According to Dr. Antonio Escribano, Endocrinologist and Professor of Sports Nutrition, ham should be considered a functional food. Its consumption improves our health, reduces the risk of contracting certain diseases and performs very specific functions that other foods could not perform.
The best known nutritional contribution of ham is its protein. Which are transformed into amino acids. Specifically in the 8 essential amino acids without which the human body cannot function.
Ham also provides vitamins (E, B1, B1, B2 and B12), iron, magnesium, zinc, folic acid, sodium and potassium.
The direct relationship between the bioactive peptides in ham, which are formed from the essential amino acids contained in ham, is currently being investigated.
These bioactive peptides have beneficial properties on the cardiovascular system, the immune system and the nervous system.
Amanda J. Kiliaan, from Radboud University Medical Center, The Netherlands, stated in 2015 “Oily fish, beet or Iberian ham are sources of all kinds of substances that contribute to improve neuronal connections” and therefore could help prevent Alzheimer’s disease.
A Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra (SUN) study, published in 2019, concluded that consumption of cured ham could not be associated with a significantly higher or lower risk of hypertension in a prospective cohort of Spanish university graduates. You can see the details of the study
Furthermore, in 2017, the then Head of the Endothelial and Cardiometabolic Medicine Unit of the Ramón y Cajal Hospital in Madrid, Dr. Sabán, stated that a diet with Iberian ham could benefit a very broad group of the population; diabetics, smokers or hypertensive patients. According to their analyses and studies, consumption of Iberian ham improves the endothelium, the layer of cells that lines the inside of blood vessels, and is therefore responsible for the well-being of the arteries. The journal redacción médica reported on his research.
But not only the ham slices are good and delicious.
It turns out that the broth you can make with ham bones is also very healthy and there is a scientific explanation that we now share with you.
According to the study “Peptides with Potential Cardioprotective Effects Derived from Dry-Cured Ham By-products” published in 2019 in the ‘Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry’, peptides released in the digestive process of ham broth could have very beneficial properties for our health. You can see the complete study in this link: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jafc.8b05888
By making the broth with ham bones, we are managing to generate bioactive peptides from the mother protein. These short amino acid sequences have antihypertensive, antioxidant, antidiabetic and antithrombotic functions, among others.
After different in-vitro tests, the research concludes that ham bones should have a positive impact on cardiovascular health and a possible reduction of high blood pressure for consumers.
The Mediterranean diet has included ham broths in its menus for centuries. We have always been told how comforting a caldito de jamón or caldito de puchero is. Now we can conclude that our mothers and grandmothers were right when they gave us a little broth to replenish our strength and energy.
One more proof that our Iberian hams are very tasty and also very good for our health.
