When Tired at Work, Eat Chicken
Eating chicken boosts immunity—a view confirmed at the recent International Symposium on Bioactive Peptides, Nutrition, and Health held in Shanghai. A newly published report at the symposium demonstrated that chickens and their extracts significantly enhance immune function, aligning with both nutritional science and traditional Chinese medicine theory.
According to TCM theory, chicken has warming properties that strengthen the middle energizer, nourish vital energy, enrich essence and marrow, benefit the five zang organs, and repair deficiencies. It can treat symptoms like fatigue and dizziness caused by physical weakness. For men, chicken can help alleviate symptoms such as frequent urination, hearing loss, and low sperm count due to kidney essence deficiency.
Modern nutrition distinguishes between “red meat” (pork, beef, lamb) and “white meat” (poultry and seafood), with the latter generally having higher nutritional value. Chicken is a prime example of white meat. Its immune-enhancing effects mainly stem from taurine, which improves digestion, acts as an antioxidant, and aids detoxification. It also supports heart and brain function and promotes children’s intellectual development. Particularly, black chicken and turkey contain higher levels of taurine, offering stronger tonic effects than regular chicken.
Moreover, different parts of the chicken vary in nutritional content. Chicken breast has low fat and high levels of vitamins, including B vitamins and niacin—niacin helps lower cholesterol. Chicken wings, however, contain more fat; those aiming to lose weight should limit intake. Generally, older chickens have higher fat content than young ones. Chicken liver contains very high cholesterol, comparable to pork liver—those with high cholesterol should avoid eating it excessively.
Given chicken’s strong tonic effect, modern white-collar workers constantly busy and often in suboptimal health should eat more to strengthen immunity and reduce illness risk. However, not everyone is suited for chicken as a tonic. High protein content may burden the kidneys, so those with kidney disease should eat sparingly—especially uremic patients, who should avoid chicken entirely.