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Chicken Diets

With all of the different diets, meal plans and quick weight-loss promises, it can be difficult to choose the right diet for you. However, if you want to lose weight in a safe and healthy way and keep it off, you need nothing other than meals high in protein, low in carbohydrates and low in fat. And to anchor this type of diet, a popular choice is chicken.

  1. Why Chicken is a Good Choice

    • Grilled chicken is appropriate for inclusion in your weight-loss plans.

      Chicken, when cooked in an appropriately, is much leaner than beef or pork, but still packed with protein. For example, three ounces of ground beef is around 60 grams of fat, as opposed to 30 grams of fat in the same portion of skinless chicken. You can eat chicken every day, more than once a day, unlike tuna fish, which if consumed more than once a week can up your mercury levels and lead to headaches and memory loss. And you'll find healthy amounts of nutrients in chicken, like iron, zinc, niacin and vitamin B-12.

    Preparing Chicken For Healthy Weight Loss

    • Frying chicken will remove its low fat advantage.

      It's important to note, however, that some ways of preparing chicken can reverse all of its healthy advantages. For example, leaving the skin on can add a tremendous amount of fat to your meal. And any chicken recipe that calls for frying in oil, butter or sautéeing, or adding a cream sauce, can up the calorie and fat count so much it may actually lead to weight gain. Chicken to be eaten with healthy weight loss in mind must be grilled, broiled or baked.

    Be Wary of Processed Chicken Products

    • For many people, losing weight is difficult because our busy lives are a barrier to preparing healthy meals every day. This leads many to opt for frozen, already cooked chicken. While certainly time-saving, these chicken products are often laden with sodium and other not-so-healthy additives. While most manufacturers list the food additives on the packaging, chemicals that form during processing are not listed and can be detrimental to your health.

    Ways to Use Chicken

    • Chicken combines well in salads, sandwiches, or main dishes -- it's versatile.

      A steady diet of chicken is also easy maintain because chicken is such a versatile food. It can be cooked by itself with a healthy side dish or combined with other foods in various low fat recipes, as well as in soups, salads and even appetizers.

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