ASHLEY MALTZ, MD
  • Home
  • About
  • Conditions Treated
  • Work with Me
  • Services and Fees
  • Blog
  • Contact Dr. Maltz
  • Store

Blog

RSS Feed

Let's Talk Turkey - Guest article by Michael Crupain, MD, MPH

11/12/2011

0 Comments

 
This Thanksgiving Make the Turkey a Side
By Michael Crupain, MD, MPH

Preventive Medicine Resident, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health 
Author of www.TheFoodEnvironment.com

There is nothing that better symbolizes a Thanksgiving meal than turkey.  According to the turkey industry, between 80% and 95% of Americans consume this bird on November 25th each year.  While we can’t be sure if turkey was really eaten at the first Thanksgiving, it has certainly been an important part of the tradition and American culture for at least 200 years.

The modern Turkey however, is a far different bird than the turkey Benjamin Franklin told his daughter would be a better symbol for America than the Bald Eagle.  Today the majority of turkeys represent a single breed, the Broad Breasted White, which has been bred to have a small frame and large breasts.  These birds grow very fast, reaching slaughter weight after only 14-18 weeks and have a taste that can best be described by the word bland.

99% of turkeys produced in this country never see the light of day, because they are raised in an industrial system.  After their birth in a lab (due to their anatomical proportions, this breed can only reproduce by artificial insemination), the animals have their beaks and toes clipped and are transferred to a brooding house where they will live for about 6 to 8 weeks.  From here they will go to one or two more similar houses where they will be fattened quickly on a diet of grains and medications.  Their homes are long barns without windows, where there is a continuous flow of food, water, air, and artificial light.  The birds stand all day on piles of litter and are packed tightly together.  Like other industrial food animal production facilities, turkey farms represent a potential problem not only for the turkeys, but also for public health.  The pollution and antibiotic resistant bacteria that may be produced on these farms can cause issues for the health of works, neighbors, and the environment.  

Fortunately due to increasing awareness of the public about the practices of industrial agriculture, small farmers are starting to grow what are known as Heritage Breed Turkeys.  These breeds, which have names like Bourbon Red and Narragansett, also have much more natural proportions and a much more interesting flavor than industrial birds.  Typically heritage birds are raised outdoors in large fields where they can engage in more natural turkey behaviors like foraging.  Heritage breed may take up to twice a long as factory birds to reach slaughter weight and cost more.  Industrially produced turkeys however, are artificially cheap, because the costs to human health and animal welfare are externalized.  

There are a number of websites that you can order heritage breeds birds from, but your best bet is to find a farmer at your local farmers market who is raising them.  This way you can find out more about how the birds are raised and help support the local economy.  Its best to start looking early though, because these birds are often in limited supply.

While turkey is healthy lean meat filled with protein and important vitamins and minerals, due to the cost of heritage birds, its better to make the vegetables the focus of your Thanksgiving meal and make the turkey a side.  Focusing on dishes with super foods like mashed sweet potatoes (instead of mashed white potatoes), roasted cauliflower, raw tuscan kale salad, and roasted carrots will ensure a delicious and healthy meal.    

When cooking the heritage turkey, I recommend separating the legs and thighs from the breast.  These different muscles cook at different rates and cooking them together almost certainly leads to dry white meat.  Instead try roasting the breast separately in a 400F oven until it reaches 165F (about 1 hour).  Because heritage turkeys have more flavor, you won’t need to brine the bird, but feel free to add some herbs to the skin and other aromatics to the cavity.  For the legs and thighs, I recommend a braise.  One of my favorite recipes is this one from famed chef Daniel Boulud.


0 Comments

    Enter your email address for blog updates sent directly to your inbox:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    RSS Feed

    Author

    Dr. Maltz earned a Medical Degree and Master in Public Health from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, TX. She completed a combined Internal and Preventive Medicine Residency at UTMB in June, 2011. She then completed a 2-year Integrative Medicine Fellowship at Stamford Hospital in Stamford, CT, during which she simultaneously underwent an intensive 1000-hour curriculum created by The University of Arizona Integrative Medicine Program founded by Dr. Andrew Weil.  

    Dr. Maltz's specific interests include helping her patients and populations improve their health through lifestyle interventions including, but not limited to, natural pain relief, nutrition, mind-body techniques and decreasing environmental exposures. She spent the last year of her four-year medical residency participating in health policy, cancer prevention and environmental health rotations and enjoys guiding people through the overwhelming amount of health information available on the web.

