Corn is NOT a vegetable!

[fluffybear2]

For all my childhood and most of my adult life, I thought of corn as a vegetable. I was taught to eat all my vegetables as a child and that many times meant CORN. Sometime during a biology class I learned that corn was a grain, but I had it so entrenched in my mind that it was a vegetable I continued until recently to think of corn as a vegetable. While some vegetables are allowed to be in low carb diets, most grains are not. Our pre-historic ancestors ate little if any grains. In fact before agriculture, they only resorted to grains if they couldn't find anything else to eat because they offered so few nutrients. Grains are grasses and even corn is a type of grass, albeit it has been bred into a a very large grain or grass. It seeds itself like others grasses. It has a head with seeds (kernels in the case of corn) that fall to the ground and can begin new corn plants if left to dry on the stalk. So remember that corn is NOT a vegetable and although modern corn is high in sugar content, it doesn't have near the nutritional punch as real vegetables, much less meat, poultry and fish and is also high in calories.

Corn Is Not a Vegetable | Mark's Daily Apple

[foxieroxie]

Thanks for that info. That explains why my blood sugar goes up after eating corn.

[HezzieLee]

Peas are also considered a starch, am I right? (at least nurtitionally.)

[sprinklesmom]

Good post. It's good information for those who are new to LCing and for those experienced who may not know.

I try to explain this to my sister, who is trying to LC and doing a pretty good job, but eats corn as her side vegetable. She doesn't get it. She does have my old DANDR but hasn't read through it yet.

[toofatfornow]

lima beans are not a vegetable

[junkfoodmonkey]

Purple is not a fruit (whatever Homer Simpson says.)

Didya know, sugar cane is also a type of grass?

[BrianSCohen]

Where did you get this information from. Of course corn is a vegetable. Next, you will probably tell me that potatoes are not vegetables. If I couldn't have corn and potatoes, I probably wouldn't eat any vegetables

[Tooter]

I have never thought of Corn or potatoes as a Vegetable.

When I was growing up, Mom had a rule...One starch per meal. A "Starch" was Bread, Pasta, Corn, or potatoes. It was very Wise advice...But that stopped in the mid 70's. That's When Soda, poptarts, going out to eat, snack food etc...Came into the house.

[Tooter]

Originally Posted by BrianSCohen

Where did you get this information from. Of course corn is a vegetable. Next, you will probably tell me that potatoes are not vegetables. If I couldn't have corn and potatoes, I probably wouldn't eat any vegetables

We posted at almost the same time.

[Randy]

Are you aware of all the "fruits" you can eat on a low carb diet?

Fruits we eat

[jezzie]

PLANTanswers Vegetable Information

List of culinary vegetables - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[polarbear]

Vegetable or grain sweet corn is delicious. I only eat fruits and veggies that are in season and come from no more than 100 miles away. So no corn until mid-summer. Then I will have it maybe once a week. I LOVE IT!

[pocahontas]

Yes, corn is a grain. Interesting though that it does not give me any of the negative symptoms (ie, carb coma, bloating, weight gain, etc.) that wheat, rice or potatoes do. Last time I was on Atkins and near goal I endulged in some fresh corn picked from my friends garden and I was fine. Weird! I dont touch it now because I have a long way to go still.

[Goldenrod]

This used to really BUG ME...

When I was deployed overseas, the "vegetable" selections were often a choice between corn, peas, and potatoes!

[un4givun2]

Everybody, don't worry over something like vegetables or grains. There is one simple rule to follow for LC.....If Bread or Alcohol can be made from it DON'T EAT IT!

That's all you need to know. Technically, anything with cellulose can be fermented into alcohol, but you can't make Jack Daniels from peas. You can't make vodka from strawberries either so you should get the picture by now.

[BrianSCohen]

Originally Posted by un4givun2

Everybody, don't worry over something like vegetables or grains. There is one simple rule to follow for LC.....If Bread or Alcohol can be made from it DON'T EAT IT!

That's all you need to know. Technically, anything with cellulose can be fermented into alcohol, but you can't make Jack Daniels from peas. You can't make vodka from strawberries either so you should get the picture by now.

I like your rule about bread and alcohol. It is really the starch and sugars that are fermented, not the cellulose. Actually, only ruminents can even digest cellulose, it just runs right through us humans. You can make alcohol from fruits (they contain sugars) and any veggies that contain starches. To make alcohol from starch, you convert the starches to sugars using roasting or some other process. Then yeast feasts on the sugar converting it to alcohol. Don't ask me how I know this.

[KajunDC]

And tomatoes are actually fruits.

[fluffybear2]

Originally Posted by KajunDC

And tomatoes are actually fruits.

That is very true, but that is not the jist of my post. The jist of it, as was lost on so many was that grains should really not be part of a truly low carb diet while vegetables and fruits should be in moderation.

