Is White Meat Healthier Than Dark Meat?
Not really. An ounce of white meat has four fewer calories than the same amount of dark meat, but dark meat has more nutrients. There was no mention of the hidden health benefits of crisp turkey skin.
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7 Comments:
I've broken into a chorus of Vindicated! I love dark meat and constantly get told by the white meat eaters that it's not healthy. Give me my juicy, moist, flavorful dark meat any day!
chiff0nade at 1:10PM on 11/20/07
You know what they say, once you go dark, you never go back.
foodiegirl at 1:36PM on 11/20/07
The health benefits of crisp skin are really for everyone else at the table. As long as I get my fair share, the chances of me braining someone with a gravy boat are greatly reduced.
corycm at 1:39PM on 11/20/07
Wow, I am really surprised that the NY Times would publish such nonsense. Firstly, dark meat has more than twice the amount of saturated fat than does white meat. Secondly, dark meat has approximately 4mg/oz more of cholesterol than white meat. Doctors recommend that you not eat more than 14g of Saturated Fat or more than 200mg of cholesterol every day. That means that you can healthily eat 8.3oz (7.8oz with skin) of dark meat or 10oz (9.2oz with skin) of white meat for the entire day. Needless to say, this is a LOT less than most people, even those on strict diets, eat on a holiday like thanksgiving. So, sticking with white meat is prudent if you are not being careful with your portion sizes, since you can easily blow past your limit of saturated fat for the day by eating dark meat.
That being said, the author is correct to point out that there is very little difference between eating dark and white meat -- if you eat a portion controlled meal. Otherwise, all bets are off...and eating the white meat is definitely healthier.
ubuwalker31 at 2:41PM on 11/20/07
Take a close look at that NYTimes item. It says " an ounce of boneless, skinless turkey breast contains about 46 calories and 1 gram of fat, compared with roughly 50 calories and 2 grams of fat for an ounce of boneless, skinless thigh."
Now that sounds good ... only 1 more gram! Right? Well, not so much. The dark meat has TWICE the fat as the white. As ubuwlaker31 points out, who eats only an OUNCE of turkey? Multiply that out to a say an 8 oz portion and the white meat has 368 calories and 8 grams of fat while the dark has 400 calories and 16 grams of fat.
Not sounding so much the same anymore ... but I'll still eat the dark meat over the white meat, any day!
kjgibson at 3:34PM on 11/20/07
Turkey fat is good for you!
I'll take the stuffing steamed in turkey fat and juices from being cooked inside the bird.
peekpoke at 10:58AM on 11/21/07
Come on, calorie counters. Stop reducing foods to just their caloric content or their saturated fat content -- healthy eating is so much more. It's about enjoying yourself; it's about eating a variety of foods; it's about eating only until you're satisfied, not until you're about to lapse into a food coma.
And an 8 oz 'portion' of turkey is HALF A POUND. Combined with all the other components of a Thanksgiving meal, who needs to eat that much turkey in a single serving?
demivisage at 6:52PM on 11/25/08