Is chicken good for weight loss? Chicken, fish and meat compared

Is chicken good for weight loss? The short answer

Yes. Chicken is one of the most useful foods for losing weight, because it gives a lot of protein for a modest number of calories, and it is cheap, quick to cook and liked in almost every food culture.

Protein helps in two ways. A meal with enough of it tends to keep you satisfied, and during weight loss it helps you hold on to muscle. Our list of foods for weight loss explains the wider protein picture.

But chicken does not burn fat. Fried chicken with the skin, a creamy chicken salad or a large plate of wings can hold more calories than you expect. The rest of this page shows which cuts, fish and meats help most, and how to cook and portion them.

Talk to your doctor first before you change how you eat, especially if you have kidney disease, diabetes or heart disease. Everything here is general information, not personal advice.

Chicken breast, thighs, drumsticks or wings: calories compared

Skinless chicken breast is the leanest part of the bird, but thighs and drumsticks without the skin are close behind. The skin is where most of the extra fat sits, and batter or breadcrumbs add more.

The table compares common cuts per 100 grams of cooked meat. Obesity Foundation calculated the values from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy). They are approximate: birds, recipes and cooking times differ.

The last column shows how much protein you get for every 100 kcal. Skinless breast gives almost 19 grams; a battered wing gives about 6. That is why the cut and the coating matter more than the word “chicken” on the menu.

Breast or thigh: which should you buy?

Both can work. Skinless thighs have only about 15 kcal more per 100 grams than breast, so the difference is small. Many people find thighs juicier and harder to overcook, and they are often cheaper.

What changes the numbers is the skin. Roasted thigh with the skin has about 50 kcal more per 100 grams than the same thigh without it. Pull the skin off before cooking, or after if you want the meat to stay moist.

Drumsticks and whole legs are a budget choice that many families like. Our recipe for oven-baked chicken legs removes the skin and roasts the legs on a tray of vegetables.

Can you lose weight eating only chicken?

Some websites promote a “chicken diet” in which you eat only chicken breast for weeks. You would probably lose weight, simply because eating one food all day leaves little room for extra calories.

It is not a plan we can recommend. Chicken has no fibre, a one-food diet misses many vitamins and minerals, and we found no trial that tested such a diet.

Most people get bored fast and then return to their old habits. Our page on the best diet for weight loss describes eating patterns that do hold up.

Is chicken and rice good for weight loss?

Chicken and rice is a good weight-loss meal when the plate is balanced: a palm of chicken, a fist of rice and at least half the plate filled with vegetables. It becomes heavy when the rice is piled high, the chicken keeps its skin and vegetables are missing.

The table shows how much the same two ingredients can differ, calculated from USDA data.

The large plate has almost twice the calories of the balanced one, but only a little more protein and hardly any fibre. Most of the gap comes from the extra rice, the skin and the oil.

Brown rice brings a little more fibre than white, but white rice is fine in a sensible portion. Our page is rice good for weight loss compares white and brown rice, safe ways to store leftovers, and rice for people with diabetes.

Five ways to make chicken and rice lighter

• Measure the rice once. Weigh 150 grams of cooked rice and look at how much of your plate it fills; after that, you can judge by eye.
• Add two vegetables. Broccoli, peppers, carrots, green beans or frozen mixed vegetables add volume for very few calories.
• Cook the chicken in a teaspoon of oil, not a glug from the bottle, or roast it on a tray.
• Watch the sauce. Creamy or sweet sauces can add more than the chicken itself; tomato, soy, lemon, garlic and spices add flavour with fewer calories.
• Swap part of the rice for beans or lentils if you want more fibre and a fuller feeling.

Our step-by-step rice with chicken and vegetables recipe follows exactly this pattern.

Grilled, rotisserie or fried chicken: does cooking method matter?

Yes, a lot. Grilled, baked, poached, steamed or roasted chicken stays close to the values of the meat itself. Frying, batter and breadcrumbs add fat and calories, and sauces or dressings can add even more.

Is grilled chicken good for weight loss?

Grilled chicken is one of the best choices, because no fat needs to be added and some fat drips away. A marinade of lemon, yoghurt, garlic and herbs keeps it moist.

