5 ms·
> Only 1 percent of all corn grown in this country is eaten by humans. > The rest is No. 2 yellow field corn, which is indigestible to humans and used in anima
by orangepurple 5y ago
> Only 1 percent of all corn grown in this country is eaten by humans.
> The rest is No. 2 yellow field corn, which is indigestible to humans and used in animal feed, food supplements and ethanol.
https://www.wired.com/2011/06/five-ethanol-myths-busted-2/ https://www.wired.com/2011/06/five-ethanol-myths-busted-2/
- sct202 5y agoIt is digestible post processing like after nixtamalization to turn it into masa. No 2 corn is used in tortillas, snack foods and other processed corn products. That sentence is misleading, because yes straight off the cob you can't eat it. https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2016-40/taking-second-look-%E2%80%9Cfood-grade%E2%80%9D-corn-q https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2016-40/t...
- Aperocky 5y agoTo add to that I'm sure this country eat more tortillas than actual corn...
- lumost 5y agoThis also hints that our food production is more complex than you would first expect, in a true food crunch there are likely many substitute diet options which can be made by processing inedible agriculture products or repurposing fields.
- wrycoder 5y agoAll you have to do is dry and grind it to make cornmeal. It's quite digestible, and keeps very well, like wheat. (I've never tried eating it fresh like sweet corn, may have to add that to the bucket list.) A problem is it is lacking in free niacin, which can result in pellagra, if the diet is principally corn meal. Nixtamalization corrects that[0]. Without nixtamalization, cornmeal doesn't form a dough. You can make corn bread, but not tortillas. Corn chips, e.g. Fritos, and corn bread don't use nixtamalized corn, but they are quite digestible! [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixtamalization https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixtamalization
- mrfusion 5y agoCould we use it as a diet food if it’s indigestible?
- wrycoder 5y agoYou aren't going to get thin eating corn chips. That combination of fat and high glycemic carbohydrate is one of the worst.
- hn_throwaway_99 5y agoThe corn in corn chips has undergone nixtamalization, which makes more of the nutrients available to humans. As others have commented, no. 2 yellow field corn can be ground into cornmeal, and even without nixtamalization, it is certainly digestible by humans, it's just that nixtamalization makes important nutrients like niacin available.
- wrycoder 5y agoSorry, it has not.[0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_chip https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_chip
- hn_throwaway_99 5y agoThanks for the clarification. FWIW I was interpreting "corn chip" to mean a tortilla chip, but yep, you're right.
- wrycoder 5y agoI think it's the lack of nixtamalization that makes cornbread so nice and gritty and corn chips so nice and crunchy. Try Ottofile dent, if you can find it or grow it.
- twofornone 5y agoDietary fat does not contribute to weight gain any more than any other macronutrient. This long lived myth needs to die. Similarly dietary cholesterol also likely does not contribute significantly to blood levels.
- thinkcontext 5y agoSure but something else could be planted in its place or the acreage could go to conservation and absorb more carbon.
- kristjansson 5y agoDigestibility of corn post-processing aside, who eats the animals?