I made the team! I'm honored to announce that I'm officially part of the Chicken Farmers of Canada
Brand Ambassador team
. Only f
our Canadians were chosen, and I'm fortunate to be one of them, and the official Health Brand Ambassador. Over the coming year I'll be sharing information on the health benefits of chicken, delicious recipes, and lots of cool snippets, tools and updates as it relates to the Chicken Farmers of Canada and Chicken.ca
It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of the Paleo lifestyle and as such my family and me tend to have a diet consisting of its fair share of chicken. There's a number of benefits of chicken as a preferred protein source in our home, here's my top 5.
Top 5 Health Benefits of Eating Chicken
- Great source of protein: Protein functions as a building block for bones, muscles, cartilage, skin, and blood. They're also building blocks for enzymes, hormones, and vitamins.
- Strong bones and teeth: Chicken is a great source of phosphorus which is an essential mineral for maintaining healthy bones & teeth, improving digestion, energy and alertness, regulating hormones, as well as improving mental function while helping with protein production in the body.
- Mood enhancer: Chicken is an awesome source of tryptophan! Tryptophan achieves its effects by way of serotonin, one of the key brain chemicals involved in regulating mood. Among other functions, serotonin promotes feelings of calmness and relaxation. A lack of serotonin is associated with depression.
- Boost your metabolism: Vitamin B6 (or B-complex vitamins) encourage enzymes and metabolic cellular reactions (or a process known as Methylation), which means eating this bird will keep blood vessels healthy, energy levels high, and metabolism burning calories so you can manage a healthy weight and activity level. selenium, an essential mineral involved in metabolic performance—in other words thyroid, hormone, metabolism, and immune function.
- Loads of Niacin: Chicken also happens to be rich in niacin, one particular B-vitamin that has been shown to protect against cancer and other forms of genetic (DNA) damage.
[highlight]The Chicken Farms of Canada website ( Chicken.ca ) has a Health Portal which is jammed with information. This includes: Nutritional Comparison, Patient Resources, Nutrition, Heart Health, Exercise and Lifetime Health categories.[/highlight]
[toggle title="Eat More Chicken and Lose Weight!" state="close" ]Adding more protein into your diet will help maintain an ideal body weight. For example, in a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition , people were put on a diet in which:
- Fat was reduced to 20% of calories
- Protein was increased to 30% of calories
- Carbs made up 50% of diet
People on that diet reported that they:
- Were more satisfied
- Less hungry
- Lost weight
Another study in the Journal of Nutrition combined a high-protein diet with exercise. People in that study had:
- Enhanced weight loss
- Improved blood fat levels
Might I suggest adding Chicken to your menu tonight? Grab a great recipe here.[/toggle]
Need a Chicken Recipe? Check out this cool online tool
To celebrate last night we ventured to the Chicken.ca website and found an awesome recipe using the advanced recipe search ( very cool feature BTW, which allows people to search by their health concerns).
Recipe of Choice: Chicken Curry in a Hurry
Using the recipe search tool, me and the family agreed on "Chicken Curry in a Hurry". One - because it is fairly quick to make; two - it is easy to tweak (substitute) in other items to keep it our Paleo lifestyle. (And a very special thank you to Christie aka Mom on the Run for being patient with me - I'm not the most skilled person in the kitchen)
Note: Serves 4, prep time is 15 minutes and cooking time about 20 minutes.
Last night, if you were paying attention to my Instagram feed, I posted our preparation in pictures and videos. Check it out here.
[caption id="attachment_14053" align="aligncenter" width="851"]
The Mooses Love family dinner nights![/caption]Ingredients list (note, [highlight]highlighted[/highlight] items are our substitutes)
- 2 cups (500 mL) boneless, skinless chicken breast(s), cooked, chopped
- 2 tbsp (30 mL) [highlight]coconut oil[/highlight]
- 1 cup (250 mL) onion(s), diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp (5 mL) cumin, ground
- 2 tbsp (30 mL) curry powder
- [highlight]2 tbsp (30 mL) David's Blackening Rub[/highlight]
- 1/4 tsp (1.25 mL) cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tsp (2.5 mL) salt
- 3 tbsp (45 mL) [highlight]coconut flour[/highlight]
- 3 cups (750 mL) low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup (250 mL) butternut squash, peeled, diced
- 1 cup (250 mL) [highlight]broccoli, chopped up[/highlight]
- 1 red pepper(s), diced
- 1/2 cup (125 mL) parsley, fresh, minced
- 1 cup (250 mL) [highlight]quiona, dry[/highlight]
Full directions for preparation and cooking visit here.
If you are like me and the Moose family, and into Chicken, be sure to check out and like Chicken Farmers of Canada profiles on Facebook and Twitter.
Give the recipe a try and let me know what you think in the comments section below.
[box type="info" align="alignright" ] Disclosure: I am participating in the Chicken Farmers of Canada campaign managed by SJ Consulting. I received compensation in exchange for my participation in this campaign. The opinions on this blog are my own. [/box]
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This is my disclaimer, “Just so you know, I have been compensated to share my ideas on this topic. Sometimes it is in the form of products, or services or even money… But here’s the thing; I won’t share anything with you that I don’t fully support. It doesn't matter what it is, or how much they are willing to give me, if I don’t believe in it, It won’t be on my site. Seriously. You’ll just have to trust me on this.”
~ Moose
