But Chicken is Healthy, Right?

Cristy

"But chicken is healthy, right?” Is that a rhetorical question??...it's the look I get. It scares me a little. I feel I need to take a few steps back (out of reach) before I answer. People REALLY love their chicken!! We were that family! “What's for dinner?” Chicken. My husband LOVED chicken. We raised chickens! Ok, not to eat; I couldn't do that!! I loved those little ladies! But we ate A LOT of the waste from their menstrual cycles...or more commonly called eggs.  

So what's the problem, you ask? Let's start with cholesterol...raise your hand if you think red meat has more cholesterol than chicken. Is your hand up? You know I can't see you, right? Chicken and red meat are comparable in the amount of cholesterol they contain. Did you read my blog post about protein? That's where we learned that cholesterol is made in the liver and all things that have a liver produce cholesterol. If you are eating things that have a liver, you are eating cholesterol. We make cholesterol in our liver, too; therefore, we do not need ANY from our diets.

P.S. One egg has 187mg of cholesterol!! And I know you know, but cholesterol is linked to clogged arteries and heart disease!


What else? Chickens are full of GROSSNESS! A recent study showed that almost half of the chickens in grocery stores are contaminated by E coli, which researchers say is an indicator of fecal contamination. E coli comes from colons either from a human colon, or more likely chicken colon(s). In other words, there is poop in your chicken meat! There are 250,000 cases of E coli infections reported every year in the United States (and countless unreported). What else is in the chicken? Salmonella is in 16% of grocery store chickens. Salmonella is responsible for an estimated 1,027,561 illnesses, 19,336 hospitalizations, and 378 deaths per year in the United States. Annnndddd….63% of store bought chickens contain Campylobacter bacteria which causes  845,024 illnesses, 8,463 hospitalizations, and 76 deaths every year.

I know what you are going to tell me...you clean the chicken right? Have you asked yourself why studies have shown that there is more fecal bacteria in your kitchen sink than your bathroom? Let me whisper in your ear: It's From Your MEAT. A study was published as “The Effectiveness of Hygiene Procedures for Prevention of Cross-Contamination from Chicken Carcasses in the Domestic Kitchen” (uh, what?)...anyway, these researchers visited 60 homes putting them to the test:

Was that enough for you? No? Ok, how about some of these statistics:

• Poultry (a very small serving equivalent to a ¼ of a chicken breast daily) has been linked to a triple risk of being diagnosed with cancer; especially, fast growing tumors like leukemia and lymphoma.
• Grilled chicken—a popular alternative to fried—commonly contains PhIP (2-Amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine), which may contribute to the development of certain types of cancers including breast and prostate.*
• A common industry practice involves feeding chickens arsenic in order to make them grow faster. It’s highly toxic to humans and can cause cancer, dementia, neurological problems, and other ailments.*
• HCAs (heterocyclic amines) are found in meats cooked at high temperature, including chicken, and have been linked to an increased risk of cancer.*
• McGill University researchers found that UTI infections can be traced back to E Coli bacteria. As a result, we now have direct proof that bladder infections can be “zoonosis”-an animal-to-human disease. UTIs affect 10 million women each year in the United States costing more than $1 billion dollars.**
• The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study, which followed 477,000 people for about a decade, found a 72% increased risk of pancreatic cancer for every 50 grams of chicken consumed daily...that's just a ¼ of a chicken breast!!**
• The EPIC-PANACEA study identified POULTRY as potentially the most FATTENING meat; as meat consumption is associated with weight gain even independent of calories. Men and Women eating even a single ounce of chicken a day (think 2 chicken nuggets) had a significantly greater gain in body mass index than those eating no chicken at all!! ​

Have you changed your mind about chicken, yet? Ok, if I can't appeal to your brain, can I appeal to your heart?

• Chickens on today’s factory farms almost always become crippled because their legs cannot support the weight of their bodies. In fact, by the age of 6 weeks, 90 percent of “broiler chickens” are so obese that they can no longer walk. Many crippled chickens on factory farms die when they can no longer reach the water nozzles.***

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Chickens raised for their flesh are often packed by the thousands into massive sheds and fed large amounts of antibiotics and drugs to keep them alive in conditions that would otherwise kill them.

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Many fowl are stuffed into unimaginablely small cages.

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Only seven weeks after they’re born, chickens are crowded onto trucks that transport them to the slaughterhouse. Every year, tens of millions of chickens have their wings and legs broken in the process. They are trucked through all weather extremes, sometimes over hundreds of miles, without any food or water. At slaughter, chickens are hung upside down and have their throats slit, and they’re often scalded to death in defeathering tanks.

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Millions of Chicks are ground up ALIVE the day after they are born

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​Well, there you have it. I hope I have answered your question and changed your mind about chicken.

Peace, Love, Plants,
Cristy