Fish and Poultry - High Quality Protein

By Chris Chenoweth - 2007-10-24 - Viewed 1405 times. Find more articles like this in our Nutrition and Healthy Eating category.

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If you, like many people, are trying to cut down on your dietary fat intake, selecting fish and poultry instead of beef and pork can be a healthy choice.

Fish and poultry are the best choices for people who want to keep meat in their diets but do not want the unhealthy fat.

All types of fish (saltwater and freshwater fish) and poultry (chicken, turkey, duck and goose) are excellent sources of high quality protein and supply a number of important nutritional needs. They also contain a complete range of the essential amino acids that are needed to build protein.

Some fish are excellent sources of healthy fats (polyunsaturated) that provide incredible health benefits. The best sources of these fats are salmon, trout, mackerel, and halibut. Fish oils have an anti-clotting effect and help to reduce the likelihood of heart attacks and strokes when it is manufactured by the body.

Poultry such as turkey, chicken and goose do contain some beneficial fatty acids, though it is less than in fish. However, since most of poultry's fat is found within the skin, it can easily be removed. The total fat content of poultry is far lower than that of beef.

When choosing poultry, to minimize the fat content, choose breast and thigh meat over internal organs and remove the skin before eating. White meat is much lower in fat than dark meat. Duck and goose contain more fat than turkey and chicken.

NUTRIENT CONTENT

Fatty fish like salmon and halibut are very good sources of vitamin A and D. Mackerel, herring and haddock are rich in minerals. Saltwater fish and shellfish are rich in iodine, a trace mineral that is difficult to obtain. Shellfish are also a good source of selenium, copper, and zinc.

Oysters, lobster and crab are rich in zinc also. Most fish provides potassium, phosphorus and iron. Canned salmon and sardines are rich in calcium.

Poultry is not as good a source of nutrients as fish. However, chicken does contain vitamin A and B complex, potassium, phosphorus, zinc and iron. Turkey is very similar to chicken except that is has more potassium and phosphorus.

FISH AND POULTRY CHOICES

Both seafood and poultry can be bought as canned, fresh, frozen, or smoked. Always try to buy the organic brand of poultry. Organic food has reduced exposure to hormones and pesticides.

* POULTRY CHOICES:

Chicken, duck, goose, turkey, and game birds: partridge, pheasant, and quail.

* SEAFOOD CHOICES:

Freshwater fish choices are bass, blue gill, carp, catfish, crayfish, perch, pike, or trout.

Saltwater fish choices are blue fish, flounder, herring, mackerel, red snapper, sardines, salmon, sole, swordfish, and tuna.

Shellfish choices are: abalone, clam, crab, lobster, mussel, oyster, scallop and shrimp.

Choosing fish and poultry when you want to add protein to your diet is a healthy alternative to beef and pork. There are plenty of options to choose from.

Chris Chenoweth writes articles pertaining to diet, exercise, health and business.

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