Guest article provided by FoodFacts.com
At FoodFacts.com, we like to keep our followers up-to-date with current trends, research, and events. During the month of July, one of the holidays is National Fried Chicken Day. Although we aren’t so sure how it was originated, we do know that many people choose to celebrate this day, especially with the immense patriotism still lurking from Independence Day.
We too would like to celebrate this holiday, but in a more health-conscious manner. You see, fried chicken can be very high in trans-fat, cholesterol, and sodium. Therefore, we would like to take the time to reveal some products you may want to learn more about, prior to indulging. We have decided to feature the very popular chicken-based franchise, Chick-Fil-A.
We’ll start off with the breakfast Chicken Biscuit. This sandwich provides about 51% of the daily value for sodium alone. With only a 5.1 oz serving, and 440 calories, 1,230mg of sodium is quite a lot, especially to start off the day! Although this sandwich is high in protein with 17g, and also carries a decent amount of iron, this still cannot compensate for the 8g of saturated fat and variety of controversial ingredients. You may want to replace ordering this ingredient-packed sandwich with an item more nutrient-dense and filling, such as the yogurt parfait with granola. This may be a better option for a morning meal or snack.
Then there’s the Spicy Chicken Sandwich Deluxe. The pros of this sandwich: it has a good amount of protein, vitamin C, and calcium, most likely from the tomato, lettuce, and single slice of cheese. However, this 570-calorie sandwich also contains 8g saturated fat, and 27g total fat. These amounts count for approximately 40-42% your daily value of saturated fat and total fat, which are undeniably very high numbers for one single sandwich. We must also point out that this sandwich contains almost 100 different ingredients. Some of which include monosodium glutamate (MSG), high fructose corn syrup, a variety of coloring additives, and TBHQ, all controversial ingredients which we have thoroughly discussed on our site.
To get your chicken “fix” without all the extra mess, you may want to instead try the Char-Grilled Chicken Garden Salad, without dressing or on the side.
The healthiest option is always to make your own. You’ll find some recipes at FoodFacts.com or try these healthier chicken recipes:
Biggest Loser’s Winning Fried Chicken