Although it may seem that corn is a good food to add to your diet, there are some good reasons why it would not work well in diet plans.
A summer barbeque seems incomplete without a piece of corn on the cob and a movie show, whether at home or in a theater, seems to be more enjoyable with some buttered pop corn, but there are reasons to think twice about either choice.
More and more people are raising the question...
Should corn be included in diet plans?
Unfortunately, as much as 60% of corn in the United States is genetically modified. In fact, the numbers may be higher because it is hard to get solid statistics on such a controversial topic. This practice of genetic modification of corn began as a way to allow farmers to grow a bigger crop and make more money because the crops could now fight off insects that were resistant to insecticides.
Sweet corn, now also called Bt-corn, has been altered to produce an insect-killing poison.
Now although some of these may sound like a good thing (especially if you're a farmer!), we need to consider how GMO foods respond in our bodies and what kind of long term effects they can have on our health.
The plain fact is that we do not know if any GMO foods are safe. Everyone is an involuntary guinea pig. In April 2007, a researcher from Rowett Research Institute in Aberdeen, UK, announced that rats had intestinal problems after eating genetically engineered potatoes.
In humans, too, intestinal problems are not uncommon. Doctors frequently treat people with irritable bowel syndrome and other digestive issues. It's not too far fetched to consider processed foods and GMO foods play a part in these problems.
Ok, so what if you're able to get non-GMO corn? (Which it is difficult to know which brands and items are GMO and which are not) where does corn fit into diet plans?
Weight Loss And Carbohydrates
First, your body reads corn as a grain, NOT a vegetable so if you are to include it into your meals, this will be the grain (carbohydrate) for your meal. So having corn and brown rice would be having 2 grains in one meal. This is not necessarily off limits and not "bad" in any way, just consider if you are someone who is sensitive to grains, you will lose weight faster by greatly reducing the number of grains you eat each day. You may want to take 2 - 3 weeks and follow the "no grain" meal plans in the Diet Solution manual and see if that helps break through any weight loss plateaus and/or helps your digestion.
What role does microwave popcorn play in a healthy diet?
Microwave popcorn is not healthy. There are two reasons for this. It has preservatives and the bag is coated with chemicals used in non-stick cookware that rubs on the kernels.
How about air popped popcorn?
This is the best choice, but it should only be eaten occasionally. Since pop corn is a grain, it is a carbohydrate, and having too many carbohydrates will not assist in weight loss.
In conclusion, then, it's fine to include corn into your diet plans provided you take some precautions. Firstly, only get the non-GMO variety. Secondly, consider corn a grain rather than a vegetable and allocate it to the carbohydrate portion of your meals.
A summer barbeque seems incomplete without a piece of corn on the cob and a movie show, whether at home or in a theater, seems to be more enjoyable with some buttered pop corn, but there are reasons to think twice about either choice.
More and more people are raising the question...
Should corn be included in diet plans?
Unfortunately, as much as 60% of corn in the United States is genetically modified. In fact, the numbers may be higher because it is hard to get solid statistics on such a controversial topic. This practice of genetic modification of corn began as a way to allow farmers to grow a bigger crop and make more money because the crops could now fight off insects that were resistant to insecticides.
Sweet corn, now also called Bt-corn, has been altered to produce an insect-killing poison.
Now although some of these may sound like a good thing (especially if you're a farmer!), we need to consider how GMO foods respond in our bodies and what kind of long term effects they can have on our health.
The plain fact is that we do not know if any GMO foods are safe. Everyone is an involuntary guinea pig. In April 2007, a researcher from Rowett Research Institute in Aberdeen, UK, announced that rats had intestinal problems after eating genetically engineered potatoes.
In humans, too, intestinal problems are not uncommon. Doctors frequently treat people with irritable bowel syndrome and other digestive issues. It's not too far fetched to consider processed foods and GMO foods play a part in these problems.
Ok, so what if you're able to get non-GMO corn? (Which it is difficult to know which brands and items are GMO and which are not) where does corn fit into diet plans?
Weight Loss And Carbohydrates
The role of carbohydrates in your diet plans
First, your body reads corn as a grain, NOT a vegetable so if you are to include it into your meals, this will be the grain (carbohydrate) for your meal. So having corn and brown rice would be having 2 grains in one meal. This is not necessarily off limits and not "bad" in any way, just consider if you are someone who is sensitive to grains, you will lose weight faster by greatly reducing the number of grains you eat each day. You may want to take 2 - 3 weeks and follow the "no grain" meal plans in the Diet Solution manual and see if that helps break through any weight loss plateaus and/or helps your digestion.
What role does microwave popcorn play in a healthy diet?
Microwave popcorn is not healthy. There are two reasons for this. It has preservatives and the bag is coated with chemicals used in non-stick cookware that rubs on the kernels.
How about air popped popcorn?
This is the best choice, but it should only be eaten occasionally. Since pop corn is a grain, it is a carbohydrate, and having too many carbohydrates will not assist in weight loss.
In conclusion, then, it's fine to include corn into your diet plans provided you take some precautions. Firstly, only get the non-GMO variety. Secondly, consider corn a grain rather than a vegetable and allocate it to the carbohydrate portion of your meals.
About the Author:
Saleem Rana recommends you learn more about diet from the free information offered by renowned nutritionist Isabela De Los Rios
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