[KajunDC]

Originally Posted by fluffybear2

That is very true, but that is not the jist of my post. The jist of it, as was lost on so many was that grains should really not be part of a truly low carb diet while vegetables and fruits should be in moderation.

Grains have been consumed since biblical times and well before. Grains are not "evil" and can be part of a healthy low carb diet. Now some have allergies to, usually, gluten, etc. part of the reason being the introduction of cereals into an infant's diet before they are ready and partly due to our modernized processing of the grains we use today.

I do agree that corn is not healthy in this day and age... for one main reason. It has been so genetically modified and that modification is so widespread that real corn is not available any longer. Same issue with canola oil. While when unbastardized it is an extrememly healthy oil, the genetically modified versions are so intrenched that seperating it from the supply is no longer possible.

[BrianSCohen]

Originally Posted by KajunDC

Grains have been consumed since biblical times and well before. Grains are not "evil" and can be part of a healthy low carb diet. Now some have allergies to, usually, gluten, etc. part of the reason being the introduction of cereals into an infant's diet before they are ready and partly due to our modernized processing of the grains we use today.

I do agree that corn is not healthy in this day and age... for one main reason. It has been so genetically modified and that modification is so widespread that real corn is not available any longer. Same issue with canola oil. While when unbastardized it is an extrememly healthy oil, the genetically modified versions are so intrenched that seperating it from the supply is no longer possible.

You are correct, grains have been consumed for probably 10,000 years, but it is also appears that when humans started consuming large amounts of grain during the emergence of domestic agriculture that it proved to be unhealthy. I think Cordain has some interesting things to say about this http://www.thepaleodiet.com/articles...ych%202005.pdf. While I don't think grains are evil, I do think that following a diet getting 90% of your macronutrients from grain based carbs is a disaster. My concerns over corn are similar to grains, just that it is bad news to get major proporitions of human nutrition from corn. A few kernels here and there, fine.

[KajunDC]

Originally Posted by BrianSCohen

You are correct, grains have been consumed for probably 10,000 years, but it is also appears that when humans started consuming large amounts of grain during the emergence of domestic agriculture that it proved to be unhealthy. I think Cordain has some interesting things to say about this http://www.thepaleodiet.com/articles...ych%202005.pdf. While I don't think grains are evil, I do think that following a diet getting 90% of your macronutrients from grain based carbs is a disaster. My concerns over corn are similar to grains, just that it is bad news to get major proporitions of human nutrition from corn. A few kernels here and there, fine.

Personally I think it is crazy to get 80-90% of your diet from any one specific food-type. Moderation, balance, yin/yang... whatever you want to call it, is the ultimate key IMO. Variety is the spice of life, and the health of it.

[fluffybear2]

Originally Posted by KajunDC

Personally I think it is crazy to get 80-90% of your diet from any one specific food-type. Moderation, balance, yin/yang... whatever you want to call it, is the ultimate key IMO. Variety is the spice of life, and the health of it.

I totally agree with you about variety, but I don't see how the FDA's idea of eating 8-11 servings of grains a day is balanced. Grains cause blood sugar imbalance and corn is added to EVERYTHING now. Our beef, pigs and poultry are fed way too much corn. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is added to just about everything packaged product now and corn oil is still being used by many companies as well as by consumers. We have become a society addicted to corn. Corn has little nutritional value compared to other grains.

[BrianSCohen]

Originally Posted by KajunDC

Personally I think it is crazy to get 80-90% of your diet from any one specific food-type. Moderation, balance, yin/yang... whatever you want to call it, is the ultimate key IMO. Variety is the spice of life, and the health of it.

I agree. I just wish I could convince my daughter that being a "pastatarian" is not being a healthy "vegetarian"

[un4givun2]

In Men's Health, about 5 years ago, they published an article on the "World's Healthiest Men". Turns out that Australian men are the healthiest men in the world. They have the lowest incidence of heart disease and cancer. The only thing they could contribute this to was Australian men eat 100-300% more red meat than anyone else in the world. They eat beef 3 meals a day and often eat nothing but beef.

On the opposite side of the coin. Romania has the worlds most unhealthy men. Strangely enough, they would be model U.S. citizens if the food pyramid was the grading system. Their daily dietary intake matches the food pyramid exactly. They eat more grains and vegetables than anyone else in the world. GO FIGURE!

Are these anomalies? Is it a coincidence? Are Australians genetically superior to the rest of the world? NOT!

Quit listening to the FDA, the doctors, and all the Big Pharmaceuticals. They are all bought and paid for. The "BIG WIGS" have nothing to gain by you and me staying healthy and living longer. That means Social Security will run out sooner and more taxes will be raised. It means no big campaign funds for those in congress that were bought out by all these special interest groups (Merc and other producers of prescription drugs).

[Locarb4me]

Originally Posted by toofatfornow

lima beans are not a vegetable

Nor are they edible