Corn

– One could think of corn as a double agent, it makes a delicious vegetable, and a very versatile grain. As a grain, it can make cornbread, tortillas, polenta, cornmeal mush, popcorn, and more! All of these can be enjoyed as part of healthy meals or snacks, as long as we don’t mix them with unhealthy ingredients like butter, coconut oil, other oils, excessive salt, or refined sugar.

Corn as a grain adds a lot of great nutrition into our diets. Like other grains, it is a great source of fiber and protein, thiamine, niacin, vitamin B6, copper, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, selenium, and zinc. So, corn is fantastic for our heart, our immune function, our digestion, our muscles, our metabolism, our thyroid, and it’s also a great food to support our children’s early development.

While yellow and white corns are the most popular, venture out and try red or blue corn for added phytonutrient power. Red and blue corn are particularly rich in anthocyanins, the same phytochemical present in purple sweet potatoes that has strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that may help prevent cancer, neurodegenerative disease, and cardiovascular disease.

Try our personalized nutrition calculator below to see just how much nutrition you and your family can get from corn grain in some of its most popular forms.