The 200 SuperFoods That Will Save Your Life (15 page)

The word “corn” originally meant any type of grain, and in England and many other parts of the world, it still does. In those settings, the word “maize” is used for what we in the United States call “corn.” When English visitors first arrived in North America, they called the grain the Native Americans grew “Indian corn.” In the United States, this term eventually shortened to “corn,” the term in general use today. Increasingly, as people rediscover the more colorful heirloom varieties, the term “Indian corn” has been used to apply to them.

Since many of the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory phytochemicals in foods are found in their pigments (anthocyanins in blue and purple foods, lycopenes in red ones), corn's various colors provide intriguing nutritional possibilities. The common yellow corns are rich in carotenes, but red, pink, black, white, and blue corn varieties may be found to have different “secret weapons” to benefit health. Some types of corn even have different colored kernels on the same ears. Yellow sweet corn is an excellent source of lutein, a nutrient that is also found in the retina and that may play a role in reducing the risk of age-related macular degeneration.

NUTRITIONAL COMPOSITION
One-half cup of cooked corn provides 89 calories, 20.6 g carbohydrate, 2.7 g protein, 1 g fat, 2.3 g dietary fiber, 178 IU vitamin A, 5 mg vitamin C, 1.3 mg niacin, 38 mcg folic acid, 204 mg potassium, 14 mg sodium, 84 mg phosphorus, 2 mg calcium, and 26 mg magnesium.

Bringing It Home

If you ever have a chance to buy sweet corn from a farmer's own stand and take it home to cook immediately, you are in for a special experience—though it may ruin you for sweet corn acquired any other way. Although modern varieties hold their sweetness far better than they used to, the sugars in corn begin turning to starch the moment it is picked. Freshest is best. So grab it when it shows up in the farmer's market, and eat it the day you bring it home.

When buying fresh sweet corn, resist the temptation to strip the husk back and look at the kernels. I know everybody else at the produce table is doing it, but 90 percent of them don't know what they've looking for anyway. So let's set the record straight: It's the rare ear that has perfect kernels all the way up to the tip anyway, and the tiny kernels on a slightly immature ear are often the sweetest of all. You can run your thumb—gently, no need to crush the kernels!—over the closed husk to feel that the ear is full and plump. Husks should be green and fresh, cool to the touch like a green leaf. Dry husks mean dry ears. That's why the strip search is such a waste—it exposes the kernels to the drying effects of air unnecessarily.

So why do people do it? At one time, you had to check that corn borer parasites hadn't gotten to your chosen ear of corn ahead of you. Modern pest control methods and produce marketing virtually assure that you'll never see an ear that's been attacked. If you're worried about the worms, check the outside of the husk for irregular, black-edged holes that make it through all the layers of husk. They may be evidence that a bug chewed its way in.

If you can't cook and eat fresh sweet corn immediately, refrigerate it, in the husks, the minute it gets home. To steam fresh sweet corn, remove the husks and silk. (Try using a dry vegetable brush to get the silk out from between the rows.) Set the corn in a steamer rack above about an inch of boiling water. Steam for six to ten minutes—it should be both tender and crisp when you eat it. The best thing about fresh sweet corn is that it really doesn't need any butter or salt. It's delicious just the way it comes out of the steamer.

Corn is also available frozen—avoid the sauced kinds and go for the plain stuff. Fresh or frozen, the more cooking the corn gets, the more of its tasty sugar gets turned to starch. Steam frozen corn above the boiling water, not in it, for about five minutes.

Livit Recipe

1 bag (10 ounces) spinach leaves
OR
1 pound fresh spinach with stems, washed and trimmed

2 large tomatoes, cut into large chunks

2 medium zucchini squash, cut into large chunks

8 ounces frozen corn kernels

1 cup fresh green beans, ends trimmed

2 large carrots, cut into large chunks

½ cup frozen peas

2 cloves garlic, minced

Salt

Pepper

Onion powder

• Arrange the spinach, tomatoes, zucchini, corn, green beans, carrots, and peas in the basket of a steamer. If you don't have a steamer large enough, use a metal colander.

