If you try to determine the most versatile and easy food, most people will choose chicken. Indeed, chicken wings are the lightest and most appetizing snack that gratefully accepts seasonings. And the legs are also quite fatty, and therefore men also value them. The calorie content of a chicken leg may vary depending on the method of preparation, but in any case, the indicator will surprise a losing weight person, for whom calorie content is the main factor of choice. Let's reveal the secret!
Why do we love chicken?
Indeed, why do we love this gentle bird so much if we do not speak positively about its mental abilities? We compare a stupid person to a chicken, and a loud-mouthed person to a rooster. But almost everyone loves chicken on the table. Chicken meat is a very “grateful” base for any dish, be it just a roast, cutlets, minced meat or dumplings. It is surprising and pleasing that chicken is eaten almost entirely. Some housewives even adapt paws and scallops and make jellied meat based on them. But it turns out delicious! What can we say about chicken wings? Sometimes they are compared to sunflower seeds, referring to the fact that it is impossible to tear yourself away from fried wings and you cannot get enough of them. The calorie content of a skinless chicken leg is only 156 calories. This figure will satisfy the requirements of even those girls who adhere to a very strict diet. But the chicken leg is more fatty than other parts of the chicken.
Oh, those legs!
The beauty of chicken lies in its softness, tenderness and high cooking speed. In addition, chicken tempts with its affordable price and ease of serving. Chicken legs with skin will complement the daily home menu and decorate the holiday table. Their calorie content will be slightly higher than without the skin. By the way, even a leg with skin can remain dietary if the meat is boiled, steamed or baked without oil. But if you fry them, after marinating them in mayonnaise or any other fatty sauce, then the calorie content of a chicken leg can reach up to 210 calories. This part of the chicken is ergonomic, and therefore the meat becomes an excellent buffet dish and a universal choice for a picnic or barbecue party.
By the way, legs are the most accessible and affordable, even among other parts of the chicken. Because of this, a huge variety of recipes have appeared. A chef can cook legs every day and never repeat the cooking method. The legs are delicious to fry, boil, bake and stew. They also make an excellent base for soups, appetizers or deep-frying.
Top 10 facts why it is healthy to eat chicken every day
So, let's look at the main reasons why fresh chicken is so healthy that you eat it almost every day.
Promotes skin rejuvenation
To maintain youthful skin or eliminate wrinkles, our body needs to obtain or synthesize collagen, which is found in abundance in chicken meat. Broth, jellied meat (aspic) are the best methods of preparation to enrich the body with this important component.
In addition, chicken contains fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins, which are responsible for skin elasticity.
Therefore, daily moderate consumption of chicken leads to inevitable skin rejuvenation, which cannot be said about other types of meat, which, on the contrary, due to the increased fat content and maximum oxidation of the body, provoke an acceleration of the aging process.
Supports a beautiful figure
Who doesn't dream of a beautiful, athletic, toned body these days? Only those who have already achieved such a result. But in the diet of athletes or simply people who have lost weight, the main place is always given to dietary chicken meat. Breast meat is the richest source of protein with minimal calories.
This is a necessary product for building muscle mass, as well as for eliminating subcutaneous fat. This is an important component of a healthy diet for weight loss and an indispensable product for athletes who need to regularly restore muscles after grueling workouts.
Minimizes body oxidation
It was already mentioned above that chicken minimally acidifies the body. Of course, like any protein product, chicken meat leads to a change in the acid-base balance, however, this is so insignificant that the body is able to recover on its own in a short period of time. Therefore, eating chicken every day does not lead to health problems, but, on the contrary, stimulates the body to cleanse itself.
No unhealthy fats
Scientists studied various types of meat and as a result came to the conclusion that chicken and several other dietary varieties do not contain harmful fats that negatively affect the cardiovascular system and liver function.
The fats contained in chicken meat are completely absorbed by the body and used by it for restoration processes.
Incredibly delicious!
Chicken meat has incredible flavor and can be prepared in a variety of ways. Even the most discerning gourmets cannot say anything bad about chicken meat and its light taste. If you cook chicken correctly, following the basic rules of cooking, knowing
What products, seasonings and sauces it is combined with, you can get a real haute cuisine dish. The most important thing is that chicken is almost impossible to spoil, so even a beginner in cooking can cope with preparing a delicious dish.
Has a minimum of contraindications
There are practically no contraindications to eating chicken - everyone can eat it, from the smallest person to the oldest person on our planet. This is meat that is recommended by pediatricians for the first feedings of infants.
Chicken meat is one of the few allowed in the diet menu for diabetes, liver and stomach diseases. Chicken meat extremely rarely causes allergic reactions - only a few dozen such cases have been recorded worldwide and they are no longer associated with chickens, but with chemicals used by unscrupulous chicken producers.
Versatility
Even with a strong desire, it is extremely difficult to find products that chicken does not go with. Soups and salads are prepared from it, served with spicy or sweet sauces. Chicken is suitable for everyday menus and for holidays.
For example, when inviting guests, some of whom are sick, some are losing weight, and another category does not consume pork due to religious beliefs, you can prepare a chicken treat - this is a universal option that will suit absolutely everyone. When it comes to versatility, chicken is a leader among other types of meat.
Quick cooking
Of all the varieties of meat, it is considered the easiest and fastest product to prepare. There are a lot of recipes with which you can get a finished dish in literally 25-20 minutes. That is why chicken is most often prepared in fast food establishments.
This is the best product for those who have a high level of busyness, or for those cases when you urgently need to feed unexpected guests. There are many ways to cook chicken, but most of the recipes won’t take more than half an hour.
