Boneless pork chops can be prepared with sauerkraut, apples, vegetables or any number of other ingredients. A boneless pork chop may be considered a comfort food, but pork loin chops are lean sources of protein and other essential nutrients. In moderation, boneless pork chops can be a healthy part of an overall balanced diet.
Calories and Macronutrients
A raw, boneless pork top loin, or strip loin, chop weighs about 185 grams, or 6.6 ounces, before cooking. If you trim away the fat and only eat only the lean meat, the chop has 235 calories and 6 grams total fat. It is free from carbohydrates, and it has 41 grams protein, or 82 percent of the daily value for protein. Protein may help you control your weight because it slows down the emptying of food from your stomach after a meal, so you may feel less hungry for the next meal, according to the Harvard School of Public Health. A chop with both the lean meat and fat has 287 calories and 13 grams fat.
Saturated Fat and Cholesterol
The lean portion of a boneless pork chop has 2.2 grams saturated fat and 122 mg cholesterol, and the chop with the visible fat still on has 4.5 grams saturated fat and 124 mg cholesterol. Saturated fat and cholesterol from your food raise levels of cholesterol in your blood and may increase your risk for heart disease, according to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Healthy adults on a 2,000-calorie diet should limit daily intake to 22 grams saturated fat and 300 mg cholesterol.
Vitamins
Pork provides 1.2 mg thiamin, or 80 percent of the daily value, 0.35 mg riboflavin, or 21 percent of the daily value, and 15 mg niacin, or 75 percent of the daily value. Thiamin, or vitamin B-1, riboflavin, or vitamin B-2, and niacin, or vitamin B-3, are necessary for energy metabolism in your body, according to the Linus Pauling Institute Micronutrient Information Center. The boneless chop has 1.4 mg vitamin B-6, or 70 percent of the daily value. Vitamin B-6 works with vitamin B-12 and folic acid to maintain normal blood levels of homocysteine and lower your risk for heart disease.
Minerals
A boneless pork chop has 716 mg potassium and only 91 mg sodium. To maintain a normal blood pressure, the 2010 Dietary Guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommend that healthy adults get at least 4,700 mg potassium and a maximum of 2,300 mg sodium per day. The chop has 3 mg zinc, or 20 percent of the daily value for this essential nutrient for the immune system. The pork chop has 500 mg phosphorus. Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for energy metabolism and bone strength, but your doctor may recommend limiting your intake to 800 to 1,000 mg per day if you have kidney disease, according to the Mayo Clinic.
References
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: Pork Products
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010; January 2010
- Mayo Clinic; How Meat and Poultry Fit into Your Healthy Diet; June 2011
- Mayo Clinic; Low-Phosphorus Diet: Best for Kidney Disease?; Erik Castle; August 2010
- Harvard School of Public Health: Protein: Moving Closer to Center Stage
- Food and Drug Administration; Food Labeling Guide: Appendix F: Calculate the Percent Daily Value for the Appropriate Nutrients; May 2011
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