The aim of the paper is to provide an overview on the role of meat in
human nutrition. The focus is on the adaptation of humans to an
omnivorous diet and the nutritional value of meat and its contribution in satisfying the nutrient requirements. The influence of meat intake on the incidence of some chronic diseases is described and the fact that reexamination of epidemiological data shows that a higher risk for cancer was wrongly ascribed to high meat intake, being far more associated with low fruit and vegetables intake and to other life-style risk factors. At the end a review of current recommendations concerning meat intake is given. Because of its high nutritional value, meat retains important role in prudent human nutrition.Cilj rada je dati pregled uloge mesa u prehrani ljudi. Rad je usmjeren na prilagodbu ljudi na svaku vrst hrane i hranidbenu vrijednost mesa te njegov doprinos zadovoljavanju hranidbenih potreba. Opisan je utjecaj uzimanja mesa na pojavu nekih bolesti te činjenicu da je preispitivanje epidemioloških podataka pokazalo da se veći rizik za rak pogrešno pripisuje visokom unošenju mesa; rizik je daleko više povezan s niskim unošenjem voća i povrća te drugim rizičnim čimbenicima načina života. Na kraju je pregled današnjih preporuka u vezi s uzimanjem mesa. Zbog svoje visoke hranidbene vrijednosti meso zadržava važnu ulogu u razumnoj prehrani ljudi