• In the bottom of a large pot that can accommodate your steamer or colander, bring an inch or two of water to a boil. When the water is boiling, set your steamer basket in the pot and cover. Steam the vegetables for 10 minutes.

• Working with a batch at a time, put steamed vegetables into a blender jar and puree each batch until it is smooth. Transfer the blended vegetables to a large saucepan. Add garlic and heat through. Season with salt, pepper, and onion powder to taste.

•
NOTE
This soup will keep in the refrigerator for up to three days. You can freeze any leftovers.

YIELD
10 servings

NUTRITION ANALYSIS PER SERVING
67 calories, 14 g carbohydrate, 4 g protein, 1 g fat, 2.8 g dietary fiber

WHEN CORN BECOMES SUGAR

High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is a sweetener made from corn through an enzymatic process that converts corn syrup's glucose to fructose. HFCS has taken some heat for its role in sweetening so many foods. Due to corn subsidies and sugar tariffs, it is a less expensive sweetener in the United States than sugar, and since consumers like processed foods sweet, it turns up in a surprising number of places.

According to the Economic Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), per capita annual American HFCS consumption has grown from zero in 1966 to a peak of nearly 64 pounds in 1999. (Consumption has been falling since that time, down to 56.2 pounds in 2007.) Because Americans have become significantly more obese over the same time period, scientists have wondered about a correlation between HFCS and obesity.

Some studies did find some suggestive data. Soft drinks sweetened with HFCS had more of some compounds thought to cause complications in persons with diabetes, such as nerve damage, and large amounts of fructose appear to increase the liver's production of triglycerides. But other research has shown
no significant differences between the health effects of HFCS and those of other sweeteners.

This may be in part because the forms of HFCS that are used in foods and beverages are actually about half fructose and half glucose, very similar to the ratio in table sugar. HFCS, it turns out, is only “high fructose” when compared to regular corn syrup, which is 100% glucose. So HFCS is unlikely to have the same effects as pure fructose and is much more likely to have effects similar to those of table sugar.

It now appears that if the increased use of HFCS had any effect on weight gain among Americans, it was probably simply that as a cheaper sweetener than sugar it may have made more high-calorie foods and beverages less expensive and more easily available. Between 1980 and 2000, Americans' consumption of sweetened soft drinks rose 40 percent, to about 16 ounces per day. Since there are 150 calories in a 12-ounce can (whether sweetened with sugar or HFCS), that's enough to raise your weight 18 pounds a year.

According to the Corn Refiners Association, an industry group based in Washington, D.C., HFCS is “nutritionally the same as table sugar and has the same number of calories, too. Studies comparing high fructose corn syrup and sucrose have found no significant differences in fasting blood glucose, insulin, leptin and ghrelin. Satiety studies of the two sweeteners have found no differences in appetite, feelings of fullness or short-term energy intakes.”

So the bottom line may be this: Limit your use of sweeteners and learn to love the sweetness of whole foods, fruits, and vegetables!

Garbanzo beans are a high-protein staple in many parts of the world, as the many names for them—including chickpea, ceci bean, and bengal gram—attest.

In addition to providing almost a third of the daily recommendation for protein, a cup of chickpeas provides about a third of the fiber, too. They are a good source of the minerals phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc, and one cup provides 84.5% of the daily value for the trace mineral manganese. Garbanzos are also a significant source of folate, vital to circulatory and heart health. Garbanzo beans contain saponins, some of which may act as antioxidants.

Because they are such a good source of soluble fiber, garbanzo beans help regulate blood sugar and lower cholesterol. The fiber and protein combination means
that garbanzos will keep you feeling full for a long time. They can be balanced with a whole grain to provide a more complete, high quality protein.

Although very few cases have been reported in North America, in countries where garbanzo beans form a significant part of the cuisine, such as India, allergies to them are relatively common, and the reactions can be severe or even life threatening.

Like many other dried legumes, garbanzos also are moderately high in oxalates, and people with a history of kidney stones or vulvar pain may wish to limit the amount of garbanzo beans they eat.

