Is it OK to fry my chicken?

Hi Dan,

The deal with frying foods, even if you use an oil low in saturated fat like olive or canola oil, is the number of calories you will be consuming. A little bit of oil contains a lot of calories and so if you're trying to lose or maintain your current weight, frying your foods will result in an increase in your total caloric intake and could lead to weight gain.

You might want to try using a canola or olive oil cooking spray. The spray will coat your pan, but you're going to use a whole lot less oil (and consume a whole lot less calories) than you could if you poured some oil in a pan and then cooked your chicken.

I hope this helped to answer your question!

HI Dan,

I would agree with Lauren in that unless you fry your chicken in a non-stick pan with zero oil then you are going to increase calorie intake. However, this might not be an issue if this fits with your planned macronutrient intake.

When frying I would suggest you use coconut oil. Whist it is high in saturated fat it has a higher burning point in comparison to olive oil. Once an oil hits its burning point then it breaks down and deteriorates quickly.

Hope this helps.

Olive oil has healthy fat in it and could fit into your diet well. It's a balance between number of calories, proteins, carbs, and fats. You want the carbs to be as complex as possible (veggies, fruits, whole grains, legumes) & around 45-65% of your diet, protein to be based on your workout (0.8 grams protein per kg of body weight for average person, 1.7 grams protein per kg of body weight if you consistently strength train), about 20% of your diet being fat (mostly healthy or unsaturated fat --> healthy cooking oil, walnuts, fish, etc.).