Views on corn?

I've heard mixed reviews about corn. I have no idea what to believe. I follow a 1200 calorie diet but I had a major craving today and ate two cans of corn (yes I was THAT hungry lol). I am still under my daily calories but should I avoid splurging on that in the future? I assumed eating corn was a healthier substitute than eating a sandwich, breads, etc.

Replies

Nony_Mouse wrote: »

mccindy72 wrote: »

miriamtob wrote: »

mccindy72 wrote: »

miriamtob wrote: »

Corn is weird. It needs human intervention in order to grow and it has gotten insanely good at getting people to grow it; we grow a friggin' lot of it! Humans and corn truly have a symbiosis. Michael Pollan writes about corn in 'The Omnivore's Dilemma'.

What the *kitten*? Well how did it grow in the first place? Magic little golden nuggets from heaven?

Read the book, 'the Omnivore's Dilemma'. He explains it pretty well. You can read about its origin here too: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maize

Sorry, random book reference and Wikipedia. Not credible sources. People didn't invent corn from nothing. That's not possible.

Doing this from memory - the wild antecedent of maize is teosinte, and it took a hell of a long time for that to be established because it is so vastly different from domesticated maize. At some point, people started utilising this ancestor, eventually cultivating it, which led to domestication through selecting for desirable traits such as bigger kernels and greater indehiscence (ie kernels that don't fall off when you harvest the ears). Corn has now been bred to be so indehiscent that it is essentially reliant on humans to plant it in order to continue existing (or from the corn's point of view, if it had one).

Also, it is delicious.

And related to this, a surprisingly high number of people I know had summer jobs back when they were teens detassling corn.

That's why I love MFP community. Even topics about corn get interesting... Not to mention how much info I learn from the intelligence of different minds. I increased my calorie intake per day thanks to advice from everyone! I do feel better already.
As for corn, I'm seeing mixed reviews, but more good than bad. I did not, however, know it was related to bread (being a grain) as someone mentioned in this thread. So interesting...

Mr_Knight wrote: »

mccindy72 wrote: »

miriamtob wrote: »

Then look it up in encyclopedia Britannica! I don't care. It's a *kitten* interesting plant is all I'm trying to say!

no, you said that humans invented corn and corn made people grow it in mass quantities.

No, the poster did not say humans "invented" corn - the poster said modern corn can't grow without human intervention.

Which is actually true - something like 99.9% of the corn grown on this planet can't reseed itself, if left on its own. Without human intervention, what we now call "corn" will pretty much go extinct.

Keep on keeping on, humans. Haha. Corn is tasty.

Speaking of, I bought some single serve microwavable corn cups at walmart like, over a month ago. I totally forgot about them and you're making me want them!

jwolford90 wrote: »

That's why I love MFP community. Even topics about corn get interesting...

It's a very corn-tnious issue....

aaaand I'm going to bed now.

nakedraygun wrote: »

I don't get it.

If people are so convinced that 1200 is the way to go, why not eat 600? Why not eat only 1 calorie a day? Call it the "Tic Tac Diet."

Heck, why eat at all.

SMH

Lol tic tac diet I totaly said this to my brother the other day

All things in moderation, people; even corn. Yes, corn has been modified over the years, by picking and regrowing varities that grow better in unfavorable conditions. As have a lot of other foods. It's called genetic manipulation/modification, which in and of itself is not an inherently bad thing, despite the bad rap it's gotten lately in the press. But that's a whole 'nother issue.

Eat corn. Tell corny jokes. Put some corn rows in your hair.

It's all good.

Corn destroys rainforests.

Corn silk- ya know, those white hairs in the corn? Can be made into a tea and is a fabulous herbal remedy traditionally used to soothe UTI's.

jwolford90 wrote: »

That's why I love MFP community. Even topics about corn get interesting... Not to mention how much info I learn from the intelligence of different minds. I increased my calorie intake per day thanks to advice from everyone! I do feel better already.
As for corn, I'm seeing mixed reviews, but more good than bad. I did not, however, know it was related to bread (being a grain) as someone mentioned in this thread. So interesting...

no cornbread growing up eh... must not be from the south.

