Some things you might not know about corn.

Corn (also known as maize) is among the oldest of cultivated grains, dating back 10,000 years to pre-Mayan times in South America, but corn didn’t make it onto European menus until 1493, when Christopher Columbus brought seeds to Spain. Corn was rapidly embraced, largely replacing barley and millet due to its spectacular yield per acre. Widespread, habitual consumption of cornbread and polenta resulted in deficiencies of niacin (vitamin B3) and the amino acids lysine and tryptophan, causing widespread epidemics of pellagra, evidenced as what physicians of the age called “The Four Ds”: dermatitis, diarrhea, dementia, and death. Even today, pellagra is a significant public health issue in rural South America, Africa, and China. Meanwhile, in coastal Peru, Ecuador, Mexico, and the Andes mountain highlands, increased corn consumption led to increased tooth decay, tooth loss, anemia, and iron deficiency, as well as loss of height in children and adults. Today, farmers fatten livestock by feeding them intact corn kernels. But much of the corn consumed by humans is in the form of cornmeal or cornstarch, or derivatives of corn such as high-fructose corn syrup. This concentrated source of fructose is a form of sugar that fails to signal satiety— you don’t know when to stop. Corn and wheat jockey for inclusion in just about every processed food, many of which contain both. Corn in some form is therefore found in obvious sources, such as corn chips, cornbread, breakfast cerea...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: Corn Cornstarch Dr. Davis High-Fructose Weight loss Wheat Belly Lifestyle Wheat-Free Lifestyle gluten-free grain Wheat Belly Total Health Source Type: blogs