Lifestyle
Corn on the Grill!
By
Aug 31, 2010 - 4:23:05 PM

(HealthNewsDigest.com) - Labor Day weekend is upon us, and for those of us spending it in our backyard grilling, let's not forget to add corn to our shopping list. Corn, a sweet grain (yes, the kernels are considered a grain, not a veggie) is high on the list of America's favorite starchy vegetables just like the potato! Sweet and available all year round, and traditionally considered a summer veggie, corn can be prepared in a variety of ways including on the grill (grilled corn is my favorite)!

Corn also like the potato, is considered fattening by many of us because of its starch content. And, since we're always debating about the high carb, low carb, no carb diets, I'd like to say that corn is a tasty carb that is hard to eat too much of it if we're eating it "on the cob", that is (just how many ears can we chew at one sitting?)! Of course it packs more calories than broccoli, but in the scheme of foods, it's well worth it. An average ear of corn (5 in. long) has about 80 calories, 3 grams of protein, 2-3 grams of fiber, with a healthy polyunsaturated 1 gram of fat. Our ear has no cholesterol packaged within its healthy complex starch content (do we know of any 5 in. long candy bars that contain only 80 calories?).

What many of us don't know about corn is that along with a small amount of Vitamin C, it also contains the phytochemical "Ferulic Acid" which becomes more bio-available to us after we cook it. Ferulic Acid like Vitamin C, acts as an antioxidant that binds to cancer causing compounds that we take in when we eat certain foods. For example, ferulic acid binds to nitrates (these bad boys are found in foods such as hot dogs, bacon etc.), and it prevents them from becoming nitrosamines (the cancer causing compound that is formed when we cook the bacon). Now I'm not suggesting a corn and bacon meal! But I am suggesting that corn like other veggies can be grilled which do not form these carcinogenic compounds, unlike animal foods.

Corn is available all year, and if we can't get our hands on fresh corn, let's not forget to try the little frozen ears. We can add corn kernels to a salsa (check out my black bean & corn salsa recipe posted now); we can mix it with other vegetables to make a medley; we can make a low fat corn chowder, low fat corn bread or muffins and I especially love cornmeal pancakes. Of course, just like the title of this tip, my favorite is "Corn on the Grill", with the whole ear grilled. I brush a drop of olive oil on the kernels, and grill up the cob!

So, let's get some fresh or frozen corn this weekend, fire up the grill and use our imaginations!

Here's to a Happy Healthy Labor Day, and Corn on the Grill!

June M Lay M.S.
JuneFit
This week, Check out my Tomato Salsa, Corn and Black Bean recipe posted now on my recipe page, part of my "Summertime Salads and the Eating is Easy" Series.
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