There was finally corn on the cob in the stores again. I grilled some up this weekend and I could have ate 10 ears of that. It was some of the best corn on the cob I have ever ate.

Corn is great - hushpuppies, cornmeal breaded deep fried fish, cornbread, corn on the cob, corn muffins, corn syurp (pecan pie, guiz), tamales, corn tortillas, popcorn...If corn is the devil, guess I'll be going to hell.

asflatasapancake wrote: »

I like it. It's interesting how it ends up visible in poop later.

I'm eating...thanks for the visual

Lrdoflamancha wrote: »

I agree with the French on this one.... Corn is fed to cows to make them fat....

Grain/seed corn is fed to cows, in massive quantity and not to make them fat...fat cows are much less desirable than muscular ones.

Sweet corn is fed to humans. If you go out into a field in the fall and try to eat both a raw cob of sweet corn, and one of feed corn you will quickly feel the difference.

lemurcat12 wrote: »

Corn is just a grain. There's no reason to avoid grains, just count the calories (as you should with everything) and be aware that it's more calorie dense than a non-starchy vegetable.

IMO, fresh sweet corn is one of the best foods ever and I live in a corn producing state, so I eat a ton of it when it's in season and lost lots of weight last year when doing so. I don't tend to eat it out of season since I'm picky about it, but no harm at all from eating a can of it. I'd maybe check how much sodium is in the can and choose frozen instead if that's an issue for you.

(And I agree that 1200 is almost certainly too low for you.)

Same here... live in Iowa so I only eat it straight from the field and in season

There's a plant geneticist on Ted this week talking about how we have been cultivating foodstuffs for generations. Corn is one of them.

The cob on the left is the ancestor of modern corn, is covered by a hard casing, and you would need a hammer to get to the sweet nut.

And I live in Las Vegas and sure thought that white corn I bought from vons six for a dollar was so so good after it cooked

Around here Taber corn is recognized as the best.

Nony_Mouse wrote: »

mccindy72 wrote: »

miriamtob wrote: »

mccindy72 wrote: »

miriamtob wrote: »

Corn is weird. It needs human intervention in order to grow and it has gotten insanely good at getting people to grow it; we grow a friggin' lot of it! Humans and corn truly have a symbiosis. Michael Pollan writes about corn in 'The Omnivore's Dilemma'.

What the *kitten*? Well how did it grow in the first place? Magic little golden nuggets from heaven?

Read the book, 'the Omnivore's Dilemma'. He explains it pretty well. You can read about its origin here too: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maize

Sorry, random book reference and Wikipedia. Not credible sources. People didn't invent corn from nothing. That's not possible.

Doing this from memory - the wild antecedent of maize is teosinte, and it took a hell of a long time for that to be established because it is so vastly different from domesticated maize. At some point, people started utilising this ancestor, eventually cultivating it, which led to domestication through selecting for desirable traits such as bigger kernels and greater indehiscence (ie kernels that don't fall off when you harvest the ears). Corn has now been bred to be so indehiscent that it is essentially reliant on humans to plant it in order to continue existing (or from the corn's point of view, if it had one).

Also, it is delicious.

nakedraygun wrote: »

I don't get it.

If people are so convinced that 1200 is the way to go, why not eat 600? Why not eat only 1 calorie a day? Call it the "Tic Tac Diet."

Heck, why eat at all.

SMH

I just now saw this. Thanks so much for that incredible feedback, I'm sure your compassionate words radiate hope for so many people. LOL.

Also, I created this thread just for this purpose. It seems there are always 50/50 battles on this topic. It's like the epic you're vs your battles.

UltimateRBF wrote: »

Nony_Mouse wrote: »

emily_stew wrote: »

miriamtob wrote: »

Corn is weird. It needs human intervention in order to grow and it has gotten insanely good at getting people to grow it; we grow a friggin' lot of it! Humans and corn truly have a symbiosis. Michael Pollan writes about corn in 'The Omnivore's Dilemma'.

You make corn sound like a sentient being with malicious intent.
It's just corn.

Evil, evil corn. Mwahahahaha.

Google image search: evil corn

Quite a few images from that result...mostly from GMO/HFCS fearmongers. Poor corn.

I seriously died laughing. Thank you.

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