Doctors got it wrong: eating chicken skin now and again IS good for you

Is chicken skin really that bad for you?

The straight answer: No

The facts: The next time you cook or eat a piece of chicken, be sure to leave some of the skin on. For years, nutritionists and heart doctors have advised us to remove this fattening part of the bird before enjoying it, but as it turns out, chicken skin really isn’t as bad as was originally believed.

In addition to making cooked chicken juicier and more flavourful, chicken skin contains a good amount of heart healthy unsaturated fat. In fact, the majority of fat in chicken skin is unsaturated, according to the Harvard School of Public Health. Consumption of unsaturated fat is believed to be associated with lowered bad cholesterol and blood pressure levels.

However, there is no mistaking that chicken skin is fattening, so, whether or not you are watching your weight, you should not eat too much of it. It’s fine to leave the skin on that broiled or poached chicken breast, because there is very little difference between a 340-gram skin-on piece and a skinless one when it comes to fat content and calories – about 2.5 grams of saturated fat and 50 calories, to be exact. But gorging on large amounts of chicken skin daily is not going to do your heart or waistline any favours.

“A little bit with a chicken-based meal occasionally is fine, but I would not go out of my way to eat a lot of chicken skin,” says Sheena Smith, a naturopath and clinical nutritionist at the Integrated Medicine Institute. “Chicken meat, and in particular the skin of the chicken, has more omega-6 fatty acids than any other meat. Omega-6 is an unsaturated fat that increases inflammation in the body and is the driving force behind cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, and cancer, to name a few diseases.”