Broiler Chicken & PCOS (A Serious Health Complication)

Modern day science and Biotechnology has revolutionised the food industry. In old times, you could consume certain fruits and vegetables only in a particular season and when the season was gone so were those fruits and vegetables. But today you can enjoy any fruit in any season thanks to Biotechnology. Besides, the quantity of food is rising day by day with the advancements in Biotechnology. Drought is not that a big concern in today’s world. Through Biotechnology and Genetic engineering much juicy fruits and vegetables are grown. There is an increase in the number of eggs laid by chickens and more quantities of milk and meat are obtained by animals owing to the fact that genetic manipulation of animals have changed the genome of many animals in such a way that they possess only desirable traits like more meat and milk, resistance to diseases etc. Same goes for plants, they produce more yield and are resistant to insecticides, pesticides and fungal attacks. 

• But is it all about quantity and quantity of food that we consume?

•  Is it only about feeding the world? 

I mean these two criteria are not enough when it comes to food. There are concerns regarding nutrition that we get from genetically engineered food in order to prevent ourselves from malnourishment.

There is a long list of edibles I can mention here that are damaging quality of life and leading to serious health hazards but my topic today revolves around the consumption of white broiler chicken. From kids to elderly people all love chicken and there are some people like me who don’t eat food unless there is chicken in it. It has been adopted as a compulsion by hotels and restaurants to add chicken to every recipe. Pizza, steak, pasta, lasagna everything comprises of chicken. It feels like there will be no concept of restaurants if they don’t serve chicken. Actually organic chicken is safe to eat. No medical conditions have been reported to be caused by the consumption of organic chicken but it is the white broiler chicken that has caused a major decline in people’s health across the globe. 

Initially there were no harms in consuming broiler chicken as well. But a few years back an influenza virus strain hit the poultry leading to the occurrence of Bird flu in chickens. At that time, chicken got banned. No one would buy it as people were scared to develop that disease. A few years later, government announced that this disease has ended. So the consumption of chicken started again. But over the past few years, several news have been circulating about the diet of broiler chicken. At first, people did not take it seriously but with the passage of time several health complications started to come forward and today doctors have confirmed thousands of cases where eating white broiler chicken has lead to:

• Acne

• Hair loss

• Irregular pattern of menstruation

• Facial hair growth

• Obesity etc.

The list is too long but the complication I have pinpointed here are the symptoms of a very common syndrome these days know as Poly cystic ovarian syndrome. Although males and females can both be affecting by consuming chicken but studies have indicated females to be more affected by it, with PCOS to be the major problem. As you may all know that in this, cysts start to form inside ovaries and as a result you start gaining weight, there is heavy hair fall, facial hair growth etc. PCOS is caused by the disturbance of female blood hormone levels like progesterone. In females with PCOS, progesterone levels are reduced. This progesterone is responsible for maintaining the inner wall of our uterus during pregnancy. 

When progesterone levels are reduced, wall of uterus weakens and chances of conception are reduced multiple folds. So yes, PCOS can lead to infertility and today it actually is the main cause of female infertility.

Now the question arises how white broiler chicken is responsible for female infertility?

Answer to this is very simple, today poultry chickens are injected with steroids, to speed up the process of their growth, as a result of it, in two to three weeks, little chicks become fully grown hens. These when consumed by humans, disturb their hormone levels. As a result more male hormones like testosterone are produced and female hormones are reduced In levels. So this imbalance of hormones leads to infertility and other major health complications.

Although PCOS is something that we should be concerned about but it is curable. Doctors prescribe such patients medication for blood glucose level management and hormonal imbalance. As disturbed glucose levels can aggravate PCOS that’s why blood glucose level regulating tablets are given to such patients. The treatment lasts from 3 months to often 1 year depending upon how bad patient’s condition is. But with proper diet and medication it can be cured.

Things that are prohibited in PCOS are:

• Broiler Chicken

• Chocolates

• Caffeine 

• Dry fruits

• Black cold drinks like Pepsi

Medications are blessing when you get a disease but it is always good to stay away from the things that can get us in trouble in the first place.

As we all know:

“PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE”

So in order to save ourselves and to improve the quality of life we must say goodbye to white shaver chicken because it is not a diet but poison. 

Picture credits:

Lead image is from Unsplash.com.
Source of second image is Mayoclinic https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/pcos/symptoms-causes/syc-20353439