native to: North and South America
After all the fruits and vegetables I've written about, I thought it was about time to give our friends at Moir Country Farm a chance (plus I found this intriguing recipe for Tandoori Turkey...). The advantage to buying your meat at a farmers' market is that the better life and better feed the animals have at a small farm does produce better meat. Also, some of the ethical objections to a carnivorous lifestyle really only apply to factory farms; the farmers' market is where you can find meat from animals that, in the words of one farmer, "have a good life... and one really bad day."
So let's get to the details. A turkey that gets to forage naturally produces meat that is higher in omega-3 fats, and has a better ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fats (omega-6s are the ones that encourage inflammation, that most of us get too much of). Also, turkey is one of several high-protein foods (tuna and egg whites are others) that help prevent blood sugar spikes. As well as the protein (more per gram than chicken or beef), turkey supplies all of the B vitamins, although the levels of some of these (notably biotin, which is good for the hair and helps metabolize sugars) will vary depending on how well the turkey has been eating. Turkey is also and excellent source of selenium and provides zinc, copper, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, and iron.
Turkey hasn't been studied as much as other poultry, and few studies differentiate between conventional, organic, and pastured turkey, so here's another area of opportunity for any researchers who might be listening. One thing to be aware of is that turkey contains purines, which break down into uric acid, so if you have kidney problems or gout you'll want to be careful about how much turkey you eat. Turkey is reputed to cause sleepiness, being a natural source of tryptophan, which is a serotonin precursor, but in fact it doesn't contain that much. The sleepiness you feel after a turkey dinner is more likely to be from the associated high-carb foods and just generally the amounts you've probably eaten.
While there are many different breeds of turkey, they all belong to the species Meleagris gallopavo and are native to the Americas. Wild and heritage breeds seldom deserve turkeys' reputation for deep stupidity; it is only certain popular commercial breeds that have had all the brains bred out of them.
If you're going to eat skinless turkey to reduce the amount of fat you're getting, consider removing the skin after cooking it to retain moisture and flavor during cooking. If you're not ruthlessly cutting every ounce of fat you can, go ahead and eat the skin and greasier cuts to get more omega-3s from turkey's particularly nutritious fat.
Read more:
label-style nutrition information for turkey breast
label-style nutrition information for dark meat
whfoods.com
Versión en español: this post is also available in Spanish.
Esperanta traduko: this post is also available in Esperanto, because Dana is a language geek.
