Ground Turkey? Good or bad?

goalreacher998
goalreacher998 Posts: 22 Member
edited November 18 in Health and Weight Loss
So I made a decent amount of ground turkey and cooked it with a few spices (no salt) and a little olive oil. I've been eating some of it with meals, and it's pretty tasty! But is it actually all that good for you? I do weigh it, and don't eat all that much at a time, but I don't want to keep eating it if it's not going to help with my weight loss.
Thanks. :)
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Replies

  • goalreacher998
    goalreacher998 Posts: 22 Member
    macgurlnet wrote: »
    Is there something you've heard/read that makes you think it's not going to help?

    I love using ground turkey for tacos!

    ~Lyssa

    No, not necessarily. I've just never really eaten ground turkey before so I don't know how much fat or anything is in it. It tastes great! I'm just starting my weight loss so I guess that's why I'm not sure what's "good" or bad.
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    No specific food helps with weight loss... Therefore by your theory you should stop eating everything. Small problem however, you might die of starvation... But at least you would have lost weight.
  • macgurlnet
    macgurlnet Posts: 1,946 Member
    goalreacher998 wrote: »
    macgurlnet wrote: »
    Is there something you've heard/read that makes you think it's not going to help?

    I love using ground turkey for tacos!

    ~Lyssa

    No, not necessarily. I've just never really eaten ground turkey before so I don't know how much fat or anything is in it. It tastes great! I'm just starting my weight loss so I guess that's why I'm not sure what's "good" or bad.

    Everything is good...unless you're allergic to it or eat too much of it.

    I find it helps to think of things in combination - getting protein, fat and carbs in a meal - helps a lot. Pay attention to what tastes good and keeps you satisfied - finding that balance is key. Something high in calories that leaves you hungry soon after probably should be a "sometimes" food. High in calories, but satisfied for a long time? Just fine, no matter what it is.

    Ground turkey is generally a pretty lean meat. It's a great lower-fat option for a lot of red meats.

    Enjoy!

    ~Lyssa
  • Silentpadna
    Silentpadna Posts: 1,306 Member
    edited April 2017
    Ready2Rock206 wrote: »
    goalreacher998 wrote: »
    macgurlnet wrote: »
    Is there something you've heard/read that makes you think it's not going to help?

    I love using ground turkey for tacos!

    ~Lyssa

    No, not necessarily. I've just never really eaten ground turkey before so I don't know how much fat or anything is in it. It tastes great! I'm just starting my weight loss so I guess that's why I'm not sure what's "good" or bad.

    First thing to do would be to stop labeling food as good or bad.



    Then the 2nd and 3rd things to do would be to stop believing what the marketers want you to believe about a food being "good" or "bad".

    I've never been a fan of the phrase "what they don't want you to know", but in the case of the diet industry, there's a whole lot of stuff "they don't want you to know".

    Going with CICO here on MFP has been nothing short of liberating....and successful. And I eat chocolate chip cookies almost every night. Fits in my calorie budget just fine. If it fits, it's not "bad".
  • Tried30UserNames
    Tried30UserNames Posts: 561 Member
    I think it tastes terrible and smells even worse, so therefore, BAD.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    It's a lean protein. It's a very fine lean protein.
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    edited May 2017
    There are no good or bad foods when it comes to weight loss, just good/bad habits.
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    It's ground turkey. Not cocaine. It's fine.

    :laugh:
    Noel_57 wrote: »
    Ground turkey caused laboratory rats to go into starvation mode. That's what Dr. Oz said on Friday. :|
    Aww. I hope those rats didn't gain too much. I hope they're on raspberry ketones and acv...
  • jdog022
    jdog022 Posts: 693 Member
    goalreacher998 wrote: »
    macgurlnet wrote: »
    Is there something you've heard/read that makes you think it's not going to help?

    I love using ground turkey for tacos!

    ~Lyssa

    No, not necessarily. I've just never really eaten ground turkey before so I don't know how much fat or anything is in it. It tastes great! I'm just starting my weight loss so I guess that's why I'm not sure what's "good" or bad.

    if you are wieghing it then you know how much fat is in it. Any who.. Lean turkey is a great lean meat and something I often bulk cook to add to my eggs
  • lioness803
    lioness803 Posts: 325 Member
    I make really good turkey meatballs with a peach barbecue sauce...
    What the others said, don't label food as good or bad. If you like it and its going to fit in your calories, then it's "good"!
  • Sp1tfire
    Sp1tfire Posts: 1,120 Member
    Love it. Love turkey burgers, turkey meat sauce with pasta, love love love it.


