High in Fiber - First, corn is a starchy vegetable similar to potatoes and peas. The good part is it does contain a substantial amount of fiber 4 gr per 1 cup which is about 1 ear of corn equal to the fiber in broccoli. Fiber is one of your greatest allies for getting healthy and losing fat. Fiber stabilizes your blood sugar and speeds up the transit of food through your digestive track reducing bloating and other digestive problems. Fiber also clears away cholesterol and toxins from the body.
Full of Antioxidants - Second, like most other yellow and green vegetables, corn is a good source of lutein and zeaxanthin, compounds that help keep your eyes healthy as you age. Corn is actually a unique phytonutrient-rich food that provides us with well-documented antioxidant benefits. The most phytonutrients come from yellow corn because of the carotenoids. Corn is also high in vitamin C, Vitamin B3 and manganese.
High In Carbohydrates - But corn is slightly high in natural sugars with a glycemic index of 55 similar to brown rice and sweet potatoes. I therefore recommend eating corn with some good fat to slow down the absorption of those sugars. The recipe below combines it with avocado which does the trick.
Contains Protein - Corn contains 5 gr of protein per cup similar to broccoli or ¼ cup of cashews. It is not a complete protein as with many vegetable proteins but is still of good quality. Click for Chart of Protein in Vegetarian Food
Corn is the most widely grown grain crop in the Americas, but most of the corn is grown to make ethanol for fuel or high fructose corn syrup. You will be happy to know the corn you buy in the farmers market is not the same as the corn grown for the corn syrup or ethanol. In fact, of the more than 94 million acres of corn grown in the U.S. in 2007, less than 1 percent of it was sweet corn, the kind that we eat. So support your local farmers and get it fresh from the field right now. Buy organic if you can.