One caution applies to any meat cooked very hot. The US National Cancer Institute explains that grilling over an open flame, pan frying at high heat and cooking well done form chemicals called HCAs and PAHs, which damaged DNA in laboratory studies.

Studies in people have not proven that these chemicals from cooked meat cause cancer. The institute suggests simple steps: avoid charring, turn meat often on a high heat, cut off burnt parts and skip gravy made from the drippings.

Is rotisserie chicken good for weight loss?

A supermarket rotisserie chicken is a handy shortcut. Its meat without the skin is about as lean as home-roasted chicken: in the USDA data, rotisserie breast meat has about 144 kcal per 100 grams.

Two things to watch. Most of the fat is in the skin, so remove it. And the seasoning is often salty, so check the label if you have high blood pressure, and pair the chicken with unsalted vegetables, salad or a jacket potato.

What about fried chicken?

Fried chicken is best kept as an occasional meal. Battered and fried, a chicken breast with its skin has about 260 kcal per 100 grams, compared with 165 for roasted breast without the skin.

There is also a health signal beyond weight. In a large US study of almost 107,000 women aged 50 to 79, eating fried chicken at least once a week was linked with a 13 % higher risk of death from any cause, compared with never eating it. This kind of study shows a link, not proof of cause.

If you love the crunch, try an oven or air-fryer version: coat skinless pieces in a little beaten egg and wholemeal breadcrumbs, spray lightly with oil and bake until cooked through.

Are chicken salad and tuna salad good for weight loss?

They can be, but the dressing decides. Mayonnaise is mostly fat: one tablespoon of regular mayonnaise has about 100 kcal, while the same amount of plain fat-free Greek yogurt has fewer than 10.

Mustard, lemon juice, chopped gherkins, celery, spring onion and herbs make the yogurt version taste fresh. Our page on dairy for weight loss explains which yogurts work best.

Handling raw chicken safely

Raw poultry can carry bacteria such as Campylobacter and Salmonella all the way through the meat. Australia’s Food Safety Information Council advises cooking poultry to 75 °C in the thickest part, checked with a meat thermometer, or until the juices run clear with no pink. A thermometer is the more reliable check.

The council also advises not to wash raw chicken, because splashing water spreads bacteria around the kitchen. Use a separate board and plate for raw poultry and wash your hands afterwards. Temperatures in national guidance differ slightly, so follow your own food agency.

Which fish is best for weight loss? Salmon, tuna, shrimp and white fish

All plain-cooked fish and seafood are good for weight loss. White fish such as cod, haddock and pollock, shrimp and tuna canned in water are the leanest; salmon, mackerel and sardines have more calories because they contain more fat, much of it omega-3.

So the best fish depends on your goal for that meal. For the most protein for the fewest calories, choose white fish or shrimp. For heart health, include oily fish regularly as well.

Is salmon good for weight loss?

Yes. Salmon has more calories than white fish, but a 120-gram portion of baked wild salmon still comes to about 220 kcal with around 30 grams of protein. Its fat is mainly the unsaturated kind, including omega-3 fatty acids.

Farmed Atlantic salmon has more fat than wild or sockeye salmon. Canned pink salmon is a cheaper option with fewer calories, and it works well in fishcakes or on wholemeal toast.

Is tuna good for weight loss?

Canned tuna in water is one of the cheapest lean protein foods there is: about 86 kcal and 19 grams of protein per 100 grams drained. Tuna in oil has about twice the calories, even after draining.

The main drawback of tuna is mercury, which we explain below. Canned light tuna is on the lower-mercury list, so it is the better everyday choice.

Is shrimp good for weight loss?

Plain cooked shrimp is very lean, with about 99 kcal and 24 grams of protein per 100 grams. Frozen cooked prawns thaw in minutes and turn a stir-fry, salad or pasta sauce into a filling meal.

Breaded and fried shrimp, or prawns in a creamy sauce, are a different story. Breading and frying take the calories from about 99 to about 242 per 100 grams.

How often should you eat fish?

A science advisory from the American Heart Association concluded that one to two seafood meals a week help lower the risk of heart failure, coronary heart disease, stroke caused by a blocked artery and sudden cardiac death. The benefit was greatest when fish replaced less healthy foods.

