How often should I eat chicken? How much chicken should I eat?
The 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) Healthy U.S.-Style Eating Pattern recommends the average personeat 26 ounces of poultry (including chicken) per week. Per day, this would be roughly the same as eating 3.5 ounces of chicken breast.One 3.5 ounce serving of roasted boneless, skinless chicken breast is alean poultry as defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).This is because it contains less than 10 grams of fat, 4.5 grams or less of saturated fat, and less than 95 milligrams of cholesterol per 3.5 ounces of meat.
- A 3.5 ounce boneless, skinless, roasted chicken breast contains:
- 3.6 g fat
- 1 g saturated fat
- 85 mg cholesterol
- A 3.5 ounce boneless, skinless, roasted chicken breast contains:
Sources:
- U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central.www.fdc.nal.usda.gov. Updated March 2019. Accessed October 7, 2019.
- U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025. 9th Edition. December 2020. Available at DietaryGuidelines.gov.
Can I eat chicken everyday?
Absolutely. Grilled or baked chicken throughout the week is the suggested way to prepare chicken. You can make simple, healthy chicken dinners, served over a salad of mixed greens, or mixed with peppers and onions for fajitas.
Should I make chicken for my family?
You should definitely make chicken for your family. Here’s a few reasons why…
- Chicken has family appeal for all of your meals. It’s always in style and goes with everything. It can be used for “planned-overs,” not leftovers.
- People feel good serving chicken to their families compared to other protein sources, including plant-based proteins.
- Chicken is a good value and more affordable than most other meat.
- Chicken can play an important nutritional role for your family because it has health benefits across the entire life and health span (pregnant women, children, and the elderly).
- No matter what eating pattern is being followed in your household, chicken can flex for you. Take a look at some of the eating patterns that include chicken: Flexitarian, Pollotarian, Mediterranean, MIND, Gluten Free, WW Diet, MyPlate, Keto, Paleo, Whole 30, Nordic Diet etc… the list goes on!
Sources:
- DuBois C, Neth J. The why behind the buy: A look forward. Available at https://nccwashingtonreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/NCC-Why-Behind-the-Buy-vFINAL-190722.pdf. Accessed July 22, 2019.
- United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. Meat Price Spreads. https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/meat-price-spreads/. Updated September 12, 2019. Accessed October 7, 2019.
