Table of contents:
- Nutritional content in duck meat
- Protein
- Fat
- Vitamins and minerals
- What are the health benefits of duck meat?
Duck meat is a good source of protein besides chicken and beef. Even so, duck meat is also known for its high cholesterol content. Then is eating duck meat healthy? Before knowing the answer, let's first find out the benefits of duck meat and its nutritional content here.
Nutritional content in duck meat
Duck meat as a source of protein has a high calorie count and high fat content. In 45 grams of duck meat (one piece), there are 7 grams of protein, 150 calories and 13 grams of fat. This amount is equivalent to 45 grams of chicken meat with skin. Then what are the nutrients in it?
Protein
Protein is the substance most needed by the body. The main function of protein is as a body building substance. Protein also helps boost immunity, to fight infection.
In 100 grams of duck meat provides 55 percent of your daily protein needs.
Fat
Consumption of saturated fat has a greater effect on your blood cholesterol levels than cholesterol intake. Limit your saturated fat intake to no more than 7-10 percent of your daily calories.
85 grams of duck meat cooked without the skin contains 4 grams of saturated fat, and contains 75 milligrams of cholesterol. Meanwhile, 85 grams of duck meat cooked with the skin contains 8 grams of saturated fat and 70 milligrams of cholesterol.
This is about 25 percent of the recommended limit of 300 milligrams of cholesterol per day for healthy adults. If you have heart disease or high cholesterol, limit your daily cholesterol intake to 200 milligrams per day.
For example, your calorie requirement for one day is 2,000 calories. So 20 percent or 40 percent of the recommended saturated fat intake for the day, depending on the type of duck you eat.
Vitamins and minerals
Duck meat contains abundant vitamins and minerals. These include, iron, zinc, selenium, B vitamins, potassium, and phosphorus.
Even duck meat provides an excellent source of iron, namely heme iron. This is a group of iron that is often found in meat, not only in ducks, but also in beef and chicken, as well as in fish. This iron is more easily absorbed by your body than the non-heme iron found in plant foods. Iron regulates various metabolic activities, helps regulate cell growth, and aids in the production of certain enzymes.
In duck meat there are also vitamins B12 and B6. B vitamins help your body produce energy from the food you eat.
In addition, zinc and selenium are components that cannot be left behind. Each consumption of 3.5 grams of duck meat contains 1.9 milligrams of zinc (ie 17% of the dose needed by men and 24% of the dose needed by women in one day) and 14 micrograms of selenium. Both can function to boost your immune system.
What are the health benefits of duck meat?
Although many say that this meat is bad for cholesterol levels, duck meat still has health benefits. When viewed from its nutritional content, the benefits of duck meat are to prevent anemia, help boost the immune system, and as a good source of protein.
If you have high cholesterol levels, choose duck meat that is cooked without adding much fat or without skin. Limit consumption, to no more than one serving of skinless duck per day.
Avoid eating crispy duck, because this duck is usually fried with the skin. Roasted or poached duck is a better option than fried.
Eat foods that are low in cholesterol and saturated fat for side dishes of duck meat.
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