Good for immunity
The bones of broiler chickens and roosters contain substances that actively nourish the human immune system, so regular consumption of broths from this product can restore the human body and make it invulnerable to viruses and bacteria.
Chicken bone marrow, the substances from which enter the broth and are not destroyed during heat treatment, affects the health of human bone marrow, which takes an active part in immune reactions.
This is why it is recommended to drink warm chicken broth when you have a cold, as this is the best way to strongly stimulate the immune system.
Taste Factor
The calorie content of a chicken leg allows you to supplement a recipe based on this with a variety of ingredients. Agree, low-calorie meat will harmoniously combine with vegetables, spices, herbs and even fruits! After all, the legs can be cooked with pineapples or apples. The taste will be incredibly original! It’s even easier to chop the drumsticks and lightly sprinkle them with a mixture of pepper and salt. After this, the legs need to be fried in butter and enjoy the taste. No time wasted, but the dish seems truly festive. If the taste is good even in such a primitive recipe, then it is difficult to imagine the extravaganza of aromas in sophisticated dishes!
A little bit of imagination!
There are a great many options for cooking chicken, and they are all simple. But it’s almost impossible to spoil chicken meat! It is tender, light and tasty. The main thing is not to burn it on fire and not to overdo it with spices. If there's a festive dinner on the horizon, how about drumsticks simmered in a delicious creamy sauce and baked in a sleeve? The calorie content of a chicken leg in the oven will not increase much, but when calculating the total energy value of the dish, you need to remember about the sauce and side dish. For the marinade, prepare a spacious bowl, into which pour about 100-150 grams of cream, a large spoon of sour cream, add grated garlic and onion, cut into half rings. Place chicken legs in the sauce so that they completely “drown” in the mixture, and leave in the cold for a couple of hours.
After the appointed time, prepare the sleeve; cut a large carrot into thin slices and place the pickled legs. The marinade can be sent after the meat. Approximately 40-50 minutes in the oven, and the legs are ready to serve. Guests will lick their fingers and definitely ask for more. You can diversify this dish with stuffing. The legs go well with mushrooms, sweet peppers and other vegetables.
Calorie table for chicken cooked in different ways (per 100 g)
Before you create your diet, you need to know exactly how many calories are in chicken prepared in one way or another. The easiest way is to present the calorie content of chicken per 100 grams in a table indicating the BJU for each individual dish.
| Cooking method | Calories (kcal) | Proteins (g) | Fats (g) | Carbohydrates (g) |
| Boiled chicken | 244 | 22,97 | 16,75 | 0,06 |
| Boiled chicken without skin | 145 | 3,09 | 28,65 | 0,38 |
| Fried chicken | 281 | 23 | 17 | 2,25 |
| Fried chicken without skin | 164 | 28 | 5 | 1,1 |
| Baked chicken | 195,97 | 20,06 | 11,18 | 1,39 |
| Baked skinless chicken | 148,28 | 23,9 | 5,3 | 0,38 |
| Grilled chicken | 184,5 | 22,29 | 8,81 | 1,41 |
| Grilled chicken without skin | 135,52 | 23,17 | 6,13 | 1,23 |
| Stewed chicken | 163,47 | 17,68 | 9,04 | 1,22 |
| Stewed skinless chicken | 149,75 | 26,78 | 3,68 | 0,72 |
| Smoked chicken | 205,19 | 21,23 | 12,91 | 0,50 |
| Steamed chicken | 140,79 | 23,80 | 5,78 | 0,66 |
As you can see, the calorie content of boiled skinless chicken is reduced to 145 kcal compared to conventional preparation, and the amount of fat drops by more than 5 times. Naturally, this option for cooking chicken is the healthiest.
Photo source: shutterstock.com
If you like fried chicken, it is better to cook it in the oven. It is best to have no skin, since in this form the calorie content is lower and the amount of fat is reduced by 15-20%. But chicken baked in foil has only 100 kcal.
You can find out what kind of chicken you are allowed to eat during the diet from the video:
Dieting
To put it bluntly, dieting is not at all fun, since you have to limit yourself in the most enjoyable thing - food. And it’s such a shame that the most delicious things are always forbidden. However, the calorie content of a chicken leg allows you to fit the bird into any dietary framework. You can even get creative with the side dish! For lunch, Azerbaijani soup made from drumsticks and peppers is good. And a purely Italian recipe - chicken legs in tomato paste - can also be enjoyed for dinner, as it is filling, but not heavy.
Interestingly, not every nutritionist recommends drumsticks because of the large number of blood vessels in this part of the chicken. The leg meat is darker and tougher than the meat in the wings or breast. The value of meat is also questionable, since not every chicken is kept in good conditions. More cholesterol “settles” in the drumsticks, and if the chicken does not walk much, then fat is not consumed there at all. But the harm of meat manifests itself only due to excessive eating, and within reasonable limits, drumsticks enrich the body with vitamins and amino acids, and also treat anemia and affect the condition of the blood.
Composition: benefits and harms of chicken drumstick
Red chicken drumstick meat is rich in protein and amino acids, B vitamins and beneficial microelements: iron and magnesium.
Chicken drumstick is a healthy product and is suitable for children's, sports and dietary nutrition if it is prepared correctly. Doctors often recommend eating chicken leg meat for those who suffer from anemia or for women in the postpartum period to quickly restore the body.
For those who are on a weight loss mission and want to reduce the amount of fat they consume to a minimum, nutritionists recommend removing the skin and subcutaneous fat from the shin before cooking it. There is an opinion that if you eat 1-2 fried chicken drumsticks along with the skin, you can gain up to five kilograms in weight in a month.
