From soup preparations to fried and roasted forms, chicken is a popular food around the world and is cooked in multitude ways in every household. Chicken is one of the most valued foods among people of all ages. Not only that it forms a crucial part of various culinary traditions but it is also highly nutritious and delicious to taste. Here are some amazing health benefits of eating chicken.
- Helps build muscles: Chicken is one of the best non-vegetarian sources of protein. It is lean meat, which means that it contains more amount of proteins and less amount of fat. A 100g serving of roasted chicken offers you 31g of protein, making it great for those who want to bulk up and build muscles.
- Keeps your bones healthy: Apart from protein, chicken is rich in several minerals like phosphorus and calcium, that helps keeps bones in mint condition. Also, it has selenium which has been known to cut risk of arthritis.
- Relieves stress: Chicken has two nutrients that are great for reducing stress – tryptophan and Vitamin B5. Both of them have a calming effect on your body and this makes chicken an excellent option after a stressful day. Also, it tastes great and that too adds to its stress releasing, happiness inducing properties. Read our mega guide on how to deal with stress.
- Reduces PMS symptoms: Magnesium, a nutrient present in chicken helps soothe symptoms of pre-menstrual syndrome and fight the various mood changes that a woman might experience during her periods. Here are more tips on dealing with PMS.
- Helps boost testosterone levels: Men should consume foods rich in zinc as it helps regulate testosterone levels as well as boost sperm production.
- Boosts immunity: Chicken soup has long been used as a home remedy for relieving cold, flu and other common respiratory infections. The hot steam of chicken soup helps clear nasal and throat congestion while the thick fluid coats the throat to prevent invasion of respiratory linings by microbes to cause infection. A study evaluating this effect suggested that chicken soup inhibits migration of neutrophils, a type of immune cells, thereby preventing inflammation during common infections and boosting immunity.
- Promotes heart health: Chicken, being rich in vitamin B6, plays an important role in preventing heart attack. Vitamin B6 helps by lowering the levels of homocysteine, one of the key components linked to an increased risk of heart attack. Besides, chicken is also a good source of niacin that helps lower cholesterol, a risk factor for heart disease development. The American Heart Association also recommends consumption of chicken over red meat since it contains less amount of saturated fats and is also a good source of omega-3 fatty acids that exhibit beneficial cardiovascular effects.