Spanish ham is a source of proteins, minerals and vitamins of high biological grade, balanced lipid and moderate calories profile essentials for our organisms.
Ham consumption, high in vitamin B1, helps to overcome stress and anxiety. Foods high in vitamin B1 and thiamine are highly recommended for breastfeeding period and convalescence, due to the lack of this vitamin during those periods.
Serrano ham doesn’t require to be cooked before consumption. It provides essential nutrients such as proteins, vitamins and minerals to our organism in a fast and effective way. Besides, ham is an easy-to-digest meal, since it lacks of collagen our digestive system can take amino acids more easily.
In the end, there are not much ready-to-use foods such as ham, that you can include them in a healthy and balanced diet.
NUTRITIONAL COMPOSITION
Nutritional composition of ham varies depending on the breed, feeding and age of the pigs.
Ham is an excellent source of proteins, essential for our muscle development. It contains all the indispensable amino acids that our body requires and is uncapable of synthesize. If a healthy adult daily requires 40 to 60 grams of proteins, 150 grams of ham will cover those needs, since it contains 45,75 grams of proteins.
Ham has little quantity of fat; 50% of them are monosaturated and polyunsaturated fat, emphasizing the high quantity of oleic acid in ham (likewise in olive oil), known for its heart-healthy effects that facilitates the production of good cholesterol (HDL) and reduces the production of LDL cholesterol.
Ham barely has carbohydrates; 100 grams of ham only provide 240 Kcal. It should be noted its high iron content, thus 100 grams of ham approximately cover 18% of the daily dietary recommendations for children and adults, and between 7,2 and 12% in pregnant women. Heme iron is easy to digest in comparison with vegetal iron.
Other minerals of ham are zinc, potassium, calcium (100 grams of them provide 5% of the daily dietary recommendations) and phosphor (which provides 20% of the daily dietary recommendations).
Ham provides significant amounts of vitamins, especially group B vitamins such as thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), pyridoxine (B6) and niacin (6,7 mg/100 grams). On the other hand, it contains 1,1% of salt, which has to be taken into consideration to those people with problems of hypertension.
HAM NUTRITIONAL DECLARATION
• High protein content.
• Source of phosphorus, iron and zinc.
• High B1 vitamin content.
• High B3 vitamin content.
• Source of B2 and B6 vitamin.
REFERENCE: ANICE
