Chicken breast

Generality

The chicken breast is a food of animal origin that is highly proteic, low in fat and free of carbohydrates; precisely because of these characteristics, chicken breast is one of the most used foods for diets aimed at weight loss, as well as being frequently used in typical bodybuilding diets, both in the mass phase (called bulking ) and in the definition phase (called cutting ).

Chicken breast is an extremely versatile food; constitutes a dish of very wide consumption, to be prepared through the use of various cooking methods: grilled, in a pan (with or without oil), grilled, baked, boiled, steamed, etc., while (for hygienic reasons) NOT it would be advisable to consume it raw. Furthermore, the chicken breast deprived of the skin is an economic and easy to contextualize ingredient, both for the accompaniment of the first courses, and for the stuffing of the sandwiches since: it increases the plastic supply and effectively compensates the protein value of cereals without significantly affect the fat balance or the amount of cholesterol .

Nutritional composition of Chicken, breast, raw (words on food composition tables - INRAN)

Nutritional values (per 100 g of edible portion)
NB . Many values have been voluntarily omitted in the absence of sufficiently precise data; however, in the description that follows, they will still be mentioned by virtue of their nutritional importance.
Edible part			98%
water			74, 9g
Protein			23, 3g
Lipids TOT			0.8g
	Saturated fatty acids		0.25mg
	Monounsaturated fatty acids		0, 19mg
	Polyunsaturated fatty acids		0, 23mg
	Cholesterol		60, 0mg
TOT Carbohydrates			0.0g
		Starch	0.0g
		Available sugars	0.0g
Dietary fiber			0.0g
Power			100, 0kcal
Sodium			33, 0mg
Potassium			370, 0mg
Iron			0.4mg
Football			4, 0mg
Phosphorus			210, 0mg
Thiamine			0.1mg
Riboflavin			0.2mg
Niacin			8, 3mg
Vitamin A			0, 0μg
C vitamin			0, 0mg
Vitamin E			0, 0mg

The chicken breast also provides a fair amount of vitamins; among these, niacin (vit. PP), pyridoxine (vit. B6) and cobalamin (B12) stand out; also thiamine (vit. B1), riboflavin (vit. B2) and pantothenic acid (B5) are not missing.

Also noteworthy are the quantities of mineral salts typical of meat, therefore iron (Fe - heme type), phosphorus (P) and zinc (Zn); there is no shortage of small doses of selenium (Se).

The total energy intake of the chicken breast is around 100kcal / 100g (INRAN source), divided into: 93% protein and 7% lipid (1/3 saturated and 2/3 unsaturated, of which about 1/3 monounsaturated and 1/3 polyunsaturated). The amino acid called limiting, since it is less present among the essentials, is tryptophan; as for the others, in decreasing order, the most concentrated are: glutamic acid, aspartic acid, lysine, leucine and arginine. Among the fatty acids, C16: 0 (palmitic), C18: 1 (oleic) and C18: 2 (linoleic acid) stand out above all; the ratio of polyunsaturated and saturated fatty acids is equal to 0.9 while cholesterol plays an almost marginal role with its 60mg / 100g.

WARNING! When choosing a chicken breast, it is not uncommon to also find WHOLE and LEATHER packaged (to the advantage of the price) compared to the classic WHOLE WITHOUT SKIN or SLICE WITHOUT SKIN; in this case we remind you that, to preserve its dietary function, it should be the responsibility of the consumer. REMOVE your skin BEFORE cooking. This process is essential because, except for the " grilled " method (in which the fat is separated from the food by fall), the other heat treatments do not allow the elimination of the lipid component contained in the skin. Eating a chicken breast "with skin", compared to the analogous "without" skin, leads to an increase in lipid intake (triglycerides) of about 300%. On the other hand, by separating the skin into the cooked dish, it is possible to preserve "a large part" of the typical thinness of the chicken breast even if, leaving the meat to remain in contact with the cooking liquid, the lipid percentage would not be comparable. to that of food without skin.

NB . With skin, the total cholesterol increase in chicken breast is about 30%.

