Why Chicken Fingers Are Bad For You

Although chicken fingers and other types of fried food are very tasty, they are very unhealthy. We need to discuss in detail why this is so. Continue reading if you want to find out…

Chicken fingers are even more unhealthy when you combine them with dipping sauces, like curry and mustard, like in the picture.

Calories And Fat

Chicken is low and lean in calories. But when you batter and cook chicken in a deep fryer,  the amount of calories and fat quickly increases.3 1/2-ounces of breaded and fried chicken tenders, which is about six to seven strips, has about 300 calories. Almost half of the calories in chicken fingers are because of fat. The remaining calories are almost evenly divided between protein and carbohydrates. To compare, plainly grilled chicken tenders of the same serving size have only half of the calories chicken fingers have, that’s 165 calories. Another benefit of grilled chicken benefits is that only 25 percent of them is fat. The remaining calories are all protein. By not breading the chicken, you eliminate carbohydrates.

Health Problems

Fried food, which chicken fingers belong to, have been connected to some serious health problems like type 2 diabetes and heart disease, according to a study.Fried foods may influence the risk of these diseases through several key risk factors:

• Obesity;
• High blood pressure;
• High cholesterol;

By frying food, you alter the quality of food and increase the number of calories in it. Fried food that is served in fast food restaurants is mostly cooked in hydrogenated oils, which are high in trans fats.They are used because they give food a satisfying taste and crunch. But they are actually bad for you. Trans fats raise bad cholesterol levels, lower good cholesterol levels, and raise the chances of having heart disease.  Hydrogenated oil is even more unhealthy when it’s reused like most restaurants do.

Another reason why fried foods aren’t healthy is because of acrylamide. Acrylamide is a chemical that forms in foods cooked at high temperatures, such as fried and baked foods. In animal studies, it has been shown to cause cancer.When food is cooked at very high temperatures, an amino acid called asparagine, in the food reacts with sugars to produce acrylamide.  You should also be careful how much you fry the food.The darker the food, the more acrylamide there is. If you have a family history of cancer you need to be careful how much-fried food you eat.

-DHCN.