    Unfortunately my family hates it for some reason.
    To answer your question, if it fits your calories its good. I'd say it's an excellent, lean choice especially if you drain some excess fat after cooking it.
  • dragon_girl26
    dragon_girl26 Posts: 2,187 Member
    The frozen ground turkey I get occasionally from Meijer is good. All of the other ground turkey I've had is bad, though.
    Oh, wait..that wasn't the question? :smiley:
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    goalreacher998 wrote: »
    So I made a decent amount of ground turkey and cooked it with a few spices (no salt) and a little olive oil. I've been eating some of it with meals, and it's pretty tasty! But is it actually all that good for you? I do weigh it, and don't eat all that much at a time, but I don't want to keep eating it if it's not going to help with my weight loss.
    Thanks. :)

    Weight loss is about having a calorie deficit.
    Ground turkey is fine if the amount you have fits your calorie goal.
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,333 Member
    Ground turkey white breast meat and chicken meat are very low in fat and calories. They don't taste as yummy as plain ground chicken and ground turkey which many people mistake as low fat and calorie.

    I either use just the white breast meat ground with tomato paste..which beefs it up.. or I mix the plain ground chicken or turkey with the lean all white ground meat.
  • Tiff1124
    Tiff1124 Posts: 261 Member
    I use ground turkey for pretty much everything# Tacos, chili, spaghetti, meatballs, egg bakes. To me it tastes better than beef and it's cheaper too. At least here in MN :)
  • MiniMexxxxx
    MiniMexxxxx Posts: 43 Member
    I would check the nutritional value. I use ground beef with a fat content of 5% I think some ground turkey (like beef) can have 15% fat so I would go on the label and make a decision from there. If it was just made with the breast meat it would be leaner (and tasteless probably) if it's made with the brown meat it'll be higher in calories.
  • Seffell
    Seffell Posts: 2,244 Member
    When you say "eating with meals" I have the impression that you're eating it along your meals thinking that eating turkey is some sort of a slimming substance.
    It is not.
    Turkey could be a good substitution for other fat meats and that's why it is sometimes recommend. But not "added to" the fat meats if you see what I mean. It is not "slimming" in itself.
    I personally avoid it because it has no taste to me. Tastes like toilet paper (yes I've tried lol).
  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
    Specific foods don't really "help" weight loss. I suppose they can "hurt" if they are very very calorically dense, but that's not the case here.

    Food is food, it doesn't care whether you're losing weight or gaining. And there are NO foods that will automatically help you lose weight if you add them to your diet.

    The questions to ask are more like:

    1) Do I like this food? Is it something I can regularly eat?
    2) Do I like this food too much? Do I have trouble STOPPING eating it?
    3) Do I truly know the nutritional content of this food? (note that wtih ground meats, this can be tricky).
    4) Do I measure this food accurately every time I eat it? Is it easy to measure accurately?
    5) Does this food satisfy a nutritional need?
    6) Do I feel full or satisfied after eating this food?
  • WVWalkerFriend
    WVWalkerFriend Posts: 575 Member
    We like it at my house. Its cheaper than ground beef at times so we've learned to use it and like it.
  • CasperNaegle
    CasperNaegle Posts: 936 Member
    So long as you count your macros or calories and fit it in, it's great. I use 96/4 ground beef a lot and it's awesome. I prefer beef for the better iron, etc. I personally wouldn't add any olive oil as you are just putting fat back in, but that's jus tme.
  • bethanyka
    bethanyka Posts: 159 Member
    I get the 94% lean- 4oz raw is 160 cal.
    I use it a lot, at least a few times a week. Turkey meatloaf, meatballs, tacos, burgers, stuffed peppers, with brown rice, or elbow noodles and tomatoes.
    This week I am having it sautéed with shredded cabbage, (sometimes with onions too). I love it.

    It's cheap, and light. A staple for me.
  • bagge72
    bagge72 Posts: 1,377 Member
    jgnatca wrote: »
    It's a lean protein. It's a very fine lean protein.

    Oh yeah, she's a sexy little lean protein isn't she? But is she the good type of sexy lean protein, or is she a bad bad girl? Sorry, not where you were going with that, is it?

  • Queenmunchy
    Queenmunchy Posts: 3,380 Member
    I buy it because it's way cheaper than ground beef and I like the taste in most dishes better.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    No specific food is good it bad for weight loss. But my concern is - if you don't know how much fat is in it, how are you logging it accurately?

    These were exactly my thoughts too.

    Don't think of foods as being "good or bad for weight loss." Figure out how they fit in your calories (and log them) and your nutrition goals.

    That said, ground turkey is generally pretty low cal and has lots of protein per cal, so many people find it helpful. I'm not a huge fan (prefer ground beef, ground lamb, and ground pork), but I do have it on rare occasion. My opinion is just taste preference, and nothing about the meat. (I love turkey in other ways, just not ground.)
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