Chicken Vs. Lamb: Which Is More Nutritious?

Part of living a healthy lifestyle is knowing which meats are good to eat a lot of and which are best to eat sporadically (or maybe not at all). According to a Heatlhline report, meat can be extremely beneficial for the body as long as you are making the right choices and picking the right cut. The report asserts that even with knowing all the facts, what you choose to eat comes down to personal preference and your dietary needs. 

Everyone has heard about the benefits of pork, beef, and chicken and how we should have a healthy mix of each. Healthline explains that chicken, whether dark meat or white meat, carries various nutrients that can be beneficial to your body. But, what about other meats like lamb? How often should lamb be incorporated into the daily and monthly diets that people follow? Another Healthline report asserts that lamb also carries lots of trace nutrients that can do the body well. So, in the battle of the meats, which is better? It all depends on what you and your body need.

Jackie Sharp Womble, MS, RDN, LD, EP-C, tells Healthline that skinless chicken breast is one of the leanest cuts of meat. It's a great high-protein option and boasts a low calorie count. Livestrong.com states that although both lamb and chicken possess rich amounts of protein, chicken beats out lamb in this department. The report details how 100 grams of chicken breast provides up to 31 grams of protein, while the same amount of lamb sirloin contains only 28 grams. 

Livestrong also reports that chicken and lamb do not boast a lot of minerals and nutrients, but they both carry enough to benefit your body in the long run. Lamb is said to carry things like folate and vitamin B, while chicken carries things like choline, vitamin B, and vitamin A. In the mineral department, both are great sources of potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, and zinc. However, Livestrong reports that lamb contains almost five times the amount of zinc that chicken has. 

The same report details how lamb has a higher fat content than chicken. But, David L. Katz, MD, explains on Oprah Magazine that looking for lean lamb cuts like loin, shank, and leg can offset this. Katz details how these cuts are comparable to both beef and pork in terms of calories and fat. However, they have the added bonus that, due to less marbling, if the fat along the edges is removed, the cut of lamb comes out leaner than beef.