Chicken breast: useful properties, composition, preparation

Chicken breast is a popular product that is classified as a white meat with specific properties. However, not everyone knows what is the peculiarity, as well as the benefits and harms of chicken breast for our body and how its use affects the functioning of the body. Get to know the features of the product in detail.

Nutritional value and calorie content of chicken breast

Chicken breast is considered to be the leader in the optimal combination of proteins and fats: 25% of protein accounts for only 2% of fat. That is why athletes and bodybuilders love this product so much, because eating breast allows you to increase muscle mass (thanks to protein) without increasing adipose tissue.

Breast contains such an element as choline, vitamins of groups A, B, C, H and PP, as well as minerals, which include zinc, magnesium, selenium, iron, chlorine, copper, potassium, sodium, phosphorus and many others. ... Thanks to this extensive set of minerals, its use significantly improves the functioning of the heart, increases the body's immunity and helps it quickly rehabilitate after illnesses: it is not without reason that chicken broth is considered useful for people with colds.

Vitamins of groups A, C and H are especially significant, which have the properties of cleansing the liver, improving blood circulation, and positively influencing the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract and adrenal glands. The equally valuable B9 and B12 are of particular benefit for pregnant women: thanks to them, chicken breast has the property of helping the normal growth and development of the fetus.

According to the calorie content of the product, it is known that 100 g of it contains 113 kcal, which means that one such portion provides 7-10% of the total daily human need for energy.

In terms of essential nutrients, a 100 g serving provides the body with:

• 6 g protein;
• 9 g fat;
• and 0.4 g of carbohydrates.

Why is chicken breast useful?

Due to its rich chemical composition, the breast has high beneficial properties:

• its use neutralizes the acidity of the gastrointestinal tract, which is especially important for people suffering from stomach ulcers;
• due to its low calorie content, it is considered one of the best dietary products, and therefore nutritionists especially recommend its use for overweight people;
• included in the list of foods with a low cholesterol content: about 70 mg per 100 g of product (for example, 100 g of drumstick meat contains about 85 mg of cholesterol with the same concentration of vitamins and minerals).

The benefits of boiled chicken breast are to improve metabolism, skin, hair and nails. It is strongly recommended to include it in your diet for those people who have suffered physical injury or damage to the muscular skeleton;

The unique composition of chicken breast is of great importance for the formation of a nursing mother's diet, since the B vitamins it contains will help the development of the baby's nervous system and brain, iron will promote hematopoiesis, and vitamin D and phosphorus will maximize the health of the skeletal system and metabolism.

It is also known that one chicken breast contains a daily requirement of niacin, which is beneficial for muscles, building their endurance and strength.

The benefits of chicken breast for weight loss

Thus, white meat serves as a major component in the protein diet of athletes, helping to build muscle mass.

Its use contributes to the improvement of metabolism and weight loss, as well as the risk of vitamin deficiency, poor health on diets due to its rich vitamin complex.

Chicken breast diet

There are many chicken breast diets.

Let's consider the most popular ones:

Chicken Mono Diet

It provides for the use of exclusively chicken meat for three days - about 100 g per meal.

In just a day, you can perform up to six such techniques.

This diet can help you lose up to 3 kilograms of weight.

Chicken breast with kefir

One of the most effective is considered a diet based on the use of chicken breast and kefir, the duration of which is 9 days.

During the first three days, only green apples are allowed - 1.5 kg per day.

The next three days, it is necessary to eat only chicken breast fillets - boiled or steamed, without salt, spices or seasonings (about 1 kg per day).

Over the next two days, you should drink only kefir no more than 1% fat - about 2 liters per day.

On the last day, you need to drink up to 1.5 liters of chicken broth without salt.

The result of the diet is getting rid of more than 10 kg of excess weight and great health: over the entire period, the body is cleansed of toxins and accumulated toxins.

Chicken breast and green buckwheat

This diet is quite gentle and promotes gentle and smooth weight loss. Moreover, the combination of the properties of chicken breast and green buckwheat has invaluable benefits for the body's work, especially due to the unique set of proteins.

Sample diet menu:

1. Breakfast includes 150 g of steamed green buckwheat and 200 - 250 ml of unsweetened green tea.
2. During the second breakfast, you need to drink a glass of low-fat kefir.
3. Lunch consists of 150 g of boiled meat without salt and spices, a portion of green buckwheat sprouts and salad of spinach, cabbage and herbs.
4. The second snack includes 200 ml of low-fat yogurt without any fillers.
5. For dinner, you need to eat 100 g of steamed green buckwheat, you are allowed to drink a cup of tea.

Is chicken breast good for diabetes

Chicken breast meat is one of the few products that are allowed to be consumed in case of diabetes mellitus, with the confidence that this will not cause harm in the specificity of the disease: due to the absence of carbohydrates in the product, its glycemic index is zero! In addition, white meat is beneficial for diabetes due to its easy digestibility: this is influenced by the positive ratio of polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Therefore, with diabetes mellitus, chicken breast can be cooked in absolutely any form, with the exception of frying with fats.

Boiled chicken breast is beneficial for obese people with type 2 diabetes.It is important to note that it is advisable to remove the skin from meat before cooking, since it contains a certain amount of fat and cholesterol, and they can harm diabetics even in low quantities.

How to cook chicken breast properly

In terms of culinary properties, chicken breast has a controversial reputation. Its nutritional value, which is good for diets, meets the problem of dry meat in dishes with it. However, it all depends on the secrets that can solve such complaints.

