REVIEW PAPER HEALTH-SUPPORTING PROPERTIES OF BEEF

Contemporary human diet contains excessive quantities of n-6 saturated fatty acids (SFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), but it is deficient in n-3 fatty acids. This imbalance could be the cause of respiratory diseases, obesity and cancer. Until recently, animal fat, including meat fat, was regarded solely as a source of saturated fatty acids, which are a risk factor for atherosclerosis, obesity and certain types of cancer. Recent stu-dies have shown, however, that animal fats contain biologically active substances beneficial for health, and that only some saturated fatty acids have adverse consequences. The latter group includes lauric acid (C12), myristic acid (C14) and palmitic acid (C16), i.e. mainly the ones with an unfavorable n-6/n-3 fatty acid ratio. Apart from fat, beef also contains high amounts of minerals, mainly phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and zinc. Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), in particular its cis-9 trans-11 and trans-9 cis-11 iso-mers, is one of the substances with health-supporting properties. Synthesized solely in the gastrointestinal tract of ruminants, CLA reaches the blood stream and is used by the mam-mary gland to synthesize milk fat. CLA is embedded in the animal’s adipose tissue. Ther