It’s funny to think of chicken as a natural muscle builder, since pre-historic humans, those lean, chiselled cavemen of sabre-tooth tiger fighting fame, actually ate very little poultry. It wasn’t until animal domestication that chicken made its way onto humanity’s menu, yet the food from classic farm animals—fatty meats like pork, beef, lamb, etc.—aren’t typically associated with a healthy, fitness-oriented diet. But humans got lucky with chicken, as nature granted us the perfect food for health, fitness, muscle, and, perhaps best of all, taste.

The Protein and the Muscle

Looking at the numbers, chicken is a truly miraculous meat. Especially chicken breast: the white meat of the chicken contains the highest protein-to-fat ratio, at 19:1. In other words, for every gram of fat in chicken breast, there are 19 grams of chicken! And that ratio gets even better if you don’t eat the skin. This isn’t just any protein either; the protein in chicken is of the same quality as other bodybuilding standbys like eggs and beef. That means chicken breast protein works just as hard to repair your damaged cells after a work.

Nutritional Value

Chicken breast contains more than just preposterous amounts of good protein compared to fat. It’s got essential nutrients as well. For instance, a chicken breast contains your daily portion of niacin, also known as vitamin B3. Not only is B3 crucial for converting protein, fat, and carbohydrates into usable energy, it’s also been proven to both reduce bad cholesterol and boost good cholesterol. Chicken breast also contains minerals like iron, selenium, and zinc, which can increase oxygenation in the blood, bone and tissue repair, and immune system efficiency.

Preparation Tips

While D&D offers plenty of great recipes so you can keep your chicken breast from becoming that boring dish you dread cooking, there’s one preparation tip that trumps the rest: if you’re eating chicken to build muscle and cut fat, make sure to cook with the skin on and remove it before you dig in. Cooking with the skin keeps those succulent juices in the breast, but the skin contains a disproportionate amount of fat, so toss it out!

At D&D Poultry, we pride ourselves on providing healthy, easy-to-cook options. Whether you’re making dinner after a workout or cooking for a family of five, D&D has the right choice for you.