    Archives

    October 2020
    January 2019
    July 2018
    May 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    January 2017
    September 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    April 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010

    Categories

    All
    Abe For Fitness
    Abuse
    Achieving Happiness
    Acpm
    Acupuncture
    Added Sugar
    Addiction
    Adhd
    Adolescence
    Adolescent Medicine
    Air Pollution
    Airport Scanners
    Alcohol
    Alcohol Consumption
    Alzheimer\
    Alzheimer's
    America Lags
    American College Of Lifestyle Medicine
    Anti-depressants
    Anti-inflammatory Diet
    Anti-inflammatory Diet
    Artificial Sweeteners
    Aspirin
    Attention Span
    Autism
    Avatar Course
    Beauty
    Bicycling
    Body Image
    Bpa
    Brain Injury Awareness
    Bread
    Breast Cancer Rates
    Breast Cancer Risk
    Cancer
    Cancer And Environment
    Cancer Prevention
    Cancer Prevention Fellowhship
    Cancer Rates
    Cardiovascular Disease
    Cartoons
    Cdc
    Cell Phone Use
    Change Your Life
    Chemicals
    Childhood Obesity
    Children
    Chocolate
    Chronic Disease
    City Living
    Climate Change
    Cognition
    Cold
    Colon Cancer
    Colorectal Cancer Awareness
    Consciousness
    Contaminated Water
    Corn Sugar
    Cosmetics
    Cost-savings
    Cuts
    Dairy
    David Katz
    Death
    Decreasing Cancer Rates
    Deepak Chopra
    Depression
    Diabetes
    Dietary Supplements
    Diet For Adhd
    Diet For Cancer Prevention
    Diet Soda
    Digestion
    Disease Prevention
    Distance Learning
    Dna
    Dr. Andrew Weil
    Dr. David Katz
    Dr. James Gordon
    Dr. Katz
    Dr. Landrigan
    Dr. Weil
    Dvt
    Dying
    Easy Ways To Cut Calories
    Eating
    Emerson Ecologics
    Endocrine Disruptors
    Environmental Health
    Environmental Toxins
    Environmental Working Group
    Exercise
    Fast Food
    Fda
    Fish To Avoid
    Flame Retardants
    Flu
    Folic Acid
    Food
    Food Cravings
    Fox News
    Fragranced Cleaning Supplies
    Genetics
    Gluten
    Glyphosate
    Gradual Weight Gain
    Gratitude
    Guided Meditation
    Harm To Others
    Health
    Health Policy
    Healthy Child
    Healthy New Years Resolutions
    Healthy World
    Heart Attack Risk
    Heart Failure
    Heart Health
    High Fat Diets
    High Fructose Corn Syrup
    Hot Flashes
    Houston
    Huffington Post
    Incidence
    Inflammation
    Insulin
    Integrative Medicine Fellowship
    Internet Addiction
    Internship
    In Utero
    Iq
    Lately
    Lead
    Leukemia
    Life Span
    Lifestyle Changes
    Lifestyle Medicine
    Lifestyle Modification
    Light
    Low-carb Diets
    MB-EAT
    Medical Tests
    Meditation
    Melanoma
    Menopause
    Mental Health
    Meralgia Paresthetica
    Mercury
    Mindfulness
    Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy
    Mindfulness-based Meditation
    Mmwr
    Mold
    My Happiness Project
    National Nutrition Month
    Nature
    Nci
    New Yorkers
    Nitrates
    Noise
    Nutrient-gene Interaction
    Obesity
    Omega 3
    Omega-3\\
    Overeating
    Over-eating
    Oxybenzone
    Pain
    Palliative Care
    Pap Smears
    Parabens
    Pe
    People-pleasing
    Phthalates
    Physical Activity
    Pillcam
    Pku
    Plastics
    Poison Prevention
    Pollution
    Potato Chips
    Poverty And Diabetes
    Poverty And Obesity
    Prediabetes
    President
    Preventable Deaths
    Prevention
    Prevention Of Type 2 Diabetes
    Preventive Medicine
    Primary Prevention
    Processed Foods
    Public Health
    Public Health And Prevention Fund
    Radiation
    Retinyl Paminate
    Risk Reduction
    Safer Chemicals
    Safer Products
    Self-care
    Self Love
    Sensitivity
    Sleep Hygeine
    Small Bursts Of Activity
    Smart Patients
    Sodium
    South America
    Soy
    Specificity
    Spices
    Stamford Hospital
    Statistics
    Steer
    Stilettos
    Stroke
    Stroke Risk
    Sugar
    Sunscreen
    Sustainable Wellness
    Tainted Supplements
    Thanksgiving
    The Lancet
    Tight Jean Syndrome
    Toxin
    Toxins
    Toxins In Food
    Tradition
    Turkey
    Turn The Tide Foundation
    Type 2 Diabetes
    Unnecessary Tests
    Vegetables
    VOCs
    Vulnerability
    Wasteful Spending
    Weight Gain
    Weight Gain And The Brain
    Weight Loss
    Weight Reduction
    Women
    Workplace Wellness

    RSS Feed

  • Home
  • About Dr. Maltz
  • Contact

Disclaimer:

The content of this website does not serve as medical advice nor does it substitute for a thorough medical evaluation by a qualified health care practitioner. Consult a physician or local health care provider before adding any supplements, changing any medications or diet or starting an exercise regimen.
©️ 2019 - 2022 Dr. Ashley Maltz
  • Home
  • About
  • Conditions Treated
  • Work with Me
  • Services and Fees
  • Blog
  • Contact Dr. Maltz
  • Store