Corn

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What corn is · vegetable or grain

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Most of the niacin (vitamin B3) in corn is bound to other molecules, and the body does not absorb it well. Cooking the corn in an alkaline solution such as lime water releases it. That old Mesoamerican practice is how people there avoided pellagra, and the later chapter on alkaline processing and pellagra is devoted to it.

The same crop means very different things for your body depending on how far it has been processed. At one end is the whole kernel with its bran and germ, which counts as a whole grain. At the other are refined cornstarch and corn syrup, with the fiber and germ gone.

Juicy sweet corn is often eaten as a vegetable and dried, milled corn is a staple grain, but both are kernels with plenty of starch. So when talking about corn, the first question is which form you are eating.

Educational content, not medical advice — consult a clinician.

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