Jun 1, 20232 min read

Baked Chicken Drumsticks

Tender and tasty

Sometimes we just need a simple, easy idea for dinner!

The chicken drumstick, made up of dark meat, is tender, rich, and juicy, and makes for a satisfying, easy dinner main dish.

Paired with a quick homemade cole slaw or salad, this can be a quick and healthy summertime meal for dinner that the whole family will enjoy!

A few health benefits of this dish

Chicken drumsticks are the lower part of the chicken leg (the upper part being the thigh) that is dark meat consisting of protein, fat, and nutrients, like vitamins and minerals that the body requires each day to be healthy (1).

As a good source of complete protein, chicken drumsticks increase our intake of this vital nutrient to improve our metabolic health and help us achieve and maintain an ideal body weight, as protein helps us feel full longer (satiates) and also decreases fat mass while preserving lean body mass like muscle tissue (2). Higher protein diets have also been associated with healthier bone, as protein provides the structural matrix of bone and increases the intestinal absorption of calcium for stronger bones (3) (4).

Dark chicken meat like the drumsticks also provides vitamin K2 (menaquinone), a naturally occurring fat-soluble vitamin that is only found in animals and fermented foods (1). Vitamin K2 helps the body direct the calcium from the foods that we eat into our bones rather than into our soft tissue, like arteries, which helps to prevent heart disease and improves bone health, to help us avoid diseases like osteoporosis (5) (6). Additionally, in his book Eat to Beat Disease, Dr. William Li states that vitamin K2 has anti-angiogenic properties that reduce our risk for cancer (7).