Between Chicken And Goat Meat, Which Is More Healthier To Eat This Christmas

As Christmas is approaching, most Ghanaians, would surely like to celebrate it with a taste of either chicken or goat meat or even both.
However, there are some health benefits derived from each meat as well as it’s health hazards.
In today’s article, we will be looking at the best option to choose from if the restaurant waiter asks you to choose between a chicken and a goat meat, considering it’s health benefits.

Goat meat is a healthier alternative to other red meats like chicken, beef, lamb, and pork. It is naturally lean, very nutritious and has a range of health benefits. The meat has less fat, less saturated fat, more iron, and about the same amount of protein compared to beef, pork, lamb, or chicken.

It is now common knowledge that goat meat is excellent for the health of the heart as it is the richest source of the omega-3 fatty acids which protect us from the coronary artery disease.

It is also a common belief that all red meat such as mutton, beef, and pork are bad for the heart while the white meat, which for all practical purposes is chicken for us, is fine for the heart.

Contrary to this belief, not all red meat is bad.

Nutritionally goat meat is much better than lamb meat.

Goat meat is actually lower in calories, total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol than not just lamb, pork and beef meats, but also chicken meat. This makes goat meat the healthier red meat, even better than chicken.

A 100 gm serving of cooked goat meat contains about 142 calories compared to chicken 185, beef 207, pork 209 and lamb 205 calories per 100 gm.

Goat meat has 3 gm of total fat, 0.93 gm of saturated fat, 75 mg of cholesterol and 27 gm of protein per 100 gm serving.

Chicken meat has 4 gm of total fat, 1 gm of saturated fat, 85 mg of cholesterol and 31 gm of proteins per 100 gm.

All other meats fare even more poorly in comparison to goat meat.

Additionally, goat meat has higher levels of iron than the other meats. It has 3.8 mg iron per 100 gm serving while beef has 3.4 mg, pork has 3.1 mg, lamb has 1.6 mg and chicken has 1.7 mg of iron per 100 gm.

Goat meat also has higher levels of potassium and lower levels of sodium than the other four types of meat. Thus it is a healthier option for people with hypertension, heart and kidney disease.

Thus goat meat is superior to all the four other types of meat including chicken meat.

So other than fish, goat meat is the best meat to consume. As always, eating moderately is the key.

One can consume 250 gm goat meat in a day, and still satisfy the upper safe limit of cholesterol consumption allowable to a person with high cholesterol levels viz. 200 mg.

Thus, if you are a mix food person, you should consider fish, goat, and chicken as the non-vegetarian options in your food, in that order. You can keep off the lamb, pork, and beef.

Other than providing you a very good source of proteins and iron, goat meat also provides you a vital nutrient in vitamin B12, which is completely absent in vegetarian food. This is significant since many Indians suffer from vitamin B12 deficiency. Iron from flesh sources is also absorbed better than that from the vegetable sources. Thus goat meat also helps prevent anaemia.

Hence eating goat meat in moderation is a good option if you are a mixed food person.

And it is perfectly fine if you are a pure lacto-vegetarian as long as you take balanced nutrition, eat ample vegetables, especially leafy vegetables, and fruits and drink ample skimmed milk. Milk provides the necessary high quality proteins as well as all the vitamin B 12 you need.

READ ALSO: Dangerous Side Effects Of Eating Bread Too Often

Chicken

Chicken  on the other hand is not as healthy as the goat meat. However, it contains some amount of protein. One is however not advised to consume processed meat.

These include any meat that has been smoked, salted, cured, dried, or canned. Compared to fresh meat, processed meats are high in sodium and can have double the amount of nitrates