’t panic but consider dietary modifications if you are a heavy poultry consumer. Diversify your protein sources and consider more plant-based proteins like one of the protein powders I developed for MyBodySymphony.com. I focused on what I consider to be one of the BEST protein sources on the planet Organic Pumpkin Seeds.
- Eat a variety of proteins: fish, beans, the occasional steak if you’re feeling rebellious. Focus on minimally processed protein sources, that’s one reason I recommend avoiding pea protein, rice protein, and whey protein that disagrees with many people’s digestion.
- If you’re eating chicken, make it the good stuff: organic, unprocessed, and cooked like you care about your insides.
- And for the love of your microbiome, pair it with vegetables that aren’t deep-fried.
Final Thoughts from the Coop
So, is chicken out to get you? Maybe if you’re eating it by the bucket and ignoring everything else. But if you’re living on a steady diet of stress, highly processed food, tap water, and aren’t exercising regularly, the chicken is the least of your problems.
“It’s not the chicken that’ll kill you, it’s believing every headline you read on the Internet. Now pass the broccoli – and make it organic, just in case.”
If you’d like to learn about some positive actions you can take right NOW to enhance your health and reverse your biological age, contact us at (941) 806-5511 or artc.health (email: info@artc.health). Go to mybodysymphony.com for one of the best nutritional product lines anywhere.
References:
- MDPI: Does Poultry Consumption Increase the Risk of Mortality for Gastrointestinal Cancers?
- Fox News: High chicken consumption linked to increased mortality, study finds
- Men’s Health: Experts Say Chicken Is Unlikely to Give You Cancer
- Real Simple: Eating Chicken and Other White Meat Can Shorten Your Lifespan
- Economic Times: Eating 300 grams of chicken in a week can give you cancer!
- Healthline: Eating Chicken Could Shorten Your Lifespan, Raise Cancer Risk
- Medical News Today: Gastrointestinal cancer: Can eating chicken shorten lifespan?
- MedicalXpress: Regular chicken consumption linked to higher risk of early death
- News Medical: New study questions poultry’s health halo amid rising cancer risks