That fits weight loss well. A fish dinner instead of sausages, a burger or a fried takeaway lowers the calories of the meal and is good for your heart at the same time.

Mercury: which fish to limit

All fish contain traces of mercury, which can harm the developing brain and nervous system. US advice from the EPA and FDA, written for people who are or may become pregnant or are breastfeeding, recommends 2 to 3 servings a week of lower-mercury fish, and 2 smaller servings for young children.

That advice lists shrimp, pollock, salmon, canned light tuna, tilapia, catfish and cod among the lower-mercury choices. The same groups are advised to avoid tilefish from the Gulf of Mexico, shark, swordfish, orange roughy, bigeye tuna, marlin and king mackerel.

Advice differs by country, so check your national guidance. If you are pregnant, our page on obesity and pregnancy covers healthy eating while you are expecting.

Is steak good for weight loss, and which cuts are leanest?

Steak can be part of a weight-loss diet if you choose a lean cut and keep the portion moderate. Eye of round, top round and top sirloin are almost as lean as skinless chicken breast. Rib eye and other well-marbled steaks have much more fat.

The names of cuts differ between countries, so ask your butcher for a lean steak with little visible marbling. Trimming the fat edge before cooking makes any steak leaner.

Portion size matters as much as the cut. A large 250-gram rib eye comes to about 730 kcal before any chips or sauce. A 120-gram eye of round steak has about 185 kcal.

A practical steak night: a palm-sized lean steak, a baked sweet potato or potatoes in their skins, and a big serving of green beans, salad or mushrooms. Pepper, garlic and mustard give flavour without a creamy sauce.

Ground beef, ground turkey or pork: which is leanest?

With minced meat, the fat percentage on the label matters more than the animal. Ground turkey is not automatically leaner than ground beef: 93 % lean turkey has more calories than 95 % lean beef.

Pouring off the fat after browning mince lowers the calories a little more. Mixing the meat half-and-half with lentils, beans, mushrooms or grated courgette makes a sauce go further for less money and adds fibre.

Pork does not have to be fatty. Tenderloin, also called pork fillet, is one of the leanest meats in the table. Bacon, sausages and belly are where pork becomes heavy.

How much red and processed meat is too much?

If you eat red meat, the World Cancer Research Fund advises no more than about three portions a week, roughly 350 to 500 grams cooked weight in total, and very little, if any, processed meat. Red meat means beef, pork, lamb, veal and goat.

Processed meat is meat that has been salted, cured, fermented or smoked, such as bacon, ham, salami, hot dogs and many sausages. The fund calls the evidence that processed meat causes bowel cancer convincing, and that red meat does so probable.

The same fund points to strong evidence linking red and processed meat with death from heart disease and with type 2 diabetes. Processed meats are also usually high in salt, which raises blood pressure.

Not every expert group agrees

A panel known as NutriRECS reviewed the same kind of studies and suggested that adults could continue their current red and processed meat intake. They called this a weak recommendation based on low-certainty evidence, and their advice was widely debated.

For weight loss, the practical answer is the same either way. Processed meats are among the most calorie-dense protein foods, as the table below shows, so eating less of them helps your weight whatever you think of the cancer evidence.

Is beef jerky good for weight loss?

Beef jerky is often sold as a high-protein snack, and it does contain a lot of protein. But it is dried and salted, which places it among processed meats, and the USDA values for chopped and formed jerky show about 410 kcal and 9 grams of sugar per 100 grams.

A small amount now and then is fine. As an everyday snack, a boiled egg, a pot of yogurt or a handful of edamame beans gives protein with less salt. Our page on eggs for weight loss has quick egg snack ideas.

What research says about meat, fish and body weight

Studies suggest that lean protein foods help during weight loss, and that the type of protein food matters for long-term weight. They do not show that any meat or fish melts fat on its own.

Protein during weight loss

A meta-analysis of 24 trials with 1,063 adults compared reduced-calorie diets that were higher or standard in protein, over an average of about 12 weeks. With more protein, people lost slightly more weight and fat and kept a little more lean mass, which is mostly muscle.

