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Eating Turkey This Thanksgiving? You May Want to Rethink It

Turkey has often been regarded as one of the healthier meat options. We're often told to replace ham or bologna with turkey in our sandwiches and we're told that putting a turkey burger on the table is a lot healthier for us than a beef burger is. The reality is that turkey substitutes in our food, like making turkey bacon instead of regular bacon, can actually raise the fat percentage and the sodium level... The big reason for the potentially higher fat and sodium is because of the fact that these products say that they contain "other turkey parts" which usually means skin...

The biggest way that your turkey is hurting you actually has nothing to do with the turkey itself...

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 How Healthy Is Turkey?

Give thanks for this bird — and its many nutritional benefits.

Articles of Interest

I Did the Research to See If Chicken or Turkey Is Healthier for You

If we look at the numbers (which, as an English major, I never thought I'd say), turkey wins by just a little bit. It has slightly more protein and less fat, which is important if you're looking to gain some muscle.

Is Turkey Actually Good for You?

As if you needed our blessing—but for the most part, experts say you can feel good about your Thanksgiving main dish. All of the bird lovers applauded turkey’s lean, filling protein. It packs the entire spectrum of B vitamins, in addition to selenium and potassium.

The Eat-ymology of the Turkey

Turkeys are true-blue natives of North America, but you wouldn't know it from the names Europeans saddled them with. First brought to Europe by early explorers, the birds were promptly described as a relative of guineafowl, the brown, speckled Asian species that gave us chickens.

Turkey? Thanks, But No Thanks

Who stands to benefit when you reevaluate Thanksgiving dinner and choose to leave turkey off the menu? Obviously the turkeys will be thankful (gobble, gobble), but beyond that, you’ll be doing yourself a huge favor by avoiding the cholesterol, saturated fat, and maybe even fecal bacteria. (Yikes!)

5 Reasons To Skip Turkey This Thanksgiving (And Permanently) For Your Health

According to PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), about 44 million turkeys are killed for Thanksgiving alone. Virtually all turkeys spend their entire lives on factory farms and have no federal legal protection. They are hatched in incubators, never see their mothers, and are moved into crowded warehouses where they spend the duration of their lives until they are slaughtered.

A Frozen Turkey and a Surprise Medical Breakthrough

How a project to improve frozen birds’ flavor led one scientist to identify the link between trans fats and heart disease.

All We Are Saying Is Give Dark Turkey Meat a Chance

Dark turkey meat has gotten a bad rap. It has long been touted as the less-appealing sidekick to lean, healthy white meat, but does it really deserve all the negative press it's been handed over the years? In the spirit of not judging a book by its cover, I set out to find the truth about dark turkey meat once and for all.

Can You Eat Too Much Turkey?

Turkey is considered one of the healthiest types of meat — and for good reason. Loaded with protein, it fills you up quickly and makes it easy to keep your calories in check. Plus, it's low in fat and rich in magnesium, zinc, iron, potassium, choline, selenium, and vitamin B12. A 3-ounce serving delivers over 25 grams of lean protein, 4 grams of fat, and 145 calories...

Ground Turkey Breast Must Be Stopped

Those packages of pink meat might not be as healthy as you think.

Here's why turkey is the healthier meat

Turkey has a lot of health benefits—making it a guilt-free option for those who want to try something new. Its benefits, however, depend on the parts and preparation. As with other meats, removing the skin also takes away a lot of the fat, and roasted is healthier than fried. The breast part (white meat) is slightly lower in calories than the leg, thigh, or wing (dark meat). The latter, however, has more nutrients but is also slightly higher in fat.

How nutritious are your favorite Thanksgiving foods?

A three-ounce serving of light meat without the skin has 120 calories and less than two grams of fat, but the same size serving of dark meat (sans skin) contains 142 calories and five grams of fat but also more iron and zinc. The tradeoff isn’t a big deal, experts say, so have whichever you prefer.

How Thanksgiving Turkeys Impact Our Planet

According to research from Carnegie Mellon University, the carbon footprint of a 16-pound turkey is a total of 34.2 pounds of CO2 — the same amount produced by rolled biscuits, turkey gravy, roasted Brussels, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and apple pie combined. An estimated 786,600 tons of CO2 are released when the majority of the world purchases a turkey on Thanksgiving, the equivalent of annual energy use for 100,000 homes.

How to Reduce Your Thanksgiving Carbon Footprint

Let’s begin with the turkey. The traditional turkey at Thanksgiving is a good choice energetically. The carbon footprint of a turkey is about an eighth of the carbon cost of red meat. One reason is that turkeys fatten up quickly, going from egg to a 20-pound bird in less than three months. If you buy a locally raised turkey, you’ve reduced the transportation and refrigeration costs further.

