Sorry if this is a little gross, but it’s a legitimate question I have. I’ll try to keep it as inoffensive as possible.
Why do I see corn kernels in my feces? Specifically, why does it seem that my body digests nearly everything else to the point it’s unrecognizable, but corn kernels seem to pass through intact?
I’m talking about American maize, yellow corn. After eating corn on the cob I see kernels in my feces the next day. No, I have never retrieved and examined my own (or anyone else’s) feces, so I don’t know if the corn kernels are really in the same condition (texture, “firmness”) as when I ate them. My family had horses when I was growing up. We fed them a grain mixture which included corn. I would see corn, apparently undigested, in the manure (and no, I’ve never picked through a horse pile either).
So why does it appear that corn is not digested in a fashion similar to all the other food I eat? I don’t see anything else coming out intact. Are the “insides” of the kernel digested but the “skin” isn’t (which would explain why they’re visible afterward)?
Related question… if corn is not being fully digested by my body, is it somehow less nutritionally beneficial? What benefit is my body getting from something it eliminates practically in the same condition as when it was eaten? If a serving of corn contains 100% (by weight) of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin X but the corn itself is only 50% digested, I’m only getting 1/2 the total amount of vitamin X that’s in the corn. See what I mean about nutritional benefit?
You’ve answered your own question. The husk of the kernel isn’t digestable as are many types of plant fiber. A good diet should include lots of such fiber to keep the mail moving. You may “lose” some of the nutritional value if you don’t chew and get the digestable part out of the husk.
Now go wash your hands and try to think of something less scatalogical for your next post.
Didn’t your mother tell you to chew your food 25 (50? 100? 237?) times before you swallow? It shouldn’t be in the same condition that it was when you put it in your mouth. The husk will have only the benefit of roughage, already mentioned, but inside the husk is the nutritious stuff. With any luck, between your teeth ripping it open and the acids in your stomach turning the kernels’ insides to mush to be leeched out in the small intestine, you should be getting all the nutrients listed for corn. (If you swallow the kernels whole, there will be some percentage of the nutrients inside the kernel that will not be extracted.)
I do not know whether corn was eaten off the cob before the arrival of the Europeans, but if it was, it was done as a treat. As a food staple, corn/maize was generally ground into meal, just as Europeans ground wheat.
OK, after reading the title of the post, did anyone else start singing “Corn in My Feces” to the tune of “Tears on My Pillow” inside their head? Or was it just me?
I’ve had people tell me that they notice the same digestive phenomenon with other foods, including peanuts and sesame seeds. I’ve never really looked myself.
In “Full Metal Jacket” Mathew Modine’s character says something to the effect of “and maybe you should just eat the peanuts out of my sh*t”. So obviously Hollywood is well aware of this phenomenon.
I’ve got corn in my feces and I don’t know what to do with 'em.
Corn in my feces, corn in my feces.
I’VE GOT CORN IN MY FECES AND I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH 'EM!
Corn in my feces, corn in my feces.
