Chicken about Chicken

My family has been happily eating free-range, soy free chicken for a couple of years (I thought it was longer than that but a farmer lied to me about her chicken). The other day, my happy chicken fantasy got shot to heck. A member of my Holistic Moms Network (HMN) chapter asked about arsenic in chicken. My HMN friend, Niti, owner of Farm to Fork CSA, jumped all over that with an excellent response regarding the health of store bought chicken and much of locally raised, “healthy” chicken. She then went on to say that we shouldn’t be eating much chicken at all because farmed birds really aren’t that healthy. Maybe once a month. It was a well written and strong response.

I have a confession. In addition to my happy, locally raised chicken, I had begun to purchase some organic boneless/skinless chicken breasts from Whole Foods because I wanted some variety – like Chicken Shawarma. I am part Lebanese and I decided I wanted some Shawarma, darn it, and it is hard to make when you have to bone the bird. I could do it, because I used to work in an Italian Meat Market and cut up and boned lots of chickens, but I am lazy and went for convenience. So, every other week or so, I began to make it.

I figured that as healthy as I eat, I can roll with some organic, arsenic chicken every other week. Then…a friend in the GAPS/Nourishing Traditions forum asked about the Omega 6/Omega 3 imbalance in the chicken skin, with the skin being heavy Omega 6. What? I hadn’t even thought of that. Damn! So I did a little research on-line, and there doesn’t seem to be too much noise around it, so I figure I am fine eating all that skin from my happy non-Whole Foods chicken. Still, I wanted to know from those wiser than I.

I asked a friend in the medical field what he thought. This guy’s advice has always been right on for my family, and here is what he said (and about which I am still laughing):

I avoid it unless it's truly pasture raised which is exceedingly rare. I think if your goal is to optimize your omega 6: omega 3 ratio (one of the few specific nutritional goals I endorse without reservation ) then chicken - whether it is industrial food complex Tyson Foods pseudo-bird or crunchy hippy Chapel Hill organic farm lovingly raised but grain fed- makes it impossible to achieve that goal if you eat with any frequency (more than 3 times a month or so). 

So, that's a long answer. I do eat it on occasion but prefer cheaper fresh fish or grass fed beef. If confronted with pseudo bird, take a slug of vitamin k and some fish oil. Omega 6 in excess is seriously bad for you. 

Slankers and Polyface are two online sites for real chicken- be prepared, quite pricey 

After many “damns” because I do care about the omega 6:3 ratio and all the inflammation and disease that results when it is out of whack, I am redefining my relationship with chicken. No more Whole Foods chicken for starters.

I shared this feedback with the two forums I mentioned above, and Niti relayed that her family’s chiro believes that farm-raised fowl should only be eaten on holidays/perhaps once a quarter. Even stricter yet.

I also asked my Oriental medicine doc, who pretty much saved my health and life, what he thought and he said that since he has high omega 3 intake to balance out omega 6 from the chicken skin, he isn’t worried about eating the chicken skin once a week (he and I  purchase from the same farmer). Because my family eats close to the way he does, I am less concerned, but concerned nonetheless.

Why should you care about the omega 6:3 ratio? Here are a couple of resources:

• This Pub Med abstract hits it hard: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12442909
• This is an excellent, more readable and detailed article by Chris Kresser: How too Much Omega 6 and not Enough Omega 3 is Making us Sick

Here’s my plan. According to my humorous medical friend, the blood test for Omega 3 levels is fairly inexpensive, about $50, and you can order the test online.  Once I understand my omega 6:3 ratio, I can better decide what to do about chicken skin and whatever else I haven’t thought of yet that could be improved.

I recently completed an online blood test order for someone I am trying to help, and it is easy. At the recommendation of my Oriental medicine doc, we used Direct Labs. I placed the order online, the paperwork/authorization was emailed to her, she printed it and I took her to a LabCorp office to have blood drawn. The results were then emailed to her.

Understanding my 6:3 ratio will help me decide what to do about that darn chicken skin from my “crunchy hippy Chapel Hill organic farm lovingly raised but grain fed” chicken. Perhaps I will learn to hunt pheasant and quail – I am pretty darn good at skeet. That would take care of the whole mess.

 

Comments

[paleoMD]

In years of nutritional consulting and measuring omega 6 to omega 3 ratios in patients, I have never seen anyone get less than 4:1 ratio by " high omega 3 intake"- either via fish oil or diet or both. To achieve the ideal ratio of 2:1, it invariably requires active reduction of omega 6. If chicken skin is your thing, eat it. However, if a 2:1 goal is your thing, chicken will be just about the only omega 6 you can eat with any frequency......test your ratio if you need motivation and see for yourself how important chicken/ turkey etc is to you.