# What's with corn and the digestive system? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 30, 2000, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-corn-and-the-digestive-system/17514 "2000-04-30T02:55:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cosmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/54ee81/32.png) [@Cosmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cosmin)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2000, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-corn-and-the-digestive-system/17514/1 "2000-04-30T02:55:35Z")
Why does corn come out looking the same way it does when it comes in? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2000, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-corn-and-the-digestive-system/17514/2 "2000-04-30T03:15:41Z")
Corn’s adaptation to help its seed to spread is to be tough enough to survive the cracking and grinding that most birds do to seeds when they eat. The seed’s outer husk is very tough (and is generally not digestible). Most human societies who used corn as a dietary staple (whether Aztecs or Iroquois), first milled down the corn, using the stuff inside the kernel as meal. When Europeans began eating it, they were already using wheat, oats, and similar grains as their staple and they tended to use corn (maize) as an ornamental or side dish rather than a staple. Since they did not depend on the corn for their nutrition, they did not have to destroy the hull. Thus, we eat the corn for its taste and filling properties, not its nutrition, and we pass the hull (generally including the nutrients inside it) all the way through. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2000, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-corn-and-the-digestive-system/17514/3 "2000-04-30T05:01:46Z")
That was a crappy reply, Tom 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DaveRaver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daveraver/32/1078_2.png) [@DaveRaver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveRaver)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2001, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-corn-and-the-digestive-system/17514/4 "2001-02-04T02:47:06Z")
I read in an interview that the band Korn got their name from this very phenomenon! ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2001, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-corn-and-the-digestive-system/17514/5 "2001-02-04T03:15:28Z")
I have to say that the insides are gone after the corn has been digested. What remains is the indigestible outer part. ---
**Author:** ![Bluish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cc9497/32.png) [@Bluish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bluish)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2001, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-corn-and-the-digestive-system/17514/6 "2001-02-04T03:38:10Z")
Another opinion: if you chew your corn, COSMIN, the insides will be digested, and the fragmented outer part will be almost invisible in the background (if yours is colored colored like mine). You can consider chewing corn as rough milling. ---
**Author:** ![Boris\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@Boris\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boris_B)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2001, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-corn-and-the-digestive-system/17514/7 "2001-02-04T04:08:31Z")
Does this mean corn is a good source of dietary fiber? I’m just surprised because I’ve never heard of it mentioned among good fiber sources (like celery). ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2001, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-corn-and-the-digestive-system/17514/8 "2001-02-04T04:25:23Z")
Sorry biggirl you are wrong. A kernel of corn can survive the three stomachs of a cow and still sprout. Not many of them survive that trip but enough to make me impressed with their toughness. Cooking will kill the germ so cooked corn will not sprout. ---
**Author:** ![beergeek279](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@beergeek279](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beergeek279)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2001, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-corn-and-the-digestive-system/17514/9 "2001-02-04T07:40:59Z")
[Mr. Hankey reference] He may be nutty, he may be corny, He may be brown or greenish-brown, But if you eat fiber on Christmas Eve, He might come to your town [/Mr. Hankey reference] I suppose this is a slight hijack, but why are nuts the other thing that can’t be digested??? ---
**Author:** ![Surgoshan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Surgoshan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surgoshan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2001, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-corn-and-the-digestive-system/17514/10 "2001-02-04T08:31:40Z")
For much the same reason as corn. They’re meant to pass through the digestive system of various mammals so they can be spread. Whether it be cow, squirrel or homo erectus. ---
**Author:** ![funneefarmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@funneefarmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funneefarmer)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2001, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-corn-and-the-digestive-system/17514/11 "2001-02-04T10:11:41Z")
Pericarp, sometimes referred to as bran, is the outer layer (husk). ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2001, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-corn-and-the-digestive-system/17514/12 "2001-02-04T18:41:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Boris B \* > \*\*Does this mean corn is a good source of dietary fiber? I’m just surprised because I’ve never heard of it mentioned among good fiber sources (like celery). \*\* Sure. Corn is a good source of fiber. Insoluble fiber. From [http://www.nal.usda.gov](http://www.nal.usda.gov) Complex carbohydrates, such as starches, are in breads, cereals, pasta, rice, dry beans and peas, and other vegetables, such as potatoes and corn. Dietary fiber – a part of plant foods – is in whole-grain breads and cereals, dry beans and peas, vegetables, and fruits. It is best to eat a variety of these fiber-rich foods because they differ in the kinds of fiber they contain. ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2001, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-corn-and-the-digestive-system/17514/13 "2001-02-04T18:52:24Z")
- - - Yes, but if you eat some gravel (lke birds do), _then_ can you digest corn? Will you be able to digest anything better? Will the rocks stay in your stomach, or move on? - MC ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2001, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-corn-and-the-digestive-system/17514/14 "2001-02-04T19:12:30Z")
Gravel won’t do much for humans, I expect. Birds have their gizzard, a muscular pouch in the throat, to hold the gravel and the seeds they eat, and use it to do their own milling. Which brings up a question: Do _all_ birds have a gizzard? Many eat meat or soft fruits that don’t need to be broken up. Is a gizzard just a late adaptation for seed-eaters? ---
**Author:** ![Bluish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cc9497/32.png) [@Bluish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bluish)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2001, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-corn-and-the-digestive-system/17514/15 "2001-02-04T19:14:10Z")
No, MC, gravel is for the birds. Their stomachs are very muscular (look at the chicken’s giblet), they act as mills and gravel plays the role of millstones, as their stomach contracts. **Will the rocks stay in your stomach, or move on?** My **guess** would be that they would move, but you can do the experiment on yourself.