Ham: Healthy or dangerous?

Ham is pork meat sourced from the hind legs of the pig. After being cut, the hunk of meat is cleaned thoroughly and hung for half a year to two years to cure. Sometimes, it is "wet cured" by soaking it in a liquid brine for three to fourteen days. The meat is also smoked in a smokehouse to develop a more complex flavour profile.

There is a lot of debate surrounding ham and its health benefits and harms. The truth is that ham has many merits and harms.

Health benefits of ham

The biggest plus for ham is that it is a great source of protein. However, it's low in carbohydrates, fat and fibre. When eaten as part of a balanced diet, ham can also aid in weight loss. Let's look at some of its health benefits.

Contains rare nutrients: Ham contains many rare nutritional elements like selenium, choline, carnosine and coenzyme Q10, etc. These help in enhancing brain function and curbing chronic disease risks.

Helps in weight loss: Ham is a high protein and a low-fat food which can aid in weight loss if it's a part of a balanced diet.

Great source of protein: Ham is rich in all the nine amino acids, which are the building blocks of life. It is a perfect protein food, aiding in muscle building, metabolism, cell communication and gene expression.

Ham nutrition

Every 57g of deli ham contains the following nutrients.

Nutrients	Measurement
Calories	61
Carbs	0.5 grams
Protein	9.5 grams
Fat	2.25 grams
Sugar	0 grams
Sodium	23% of the Daily Value

Is ham bad for you?

The health hazards of ham are also plenty just as its benefits. Ham is a cured meat, which means it is either treated with nitrates and nitrites or smoked in a smokehouse. Both the processes can lead to cancer-causing chemicals like N-nitroso compounds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

Ham is red meat, which means it has heme iron that aids in the production of carcinogens. Cooking the ham at high temperatures over a flame can also stimulate the production of cancer-causing compounds.

Due to these factors, the World Health Organization has ranked ham as a class 1 carcinogen.

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