When it comes to superfoods, corn may be the last thing most people think of. After all, it is one of the most genetically modified crops in the States. But locally grown, organic corn does have nutritional benefits, as previously noted. Here Atli Arnarson, BSc, PhD, reflects on nutritional and health benefits of corn:

“Also known as maize (Zea mays), corn is one of the world’s most popular cereal grains. It’s the seed of a plant in the grass family, native to Central America but grown in countless varieties worldwide.

Popcorn and sweet corn are popular varieties, but refined corn products are also widely consumed, frequently as ingredients in processed food.

These include tortillas, tortilla chips, polenta, cornmeal, corn flour, corn syrup, and corn oil.

Whole-grain corn is as healthy as any cereal grain, as it’s rich in fiber and many vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

Corn is typically yellow but comes in a variety of other colors, such as red, orange, purple, blue, white, and black.

This article tells you everything you need to know about corn.

Nutrition facts

Here are the nutrition facts for 3.5 ounces (100 grams) of boiled yellow corn (1Trusted Source):

• Calories: 96
• Water: 73%
• Protein: 3.4 grams
• Carbs: 21 grams
• Sugar: 4.5 grams
• Fiber: 2.4 grams
• Fat: 1.5 grams

Carbs

Like all cereal grains, corn is primarily composed of carbs.

Starch is its main carb, comprising 28–80% of its dry weight. Corn also provides small amounts of sugar (1–3%) (1Trusted Source, 2).

Sweet corn, or sugar corn, is a special, low-starch variety with higher sugar content, at 18% of the dry weight. Most of the sugar is sucrose (1Trusted Source).

Despite the sugar in sweet corn, it is not a high-glycemic food, ranking low or medium on the glycemic index (GI) (3).

The GI is a measure of how quickly carbs are digested. Foods that rank high on this index may cause an unhealthy spike in blood sugar.

Fiber

Corn contains a fair amount of fiber.

One medium bag (112 grams) of cinema popcorn boasts approximately 16 grams of fiber.

This is 42% and 64% of the Daily Value (DV) for men and women, respectively. While the fiber content of different types of corn varies, it’s generally around 9–15% of the dry weight (1Trusted Source, 2, 4Trusted Source).

The predominant fibers in corn are insoluble ones, such as hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin.”

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Read More … Article Source: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods/corn#nutrients