Role in the diet

Being particularly thin, the chicken breast leaves room for alternative lipid sources and - from the point of view of the metabolic impact - of better quality; for example, extra virgin olive oil CRUDO, other cold-pressed oils and NOT hydrogenated but rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (grapeseed, walnut, kiwi, flax etc.), dried fruit (achenes such as walnuts, almonds, pine nuts, etc.) and, why not, also krill oil supplements.

On the other hand, we recall that chicken breast is a food with a predominantly plastic function and that, being free of carbohydrates, fibers, antioxidants, typical electrolytes of vegetables (potassium-K, magmesio-Mg) and other functional molecules, it must always leave the right space to balance and variability in food choices.

Classification and origin

From the commodity and zoological point of view, the chicken breast is a piece of meat deriving from polygamous, oviparous animals that originate early offspring, of the type: Vertebrates, class Birds, order Gallinaceae, family of the Fasianidi, genus Gallus, species Domesticus ; the most widespread chicken breeds in Italy are Livornese and Valdarno, Polverana gigante, Polverara, Ancona, Romagnola, Siciliana, and the municipality.

From which animal is the chicken breast made?

Few really know the classification of chickens, or rather, of Gallus domesticus ; the various nomenclatures like chicken, chicken, rooster, cockerel, capon, etc. they are always quite vague and confusing, therefore, some definitions will be mentioned below:

Pollastro, pullet, pullet, chick, chick, chick: generic term, young chicken (both male and female); slaughter before 4 months and weight of about 600g depending on the breeds
Chicken: generic term, adult chicken, generally hens no longer oviparous; slaughter from 5 to 12 months, up to 1kg in weight or more depending on the breeds
Pollanca / capponessa: young female of fattened chicken, up to almost 2 kg of weight or more depending on the breeds
Hen: adult female of the species of chickens generally oviparous; rooster female, less than 1 kg or more depending on the breeds
Cockerel / cockerel: young male of the species of chickens; hen male with less than 10 months, about 6
Rooster: adult male of the species of chickens; male of the hen
Gallastrone: old male of the species of chickens; male of the hen
Capon: young male castrated (at 2 months of life and intended for fattening) of the species of chickens; male of the hen; slaughtering 6-7 months and weight up to about 2-3kg.

Chickens destined for slaughter, therefore also for the production of chicken breast, can be classified in different ways but, from a health point of view, what matters is the type of farming . Chicken farms are extensive, semi-intensive or intensive; the extensive ones provide a lot of freedom to roam the countryside, semi-intensive ones have NO campaign but a medium-sized plot on which to scratch on the sunniest days, intensive ones barricade the chickens in the sheds, both "on the ground" and "on battery" .

The health importance of the different types of farming is mainly attributable to the use of drugs (antibiotics etc.) and to the composition of the meat. An animal that is stationary or segregated within a sealed space is more subjected to infestation and pathogenicity, therefore the use of pharmacological and pesticides will certainly be greater; on the other hand, the current regulations are rather rigid and do not include the residue of chemical-pharmacological traces inside the food. In addition, the segregated chicken MUST be fed with the feed administered to it which, together with the reduced motor activity, give the meat an unpleasant taste / odor and a less healthy ratio of fatty acids compared to the analogue in extensive or semi-intensive breeding.

The highest quality and safest chicken breast is obtained from organic farming as it requires very precise and essential characteristics such as: choice of native breeds, low animal density in the open dedicated to the razzolo, use of alternative medicines instead of the traditional ones (health characteristic questionable), grazing on grass and BIOLOGICAL FEEDING.

Recipes

Since this is not a cookbook, I will leave it to others to accurately describe the most common recipes based on chicken breast, although I believe it may be useful to provide a valid track on which to test new ideas in the kitchen. I therefore suggest: chicken breast with basil, grilled chicken breast in Norwegian sauce, Sicilian chicken breast, chicken breast with porcini mushrooms, chicken breast with Parmesan, brussel chicken breast, Hawaiian chicken breast, breast Valdostana style chicken, chicken breast with mixed mushrooms and peas, and chicken breast in Belgian sauce.