The differences were modest, below one kilogram on average. Protein makes a calorie deficit work a little better; it does not replace one. Lean meat and fish are easy ways to get that protein, alongside eggs, dairy, beans, lentils and tofu.

Which protein foods go with long-term weight change?

A study of more than 120,000 US adults, followed for 16 to 24 years, looked at how changes in protein foods related to weight over each four-year period. More meat, chicken with skin and regular cheese went with more weight gain.

More seafood, chicken without skin, yogurt and nuts went with relatively less weight gain. The researchers also found that people tended to swap protein foods for carbohydrate-rich foods rather than for each other.

This is an observational study, so it shows links rather than cause and effect. Still, it matches the advice on this page: skinless poultry and fish over fatty and processed meat.

How much meat or fish per meal?

For most adults, a portion of meat or fish about the size and thickness of your palm, roughly 100 to 150 grams cooked, is enough for one meal. That usually gives about 25 to 40 grams of protein.

The EPA and FDA describe a typical adult serving of fish as 4 ounces (about 115 grams), roughly the size of your palm. The World Cancer Research Fund limit of 350 to 500 grams of cooked red meat a week works out at about three portions of 120 to 170 grams.

Your hands are a handy guide when you have no scales; our portion control page explains the whole hand method. To work out how much protein you need in a day, try our macro calculator, which uses your height rather than your current weight.

Do not raise your protein intake on your own if you have chronic kidney disease. Talk to your doctor first; our page on high protein meals explains why kidney guidelines set limits.

A simple week of protein foods

Variety helps your health, your budget and your patience. The table shows one way to spread meat, fish and plant protein over a week of dinners. Treat it as an example to adapt, and talk to your doctor first before you change your eating, especially with diabetes or kidney disease.

This week includes two fish meals, one red meat meal and two meat-free dinners. For a full week with breakfasts, lunches and snacks too, see our free 7-day eating plan.

Does fish oil help weight loss?

No good evidence shows that fish oil capsules help you lose weight. A meta-analysis of 11 trials with 617 adults living with overweight or obesity found no difference in weight between omega-3 capsules and a dummy pill.

The same analysis found a small drop in waist size and lower blood triglycerides with omega-3, but the authors called the results inconclusive because the trials were few, small and of poor quality.

The heart benefits in the American Heart Association advisory came from eating seafood, not from pills. So our advice is food first: one or two fish meals a week, with oily fish such as salmon, sardines or mackerel among them.

Obesity Foundation does not recommend or promote supplements. If you are thinking about taking fish oil for a health reason, talk to your doctor or pharmacist first, especially if you take other medicines.

Do you need meat or fish to lose weight?

No. Meat and fish are convenient protein foods, but people lose weight on vegetarian and vegan diets too. Beans, lentils, tofu, eggs and dairy all give protein, and pulses add fibre that meat does not have.

The World Cancer Research Fund notes that people who avoid red and processed meat can get protein from poultry, fish, eggs and dairy, or from a mixture of pulses and grains. A few meat-free days a week are an easy middle way.

For a full meat-free day, our plant protein tips show how to reach enough protein.

Meat, fish and moving more

Protein foods help you keep muscle while you lose weight, and movement helps even more. A daily walk and some gentle strength exercise tell your body that its muscles are still needed.

Our guide to walking for weight loss shows how to start with short walks you can manage. The free workout videos begin with seated sessions if walking is hard for you right now.

How Obesity Foundation helps you lose weight with good food

We help people lose weight and get healthier with good food, suitable exercise and walking. Everything we offer is free, and you choose how much of it you use.

• Your own eating plan: meals built around the protein foods you like, with or without meat or fish, to suit your budget and culture. Ask for your free eating plan.
• 150 workout videos: three levels, Start, Build and Strong, from gentle seated sessions to stronger workouts. Get the free videos.
• A free video meeting (in English): talk about your meals, portions or goals with someone who listens without judging. Book a video meeting.
• The Obesity Foundation Club: a free personal account to follow your progress and ask questions. Join the Club.

A good first step is small: this week, take the skin off your chicken and swap one fried or processed meal for grilled chicken or fish with vegetables.