Iberian ham is high in oleic acid (monounsaturated fatty acid); it helps to decrease total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol in the blood, while at the same time increasing the level of beneficial cholesterol (HDL).
Excellent source of vitamins: E, B1, B6, B12 and folic acid, which is beneficial to our nervous system.
It is rich in hemo iron, which is characterised as being faster and easier to absorb than the non-hemo iron found in vegetables.
It is a source of protein in our diet, providing high quality essential amino acids. Every 100 grams of ham supply 43 grams of protein.
Excellent provider of minerals, which are beneficial to our bone structure. Iberian ham has an average of 2.3 mg of zinc for every 100 grams of ham, which performs a protective role against oxidation and inflammatory reaction.
Recommended food for low calorie diets, as it only has about 150 kilocalories per 50 grams. It provides a multitude of cardiovascular benefits.
Products from Iberian pigs constitute a determining factor in especially energetic diets, not only because it is a very well-rounded food that provides basic nutrients to the organism, but also because it is very easy to digest.
Some curiosities about the quality of Iberian ham
The food the Iberian pig eats directly affects the concentration of monounsaturated fatty acids in the Iberian ham, which enhance the taste of the product.
The food that a pig eats out in the open includes grass and roots that provide the meat with antioxidant substances. This is enhanced by the physical exercise it undertakes in the open, encouraging a greater resistance to lipoprotein oxidation. It improves antioxidant potential mainly due to the level of tocopherols and polyphenols, specifically tocopherol from the pastures and acorns. Acorns also provide a greater quantity of polyphenols, thirty-two different phenolic compounds to be exact, all of which are derived from gallic acid. As such, the presence of these antioxidant compounds in the ham gives it oxidative stability, and more specifically, it modulates and controls the oxidation of the main monounsaturated fatty acid.
Among other properties, the composition of the adipose tissue on the Iberian pig is conditioned by the endogenous lipolysis and by the fatty acids that pigs raised on pastures ingest as part of their diet. This does not occur in ruminants whose stomach acids saturate the unsaturated fatty acids from the vegetables they eat, whereby producing palmitic and stearic acid (saturated fatty acids). In order to obtain a quality ham it is therefore essential to provide the Iberian pig with a natural diet in the open where it is free to roam and get the exercise required for the appropriate constitution and composition of Iberian ham.
The presence of infiltrated fat, which is an essential characteristic of the meat from an Iberian pig, is what gives the product its characteristic succulence, aroma and bouquet, which differentiate it and make it so much more appreciated by consumers of this type of product.
Excellent source of vitamins: E, B1, B6, B12 and folic acid, which is beneficial to our nervous system.
It is rich in hemo iron, which is characterised as being faster and easier to absorb than the non-hemo iron found in vegetables.
It is a source of protein in our diet, providing high quality essential amino acids. Every 100 grams of ham supply 43 grams of protein.
Excellent provider of minerals, which are beneficial to our bone structure. Iberian ham has an average of 2.3 mg of zinc for every 100 grams of ham, which performs a protective role against oxidation and inflammatory reaction.
Recommended food for low calorie diets, as it only has about 150 kilocalories per 50 grams. It provides a multitude of cardiovascular benefits.
Products from Iberian pigs constitute a determining factor in especially energetic diets, not only because it is a very well-rounded food that provides basic nutrients to the organism, but also because it is very easy to digest.
Some curiosities about the quality of Iberian ham
The food the Iberian pig eats directly affects the concentration of monounsaturated fatty acids in the Iberian ham, which enhance the taste of the product.
The food that a pig eats out in the open includes grass and roots that provide the meat with antioxidant substances. This is enhanced by the physical exercise it undertakes in the open, encouraging a greater resistance to lipoprotein oxidation. It improves antioxidant potential mainly due to the level of tocopherols and polyphenols, specifically tocopherol from the pastures and acorns. Acorns also provide a greater quantity of polyphenols, thirty-two different phenolic compounds to be exact, all of which are derived from gallic acid. As such, the presence of these antioxidant compounds in the ham gives it oxidative stability, and more specifically, it modulates and controls the oxidation of the main monounsaturated fatty acid.
Among other properties, the composition of the adipose tissue on the Iberian pig is conditioned by the endogenous lipolysis and by the fatty acids that pigs raised on pastures ingest as part of their diet. This does not occur in ruminants whose stomach acids saturate the unsaturated fatty acids from the vegetables they eat, whereby producing palmitic and stearic acid (saturated fatty acids). In order to obtain a quality ham it is therefore essential to provide the Iberian pig with a natural diet in the open where it is free to roam and get the exercise required for the appropriate constitution and composition of Iberian ham.
The presence of infiltrated fat, which is an essential characteristic of the meat from an Iberian pig, is what gives the product its characteristic succulence, aroma and bouquet, which differentiate it and make it so much more appreciated by consumers of this type of product.