How and how much to cook chicken breast

Steaming chicken breast is the easiest healthy option, in which the meat will not be digested and retain its useful properties.

To give the meat a delicate structure and juiciness, it must first be beaten off. This is done using cling film with a thornless culinary hammer.

If it is not possible to use a double boiler, you should boil water in a saucepan that is one third full and place a sieve or wire rack with the product on it. You can add various herbs or spices as desired. Close tightly on top and keep like this for 15 to 25 minutes, depending on the size of the breast.

It is better to cook in pre-cooked broth: put onions, carrots, peppercorns and various spices in boiling water and cook for several minutes. Then put the breast itself in the broth and cook under a closed lid for 5 - 10 minutes (focusing on the size of the breast). After turning off the heat, leave the meat under the lid in the broth for another 15 minutes, until it cools completely.

How to roast chicken breast properly

Before the frying process itself, it is best to hold the breast in solinade for a while - a strong solution with salt, sugar and various spices. The solinade itself should be chilled, with salt and sugar already dissolved in it.

To prepare it you will need:

• 1 liter of water;
• 60 g sea salt;
• 40 g brown sugar;
• spices to taste.

Cooking steps:

1. The breast should stay in the solinade for 2 - 6 hours, after which it will become very juicy and tender in taste.
2. After "staying" in the solution, the meat must be slightly beaten off with a culinary hammer, and then boldly fry - about 3 minutes on each side, without covering it with a lid.
3. After covering the pan with a lid, fry for another 3 - 5 minutes on each side.

Chicken breast in the oven

The process of baking the breast is very simple - you just need:

1. Pre-grease the meat with olive or sunflower oil.
2. Put it in a parchment or baking sleeve (this will make the breast even more appetizing) and place in the oven, preheated to no more than 160 ° C.
3. Bake for about 12 minutes.

Before serving, it is recommended to let the meat lie for a while under the foil.

What goes with chicken breast

Probably, it is difficult to find a more versatile product: in combination with other breasts there is no equal. Side dishes, spaghetti, vegetables, lettuce, eggs, cheese: do not count the options where the chicken breast will show its multifaceted taste! White meat is an excellent basis for proper nutrition, so we present a list of the most beneficial combinations for the body:

• arugula salad with olive oil;
• broccoli;
• cauliflower, Chinese cabbage and stewed cabbage;
• vegetable salad (cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, herbs);
• beans: beans, peas, corn;
• mushrooms;
• cereals: rice, buckwheat (fried and green), millet, wheat; porridge and others.

Is chicken breast harmful?

It all depends on the purpose of use: under various conditions, a metamorphosis occurs with products, when the benefits can turn into harm to the body: this also applies to the properties of chicken breast.

The point is, first of all, in the high concentration of protein, which for some people, especially children, can become a dangerous harmful allergen. In this case, cooking meat without skin can help.

Another "weak point" of the product is fats, or, better to say, their almost complete absence. It is known that a lack of fat leads to a decrease in the production of sex hormones - female and male.

The product also suffers from an insufficient amount of mineral salts. The thing is that it has very few blood capillaries, which usually contain all these substances.

Therefore, eating only white meat can seriously harm the work of your body: after all, with a lack of minerals, the body tends to "take" them from itself, which is fraught with harm to the collapse of bones and teeth, hair loss and brittle nails.

To balance the fat and minerals in the product, the advice will be the opposite: eat meat together with skin, which contains, among other things, fat-soluble vitamins A, D, K.

Contraindications to eating chicken breast

The main contraindications for white meat are the use of fried, smoked and grilled breasts: such methods of processing meat are categorically contraindicated for people suffering from gastritis or other gastric diseases.

Frequent use of the product in case of gastrointestinal problems can cause serious harm: chicken meat tends to "linger" in the colon and provoke putrefactive processes when various bacteria begin to actively multiply on undigested particles, and their cleavage products are absorbed into the blood.

Another pressing problem is the content of harmful hormones in chicken meat. Here you can breathe easier, because the dark meat of other parts of the poultry accumulates most of all, and the white meat of the brisket is considered to be of low toxicity in this respect.

The benefits and harms of smoked chicken breast

Smoked chicken breast is obtained through long heat treatment. Cold, chemical smoking is highly harmful. Hot smoking of the breast is relatively optimal and harmless. Since a real natural smoked chicken breast should not contain any flavor enhancers or additives, but only meat and salt, buying a smoked product from a trusted manufacturer or smoking at home will guarantee the right technology.

People with digestive system problems are strictly prohibited from eating any type of smoked meat.

How to choose a chicken breast when buying

The chicken breast needs to be examined carefully before you put it in your grocery cart. If white stripes are visible on the meat, you cannot take it: they indicate that this chicken has grown too quickly, and its adipose tissue has been formed unevenly. This means that the product contains fats and additives that can cause serious harm to health.

You should not take meat with pale veins: this is evidence of feeding the bird with antibiotics and hormones to accelerate growth. Regular consumption of such meat can contribute to obesity, as well as kidney and liver disease.

Conclusion

A detailed acquaintance with the product in response to the question of what are the benefits and harms of chicken breast for the human body can be concluded with the conclusion: chicken breast meat is considered the most digestible and useful, because it contains a huge amount of structural proteins and trace elements. That is why the breast is valued as the basis of a protein diet: with its help, you can get rid of extra pounds and gain muscle mass in a fairly short period. However, overuse of white meat can be harmful due to insufficient amounts of fats and minerals.