Over half of the meat consumed in the UK consists of poultry which includes chicken, turkey, goose and duck. In fact, the average British person is estimated to eat 35kg of poultry meat each year with chicken being especially popular. While rare, it is possible to exhibit an intolerance to chicken meat, whereas an intolerance to chicken eggs can be more common. If you find yourself feeling unwell after eating chicken whether as a direct product or embedded into meals and processed foods, it might be time to find out if it’s due to an intolerance.
How Common Is Chicken Intolerance?
Chicken intolerance is not very common, being less likely to cause reactions than fish, seafood, and red meat. However, if your body has trouble with digesting chicken meat and products containing chicken such as broth, you may have an underlying intolerance to chicken which you can find out by taking a food intolerance test. As a lean meat with healthy protein, eliminating chicken may be difficult but there are alternatives should you need to change up your diet.
Symptoms Of Chicken Intolerance
Symptoms of chicken intolerance vary from person to person, in addition to its severity. Moreover, if you do find that you are intolerant towards chicken, you may want to investigate if this extends to other poultry such as turkey.
Chicken intolerance may induce the following reactions:
- Bloating
- Stomach pain or cramps
- Nausea
- Diarrhea
- Tiredness
Replacing Chicken With Alternative Foods
If you are experiencing an intolerance to chicken meat, there are many great alternatives to choose from to make sure you continue to enjoy your favourite dishes. Whether it’s replacing chicken with other types of poultry meat such as turkey or opting for vegetarian or vegan friendly chicken substitutes there are plenty of options on the table.
We share below some vegetarian and non-vegetarian alternatives you can add to your cooking instead:
- Poultry meat: turkey, goose, duck
- Tofu
- Beans and sprouts
- Plant-based meat
- Nuts
- Potatoes
- Seitan (hydrated and cooked wheat flour)
However, when considering alternatives, make sure you are not intolerant or allergic to replacement ingredients such as gluten or nuts. Become food label savvy and habitually keep an eye out on the ingredients list when its time to restock the pantry and be safe than sorry.
Testing For Chicken Intolerance
If you can’t enjoy chicken at a BBQ or even chicken soup, you may need to consider taking a food intolerance test to determine if chicken is causing you digestive discomfort. At YorkTest, we simply require a finger prick blood sample for our labs to accurately test your IgG antibody response to 200 ingredients, including chicken.
The test analyses all IgG antibodies 1-4 directly in your blood, identifying any food intolerances and their severity in a traffic light system. When you receive your results, our highly qualified nutritional therapists can help guide you to understand your food intolerances, as well as advise on how to take back control of your diet and get you feeling great again.