NUTRITIONAL COMPOSITION
One-half cup of cooked garbanzo beans provides 134.5 calories, 22.5 g carbohydrate, 7.3 g protein, 2.1 g fat, 6.3 g dietary fiber, 22 IU vitamin A, 1 mg vitamin C, 141 mcg folic acid, 238.5 mg potassium, 5.5 mg sodium, 138 mg phosphorus, 40 mg calcium, 2.37 mg iron, 39.5 mg magnesium, 1.25 mg zinc, and 0.84 mg manganese.

Although studies have shown that dried foods can be stored for as long as 30 years if kept in an airtight container away from heat and light, dry legumes lose moisture over time and may require a very long cooking time after just a few years in normal storage conditions. Likewise, although canned foods as old as 100 years have been tested and found edible, it is recommended to keep canned garbanzos for no more than two years. They are too delicious not to use anyway! Cooked garbanzo beans can be kept in the refrigerator for three or four days, but the same nutrient banquet that makes them so good for us is also a tempting medium for microbes, so keep them covered and reheat them thoroughly.

Livit Recipe

1 can (15 ounces) garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed (reserve liquid)

1 tablespoon tahini
OR
low-fat peanut butter
OR
yogurt

1 or 2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 fresh lemon, juice only

½ cup nonfat plain yogurt
OR
Greek-style yogurt

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

• In a food processor or blender jar, combine the beans, tahini, garlic, lemon juice, and yogurt. Blend well. Add the salt and cumin, and blend again. If you want a thinner hummus, add a little of the liquid from the chickpeas, a teaspoon at a time, until it is the consistency you want.

•
VARIATION
The hummus can also be thinned with warm water or olive oil.

YIELD
2 cups

NUTRITION ANALYSIS PER SERVING
4.7 calories, 7.7 g carbohydrate, 2.3 g protein, 0.8 g fat, 1.4 g dietary fiber

Peas are another food that is available in two forms—fresh or frozen, and dried. Fresh or frozen green peas are a great source of vitamin C and thiamine, as well as a good source of vitamin B
₆
, niacin, and folate. They are also a good source of the minerals iron, zinc, and phosphorus, and provide a reasonable amount of both protein and fiber. Green peas are also a very good source of lutein, which may help preserve eyesight and prevent the thickening of arterial walls. Combined with the B vitamins and fiber, this makes peas a good choice for keeping the heart and circulatory system healthy.

Another type of fresh pea has edible pods—snow peas and sugar snap peas. These have much the same nutrient profile as green peas, with the pods providing somewhat more vitamin C and potassium.

Dried peas become an even more important source of protein, while keeping much of their iron and folate value. A cup of dried split peas has more than 48 grams of protein and 50 grams of dietary fiber, but it will have lost its lutein and most of its vitamin C.

NUTRITIONAL COMPOSITION
One-half cup of cooked frozen peas provides 62 calories, 11.4 g carbohydrate, 4.1 g protein, 0.2 g fat, 4.4 g dietary fiber, 534 IU vitamin A, 8 mg vitamin C, 1.2 mg niacin, 47 mcg folic acid, 134 mg potassium, 70 mg sodium, 72 mg phosphorus, 19 mg calcium, 1.26 mg iron, and 23 mg magnesium.

Fresh green peas are another treat that should really be experienced straight from the garden—fresh-picked peas can be shelled straight into your mouth for a sweet treat. Get them at the farmer's market when you can, and use them within a day or two of purchase. Like corn, the sweetness in fresh peas begins turning to starch immediately after picking. Keep them in the refrigerator and shell them just before cooking. Snow peas and sugar snap peas don't need to be shelled, but the fibrous strings that run down each side of the pods should be removed. Snap the stem and use it to pull the strings off the pod.

Fresh green peas and edible-pod peas should be bright green and crisp, not rubbery or dry. Because peas have a short growing season, frozen ones are often your main choice. You can get both garden peas and edible-pod versions frozen.

Fresh or frozen, peas should be steamed for as short a time as possible—two to five minutes will do the job. Store fresh peas in the refrigerator and eat them within two days of purchase. Peas are a great—and fast—high-fiber carbohydrate to serve instead of rice, pasta, or bread.