iStockphoto / Azurita
There is a new scientific study out of Italy which found that consuming just 300 grams of chicken breast each week was associated with a 27% increase in death from all causes. Future studies are needed to explore the nature of the association, to be sure, but it is an alarming correlation given how much white meat from chicken is consumed globally.
Chicken breast is globally considered to be a super food. The white meat from chicken breast offer just about the best Protein-to-Fat ratio of any food in the game with around 30 grams of protein to 3 grams of fat in just 85 grams of chicken breast. Body builders know this. Dieters know this. Athletes live by this.
A common rule of thumb for anyone looking to gain muscle at a healthy weight is 1 gram of protein per 1 pound of body weight. But this new study published in the MDPI journal Nutrients calls into question whether the ‘God Tier’ macros of chicken breast are worth it because it found just 300 grams of white meat from chicken each week was associated with the 27% increase risk of death from all causes.
For the study, 4869 participants from Southern Italy aged 30 and above were used. The overarching goal of the study was to explore the relationship between gastrointestinal cancers and meat consumption.
What they found was, “subjects consuming more than 300 g had a 27% higher risk of death from all causes than those consuming less than 100g.” Following the ‘1 gram of protein per 1 pound of body weight’ rule that would be just 1-2 day’s worth of chicken consumption for many individuals, myself included. I typically have around 120-160g of smoked chicken breast as an afternoon snack… So this hits home for me.
The study titled ‘Does Poultry Consumption Increase the Risk of Mortality for Gastrointestinal Cancers? A Preliminary Competing Risk Analysis’ stated explicitly in the conclusion that “white meat consumption above 300 g/week was associated with a statistically significant increased mortality risk from all causes and GC. The risk was higher for men than for women.” It did note that “further studies are needed to confirm our findings and learn more about the effects of processed poultry.”
Further context was added in the study’s conclusion, stating “it is important to learn more about the long-term effects of this food category, white meat, that is widely consumed by the world population who, perhaps mistakenly, consider it healthy in absolute terms. We believe it is beneficial to moderate poultry consumption, alternating it with other equally valuable protein sources, such as fish.”
Everyone knows that correlation does not equal causation. That’s the pretty much the only thing most people remember from Statistics classes.
It is important to recognize that just because eating over 300g of white meat chicken each week is associated with a 27% increased risk of death from all causes it does not necessarily mean that the chicken is the lone contributing factor, though it doesn’t bode well for the birds… Especially not when we look at the meat tiers:
It is entirely possible the increased consumption is tied to overall consumption, tied to more active individuals who put themselves in riskier situations and while this is all just me speculating I’m doing so to illustrate how easy it is to question other possible contributing factors. Also, by reducing our chicken consumption are we possibly making room for eating more beef and keeping the American dream alive?!
With all of that in mind, their suggestion of moderating meat consumption is, of course, worth considering. Now if you don’t mind me it is time to go throw my afternoon chicken breast on the Traeger and get to eating…