From our blog we always recommend introducing all kinds of healthy foods into your diet: fruits, vegetables, whole grains, etc. But one of the foods that we know that it is more practical for you to use is turkey as a meat derivative or sausage , a source of protein that does not have to be cooked and that is usually liked by all people who follow omnivorous diets, of course. In this article we will explain how to choose a good cold cuts or turkey sausage and avoid being bullied.
The turkey breast is a lean or white meat has less fat than usual, so it will always be a more advisable alternative to other meat or processed meats with more fat as fuets, chorizo, choped, mortadella, etc . But right now there are very poor quality turkey sausages on the market and we want to teach you to recognize the best option by following these 5 tips:
Table of Contents
1- Read the list of ingredients
To detect whether the composition of a food is healthy or not, just look at the ingredient list and it is not necessary to go to the food composition table. If you go to the market, you can ask the clerk to provide you with the label or read this list of ingredients. Remember that the ingredients that appear in this list are placed from the most present in the product to the least present. Thus, if the first ingredient is “turkey”, it means that it is the most present ingredient.
2- Be suspicious of marketing
Perhaps the package of sausage or cold cuts that inspires you the most is soft colors and an austere design, which inspires a “natural” product. This package may also highlight features such as “low-fat,” “gluten-free,” “lactose-free,” or even “natural.” These types of attributes do not make the sausage a healthier product. If it does not have gluten, they make it a suitable product for a person with celiac disease, and the same will happen with lactose, but none of these characteristics will make it a healthier process.
These attributes do not assure us that the turkey is of quality if then among its ingredients we find additives, starches, sugars, salt, etc.
In some supermarkets there is a wide variety of sausages or cold cuts of turkey with names like turkey mortadella, turkey fuet, turkey ham, turkey choped and even truffle-flavored turkey with pistachios. They may contain turkey and may have a container that inspires us that they are healthy, but they will not be. In fact, among these names you will surely find the least healthy ingredient lists. You have to assess the product as a whole in order to assess its quality.
3- Look at the amount of turkey in the food
You have to check the percentage of turkey that the product has. Ideally, those that contain around 80-90% or more meat so that the alternative you choose is healthier than other options. This will make the rest of the ingredients present a minority and the quality of the processing will be higher.
It is important to clarify that it is not the same reading on the label of the product “turkey cold cuts” that “turkey breast”. The first is of poorer quality because it contains less protein, since they add starch (flour, starch …) which can be present up to 10%. These substances retain more water and increase the weight so that the product is more economical.
4- Be careful with the amount of salt
It is very important that you also pay attention to the salt provided by the product, and for those of you who suffer from problems of hypertension or fluid retention, opt for those with a reduced salt content. In that sense, remember that the World Health Organization recommends not exceeding 5g of salt per day.
5-Man does not live on turkey alone
Turkey is a processed food and the ideal is to avoid not abusing this or other sausages and consume it only from time to time. In addition, by varying the protein source and using other sources such as eggs, canned tuna or sardines, legume purees such as hummus or nuts, you will make your diet more varied and balanced.
You can get ideas to prepare healthy snacks here and in this other link take note of healthy snacks . And if your goal is to lose weight, don’t miss out on these healthy breakfasts.
