The Complexity and Controversy of Corn

A Bite-Size Read for your Health and Waistline

Photo by Bakd&Raw by Karolin Baitinger on Unsplash

We’ve all had the thought: what happens that corn goes in and comes out looking exactly the same?! Does the body get any value from eating it? Isn’t it a vegetable? But it’s also used to make chips, breads, oil, and sugar! As a health coach, when people ask me about corn, if corn should be added to or avoided in their diet, I must admit, it’s a tricky one.

Technically, corn is a vegetable, a starchy one, but still a vegetable. It’s also a cereal grain, the leading cereal crop in the world. You’ll see corn used as animal feed and to a lesser extent fuel. In fact, “60–70% of maize production is used domestically as livestock feed, the remaining 30–40% is used for production of items for human consumption.” Truthfully, no matter where you turn, corn is there! In the effort to distinguish how and when to eat it, or pass, knowing the different types and their purposes can make it easier.

There are four types/categories of corn. There’s sweet corn, think of your 4th of July corn on the cob or canned corn. The type used for popcorn is more like a dry seed with a starchy center protected by the hard shell. Then there’s Flint or Indian corn, which is a bit tougher and has those unusual colors of red, blue, black, and sometimes white; think of the corn used for decorations. Lastly, there’s…