Chicken

If following a heart healthy diet, chicken makes a great option to add to your grocery list. Chicken is lower in calories and contains higher quality protein, making it an excellent choice if watching your calorie intake for weight loss goals and looking to build muscle strength. What usually makes chicken go from healthy to unhealthy comes down to how it is prepared.

Keep to these guidelines when choosing and preparing chicken for your meals:

• Choose chicken breast over other cuts of meat.

• Remove skin before consumption.

• Prepare by grilling, baking, or stir-frying.

• Limit processed chicken meats (e.g. luncheon chicken), fried chicken, and rotisserie chicken as these forms of chicken tend to be higher in cholesterol and sodium.

• Cook chicken to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F to lower the risk for foodborne illness.