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Most people naturally assume that corn is a good diets food, but you should be cautious in adding it to your diet plans.
There's nothing like a good piece of corn on the cob at your summer barbeque or your buttered popcorn to go along with your favorite movie, right? Or wrong?
This question seems to be coming up more and more often...
Should corn be included in diet plans?
Unfortunately, as much as 60% of corn in the United States is genetically modified. In fact, the numbers may be higher because it is hard to get solid statistics on such a controversial topic. This practice of genetic modification of corn began as a way to allow farmers to grow a bigger crop and make more money because the crops could now fight off insects that were resistant to insecticides.
Sweet corn, now also called Bt-corn, has been altered to produce an insect-killing poison.
This may sound like progress--especially from the perspective of the farmer and the national income--but there is a reason to be concerned. The new foods may have long term effects on ruining our health.
Well, because the introduction of GMO (genetically modified organism) foods is still relatively new, we're in a way being used as "guinea pigs" in a massive experiment (Yikes!). In April 2007, Arpad Pusztai, from the Rowett Research Institute in Aberdeen, UK, announced that experiments had shown intestinal changes in rats caused by eating genetically engineered potatoes (and I don't know about you, but I'm not happy about anybody trying to mess with my intestines).
This actually doesn't surprise me. It's amazing to me how many more people now complain of things like irritable bowel syndrome and other nagging digestive problems. I'm not saying that eating GMO foods is the only cause for these conditions but I'm sure it's a significant contributor (along with processed foods, but that's a story for a different day).
Ok, so what if you're able to get non-GMO corn? (Which it is difficult to know which brands and items are GMO and which are not) where does corn fit into diet plans?
Weight Loss And Carbohydrates
The most important thing to be aware of is that your body processes corn as if it were a carbohydrate rather than a vegetable. This means that you should not consider meal with brown rice and corn as a carbohydrate and vegetable meal. Instead, it is more accurate to classify corn as a grain. Thus, a meal with corn should be counted as a meal with a serving of carbohydrates.
What about microwave popcorn?
Well even the organic varieties contain preservatives (of course to keep them in the bag) and have been shown to contain the same chemical coating in the bag that is used on non-stick cookware (double YIKES!). I would stay away from this stuff.
How about air popped popcorn?
This is the best choice, but it should only be eaten occasionally. Since pop corn is a grain, it is a carbohydrate, and having too many carbohydrates will not assist in weight loss.
In conclusion, then, it's fine to include corn into your diet plans provided you take some precautions. Firstly, only get the non-GMO variety. Secondly, consider corn a grain rather than a vegetable and allocate it to the carbohydrate portion of your meals.
There's nothing like a good piece of corn on the cob at your summer barbeque or your buttered popcorn to go along with your favorite movie, right? Or wrong?
This question seems to be coming up more and more often...
Should corn be included in diet plans?
Unfortunately, as much as 60% of corn in the United States is genetically modified. In fact, the numbers may be higher because it is hard to get solid statistics on such a controversial topic. This practice of genetic modification of corn began as a way to allow farmers to grow a bigger crop and make more money because the crops could now fight off insects that were resistant to insecticides.
Sweet corn, now also called Bt-corn, has been altered to produce an insect-killing poison.
This may sound like progress--especially from the perspective of the farmer and the national income--but there is a reason to be concerned. The new foods may have long term effects on ruining our health.
Well, because the introduction of GMO (genetically modified organism) foods is still relatively new, we're in a way being used as "guinea pigs" in a massive experiment (Yikes!). In April 2007, Arpad Pusztai, from the Rowett Research Institute in Aberdeen, UK, announced that experiments had shown intestinal changes in rats caused by eating genetically engineered potatoes (and I don't know about you, but I'm not happy about anybody trying to mess with my intestines).
This actually doesn't surprise me. It's amazing to me how many more people now complain of things like irritable bowel syndrome and other nagging digestive problems. I'm not saying that eating GMO foods is the only cause for these conditions but I'm sure it's a significant contributor (along with processed foods, but that's a story for a different day).
Ok, so what if you're able to get non-GMO corn? (Which it is difficult to know which brands and items are GMO and which are not) where does corn fit into diet plans?
Weight Loss And Carbohydrates
The most important thing to be aware of is that your body processes corn as if it were a carbohydrate rather than a vegetable. This means that you should not consider meal with brown rice and corn as a carbohydrate and vegetable meal. Instead, it is more accurate to classify corn as a grain. Thus, a meal with corn should be counted as a meal with a serving of carbohydrates.
What about microwave popcorn?
Well even the organic varieties contain preservatives (of course to keep them in the bag) and have been shown to contain the same chemical coating in the bag that is used on non-stick cookware (double YIKES!). I would stay away from this stuff.
How about air popped popcorn?
This is the best choice, but it should only be eaten occasionally. Since pop corn is a grain, it is a carbohydrate, and having too many carbohydrates will not assist in weight loss.
In conclusion, then, it's fine to include corn into your diet plans provided you take some precautions. Firstly, only get the non-GMO variety. Secondly, consider corn a grain rather than a vegetable and allocate it to the carbohydrate portion of your meals.
About the Author:
Saleem Rana, who has been studying better eating habits for twenty years, recommends that you check out the free diet tips offered by renowned nutritionist Isabela De Los Rios
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