Chicken is by far the worst thing you can put in your body. 

A chicken today does not look like what a chicken looked like 50 years ago. Through selective breeding, injections of pharmaceutical chemicals, and hormonal manipulation, chickens have been engineered to grow larger and faster, yielding more meat to meet consumer demand. These changes have altered the genetic makeup of chickens to the point that they hardly resemble what they once were, even just a century ago.

 

The reason why chickens look different is because of artificial breeding and pharmaceutical chemical injection. Research published in Poultry Science found that today’s broiler chickens are bred to reach market weight up to three times faster than chickens in the 1950s, largely through selective breeding focused on muscle growth (Havenstein et al., 2003). Additionally, the Journal of Animal Science highlights that modern poultry production frequently involves the administration of antibiotics and hormones to boost growth rates and manage disease in densely populated farms (Chapman & Johnson, 2002). These methods not only impact the size and growth rate of chickens but have fundamentally shifted their genetics and physiology, resulting in chickens that don't even look like chickens anymore, but a genetic mutant.

Chicken is, in my view, the worst thing you can eat because of how profoundly adulterated it has become. Compared to many other animals farmed for food, chickens have likely undergone the most extreme alterations. Through constant exposure to growth hormones, antibiotics, and selective breeding, chickens today are fundamentally different from their ancestors. The cumulative impact of these changes has resulted in what is essentially a laboratory creation—a “mutant” animal whose composition is no longer natural. When you eat this highly modified organism, you’re ingesting not only the meat but also the residue of chemicals and hormones used in its production. This, I believe, is contributing to widespread health issues, as our bodies are exposed to compounds that simply weren’t present in the chickens of the past.

And before anyone wants to chime in with the "but I eat organic chicken", chickens, regardless of whether they come from organic or conventional sources, are exposed to chemicals, including antibiotics, growth-promoting agents, and environmental contaminants. Research in Environmental Health Perspectives (2020) found that even "organic" chickens can contain residues of chemicals such as arsenic and persistent organic pollutants (POPs), likely from soil contamination or environmental exposure during production (Trasande et al., 2020). Additionally, a report in Frontiers in Public Health (2021) underscores the continued presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in organic poultry due to cross-contamination from nearby conventional farms (Rothrock et al., 2021). These chemicals, many of which act as endocrine disruptors, accumulate in human tissues over time, contributing to inflammation, hormonal imbalance, and overall health decline.

I do not see how you can eat something that bad and be ok health-wise. And the problem is that people who eat chicken are not eating it once or twice a year, they are eating it once or twice per day. That means your body will never get rid of the chemicals you are putting into it, and you are feeding yourself a mutated organism and slowly mutating yourself in the process.

Chicken Skin

The characteristics I see in women who eat chicken are always the same to the point I am pretty much batting 1000 by identifying it. I do not see this same thing with any other diet, whether it is a diet of red meat, purely vegetarian or anything else. It is only when the person eats chicken several times per week. 

1. A pallid skin color

2. A doughy look to the skin

3. A pulled, drawn out look to the skin, even in younger individuals

4. Dryness, or just a lack of hydration to the skin in appearance

5. A lack of redness to the skin signifying reduced blood flow

 

What you are eating is why you will get cancer

In addition to contributing to less radiant skin, I believe that chicken consumption may play a role in the development of breast cancer. Through my studies in cancer biology, one thing was clear: very few cancers are purely genetic. Many people turn to genetics as the primary cause of cancer, which can absolve personal responsibility for lifestyle factors that may significantly impact health outcomes. However, scientific consensus aligns with the idea that while genetics can predispose, they rarely predetermine cancer. For example, research published in Nature Reviews Cancer (2015) estimated that only about 5-10% of cancers are due to inherited genetic mutations (Anand et al., 2008). Even with a mutation like BRCA1 or BRCA2, environmental and lifestyle factors heavily influence cancer development.

Studies show that diet plays a considerable role. For instance, the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (2013) found that higher consumption of processed meats, often associated with modern diets, is linked to increased breast cancer risk (Etemadi et al., 2013). Moreover, cross-cultural studies reveal that breast cancer rates are significantly lower in countries where diets are predominantly plant-based and low in processed animal products, particularly in many Asian countries, compared to Western countries like the U.S. (Wu et al., 2015). The link between high body weight, often exacerbated by high animal protein intake, and breast cancer has also been well-documented, as body fat can influence estrogen levels, which are connected to breast cancer risk.

Although many would like to believe otherwise, genetic mutations may be a factor in cancer but they do not make cancer inevitable. Environmental and dietary choices are likely much more significant, and frequent consumption of modern chicken—laden with growth hormones and chemicals—may contribute to cancer risk, especially when paired with other lifestyle factors.

I do not think there is anything morally wrong with eating meat. I think if you wanted to go out into the woods, hunt a deer and eat it, then that is your right. An animal was in its natural environment, living a natural life which was ended quickly to sustain the life of another animal. When I was in Africa I ate chicken because it was in a nice coop one minute, and then its head cut off another. It tasted completely different than any chicken I even had in the United States. It was an actual animal I ate and not a laboratory creation of industrialized production. 

However, there is something morally wrong with injecting an animal with pharmaceutical chemicals, mutating it until it can barely stand, confining it to a filthy cage too small to move in, and forcing it to live a life so dark that its only distraction is chewing its prison bars until its beak wears down to nothing.

I wouldn’t eat that animal, because supporting that kind of practice is wrong. And I believe the diseases people develop from supporting this industry might be nature’s way of balancing the scales—a “you harm me, I harm you” message from the earth.

Eating meat should be done infrequently and humanely. If not for the sake of the animals, then at least for yourself, so you can have good skin and a healthier body.

 

 

References

Havenstein, G. B., Ferket, P. R., & Qureshi, M. A. (2003). Growth, Livability, and Feed Conversion of 1957 vs. 2001 Broilers When Fed Representative 1957 and 2001 Broiler Diets. Poultry Science, 82(10), 1500–1508. doi:10.1093/ps/82.10.1500.

Chapman, H. D., & Johnson, Z. B. (2002). Use of Antibiotics and Probiotics in Poultry Production: A Review. Journal of Animal Science, 80(E-Suppl_1), E12-E16. doi:10.2527/animalsci2002.0021881200800ES0003x.

Trasande, L., Shaffer, R. M., Sathyanarayana, S. (2020). Food Additives and Child Health: Chemical Residues in Foods. Environmental Health Perspectives, 128(8), 086001. doi:10.1289/EHP6404.

Rothrock, M. J., et al. (2021). Antibiotic-resistant Bacteria in Organic and Conventional Poultry Production. Frontiers in Public Health, 9, 559956. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2021.559956.

Anand, P., Kunnumakkara, A. B., Sundaram, C., et al. (2008). Cancer is a Preventable Disease that Requires Major Lifestyle Changes. Nature Reviews Cancer, 8, 243–252. doi:10.1038/nrc2323.

Etemadi, A., et al. (2013). Meat Consumption and Risk of Mortality and Cancer. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 105(14), 1105–1114. doi:10.1093/jnci/djt147.

Wu, A. H., Ziegler, R. G., Horn-Ross, P. L., et al. (2015). Asian American Dietary Patterns and Breast Cancer Risk. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 102(6), 1380–1390. doi:10.3945/ajcn.115.110239.