As we have known for years now, poultry is a leaner alternative to red meat and pork. Chicken and turkey alternatives in such options as ground meat and sandwiches are usually the healthier option. But of the two, white meat turkey offers more nutritional benefit and contains fewer calories than chicken.
White turkey meat only yields 5% fat calories per serving, 75% less than white chicken. And not only is white-meat turkey lower in calories per serving than chicken, but It’s also a source of a better proportion of unsaturated to saturated fats. A healthy balance of saturated fats is crucial to balancing fat in the blood and, subsequently, heart health. This is among the many health benefits to turkey.
If you are an active and athletic person, turkey is also great for encouraging muscle growth. That’s because it’s a rich source of protein- more protein per gram than beef, pork and chicken in fact. Even if you aren’t athletic, your body needs large amounts of protein for a gamut of reasons. Protein is essential to healthy hair, skin and nails, building and repairing tissue, producing enzymes and hormones.
The low fat content in turkey is beneficial to heart health, as is the low sodium content. With only 68 milligrams per 3.5oz serving, turkey doesn’t promote heart related disease hypertension and high blood pressure. High sodium intake directly results in high blood pressure, which can cause serious damage to arteries. Essentially removing it from your diet is among the many benefits to consuming turkey.
Turkey also contains about 200% more contains than chicken. Aside from the health benefits turkey offers over chicken, it is also a great source of iron, zinc, potassium, vitamin B6, niacin and serotonin. It is also great for strengthening the immune system and acts as an antioxidant to actually fight cancer.
Turkey is one of the healthiest meats you can eat. Without sacrificing taste, turkey only contains a fraction of the calories found in red meat. And it is not only lean and a great supplement to staying fit, but it also actually fights heart disease and cancer.