Poultry, such as chicken and turkey, is generally viewed as a healthier choice than red meat because of its lower fat content. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, part of the USDA and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, suggests eating a standard poultry portion of 3.5 ounces (100 grams) one to three times a week.

This recommendation has been called into question recently. An Italian study has found a connection between consuming poultry and the occurrence of gastrointestinal cancers.

Poultry is an umbrella term encompassing all forms of birds including chicken, goose, turkey, duck, guinea hen and game birds such as quail and pheasant. The average American consumes around 100 pounds of poultry a year, primarily chicken.

All animal meats — beef, chicken, rabbit, turkey, duck goose and game birds — raised LDL or low-density lipoprotein, the so-called “bad” cholesterol.

But chicken and other poultry isn't as healthy a choice as it used to be. These days prepared chicken products like chicken fingers and turkey burgers are processed with added sodium, saturated fat, sugar and preservatives.

Evidence indicates that the association between meat consumption and cancer risk points mainly to the intake of red and processed meat, but it has remained unclear whether consuming white meat also increased the risk of cancer, particularly in the gastrointestinal tract.

To find out, researchers from the Italian National Institute of Gastroenterology collected data on the diets of nearly 4,900 adults and tracked their health for 19 years. The height, weight and blood pressure of the participants were included in the analysis, as well as information about their diet and eating habits.

Through interviews, the participants added information about their demographic backgrounds, general health, lifestyle habits and medical history. They were also asked to record how much poultry, red meat and total meat they consumed.

Over 1,025 participants died during the study. Rabbit and poultry accounted for about 41 percent of their weekly meat intake, with poultry making up around 29 percent of this total. Participants who ate more than 10.5 ounces or 300 grams of poultry per week were more than twice as likely to die from digestive cancer than those who ate less than 3.3 ounces or 100 grams a week.

The average American consumes around 100 pounds of poultry a year, primarily chicken.

There was a sex difference, too. The risk for dying from gastrointestinal disease was higher for men than women, the study showed. Men who consumed more than 300 grams or 10.5 ounces of poultry per week were 2.6 times more likely to die from digestive cancer than women.

If lowering cholesterol is your reason for choosing chicken, you might want to think again as well. A study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that both red and white meat increased cholesterol.

Comparing beef, pork, chicken and turkey with plant-based protein, the researchers reported that all animal meats raised LDL or low-density lipoprotein, the so-called “bad” cholesterol.

If you continue to eat chicken or turkey as part of your weekly diet, consider opting for organic or free-range chickens that are antibiotic and hormone-free.

The study is published in Nutrients.