Is Ground Turkey Bad For You?

Recent buzz surrounding ground turkey has been gaining popularity among the health and culinary world. Often touted as a healthy alternative to ground beef, consumers are flocking to ground turkey to help lose and maintain weight, and add to their protein intake. One of the most frequent perceptions about ground turkey is that it can substitute for ground beef in many recipes because it is healthier. But is this true? The answer is: ‘sometimes’.

Is Turkey Better Than Beef for the Environment?

Turkey or beef? It's a question you might ask yourself on any given day while ordering a burger, or during Thanksgiving when thousands of turkeys are cooking across the country. It may be a health decision, or one informed by the knowledge that beef production releases a potent greenhouse gas, methane, which is emitted from cow manure and cow belches. But research suggests that cutting beef or all types of meat products from your diet as a way to reduce your carbon footprint may be an oversimplified approach to a complex issue.

Is Turkey Healthy? Here’s Everything You Need to Know

While turkey breast is a lean, healthy protein option, some processed versions (sausage, bacon, and hams) can include a large amount of sodium (salt) and fat.

Is white meat better than dark meat? There’s no wrong answer

Turns out, there is no right answer. “White or dark poultry meat, there’s not much of a difference [in terms of health],” says Dong Ahn, a poultry researcher and professor in the department of animal science at Iowa State University. “A lot of people in the US like white meat better than dark meat [in all poultry] because people are afraid of fat and try to avoid fats at all costs. But in other parts of the world, they prefer dark meat because it’s more flavorful.”

Is White Meat Really the Healthiest Part of the Turkey?

Dark meat and giblets have more nutritional value than most folks give them credit for.

Light versus dark – the color of the turkey meat is due to the job of the muscle

It’s the mitochondria that lend dark meat one of its distinguishing (disgusting?) characteristics. They can use fat to produce ATP. Because of its higher muscle fat content, some people may perceive dark muscle as greasy, while others deem it delicious.

The Claim: White Meat Is Healthier Than Dark Meat

White meat contains less fat and fewer calories than dark meat, but the differences are small... But dark meat has its benefits. Compared with white meat, it contains more iron, zinc, riboflavin, thiamine, and vitamins B6 and B12. Both have less fat than most cuts of red meat, so you can’t go wrong either way.

The Physics Of Why You Must Never Deep Fry A Frozen Turkey

If you forgot to defrost your turkey, definitely don’t put it in a deep fryer.

Turkey Carbon Footprint & Environmental Impact

Consumers are estimated to waste on average 35% of all Turkey purchased (USDA ERS).

Turkey or Beef: There are pros and cons to both meat choices

Turkey burgers, turkey meatballs, turkey tacos and other dishes made with ground turkey are popping up on restaurant menus, food blogs and in cookbooks as seemingly healthy alternatives to their beef counterparts. But is turkey recommended over beef and other red meats? Is turkey always the best choice? The take-home message is that both turkey and beef can be part of a healthy diet. To protect yourself from cancer and heart disease, choose white meat more often, and make sure to read labels. Eat 18 ounces or less of red meat per week. If it’s a burger you crave, whether turkey or beef, choose a ground meat that is at least 93 percent lean.

Turkey, One of The Healthier Sources of Protein

A turkey done well impresses, both visually and taste-wise. What’s more, it has a nutritional edge over red meat such as beef or lamb. Red meat contains higher levels of calories and fat, especially saturated fat.

Turning to turkey’s tryptophan to boost mood? Not so fast

There’s the turkey/drowsiness myth: Eating lots of juicy turkey meat supposedly makes people feel tired because it contains an amino acid called tryptophan. This molecule travels into the brain, where it’s converted into a neurotransmitter called serotonin, which in turn is converted into a hormone called melatonin. Voila! Sleepiness. But science and the internet agree: It’s not the turkey’s tryptophan to blame for your post-feast nap. All protein sources, and even vegetables, contain some tryptophan; turkey isn’t at all special in this regard.

What Happens to Your Body When You Eat Turkey

The benefits of this bird extend far beyond Thanksgiving.

Which Is Healthier: Turkey or Beef Burgers?

Beef burgers get a bad rap for being too high in fat, but turkey burgers can cook up dry and bland. Here's what to know about choosing the best burger.

Resources

10 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Eat Turkey This Thanksgiving

An estimated 45 million turkeys are slaughtered for Thanksgiving each year in the United States. Though turkey meat is considered the centerpiece of holiday dinners in America, it is time to reconsider.

14 Fun Facts About Turkeys

Benjamin Franklin never proposed the turkey as a symbol for America, but he did once praise it as being “a much more respectable bird” than the bald eagle.