Thoughts on Corn, and the Great “Food v. Fuel” Debate.

There are many foods that are better than corn for providing nutrition to humans and they come with less of the negative effects of eating corn or cooking with corn oil. We prefer to do something positively awesome with corn.

So, what's wrong with eating corn or cooking with corn oil?

Corn is one of the most contaminated crops grown on our planet in terms of toxic mould. Corn is full of a mould toxin called Fusarium that grows in the roots of the corn and then spreads throughout the plant. Even if the corn kernels don’t appear to be mouldy, Fusarium is there. This toxic mould causes conditions in humans such as chronic inflammation, arthritis and brain fog.  The major toxigenic fungi in corn are species of Aspergillus, Fusarium, and Penicillium. Members of each genus can produce diverse types of toxic compounds, but the most important mycotoxins in corn are aflatoxins, fumonisins, trichothecenes (especially deoxynivalenol), and zearalenone.

Even worse, corn contains phytic acid that literally sucks the minerals out of your bones. Phytic acid is a chelating agent, something that has a very strong affinity for minerals. It binds to them? It sticks to the minerals and then your kidneys have to excrete them.

Phytic acid is known as a food inhibitor which chelates micronutrients and prevents them from being bioavailable for monogastric animals, including humans, because they lack the enzyme phytase in their digestive tract. Phytic acid, also known as phytates, is one of the more infamous anti-nutrients, blocking the absorption of nutrient heavy-hitters like magnesium, zinc, calcium and iron, amongst others, so you ge precious little nutrition from the food you eat that is made out of corn or the food you cook using corn oil.

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Equally disturbing, corn is full of a prolamin-rich protein called zein that puts holes in your gut causing IBS, Crohn’s, colitis and leaky gut syndrome.

Possibly worst of all - cooking with corn oil.  Corn oil is high in inflammatory omega-6 fats. It is highly refined and corn oil produces harmful antinutrient acrylamide when heated. Acrylamide is a highly reactive compound that has been linked to problems with nerve, hormone, and muscle function. Acrylamide has been classified as a potential carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

Oh, almost forgot to say, corn is full glyphosate. You can read more about Glyphosate in our earlier blog post, "Another Reason You Should Really Avoid Grains In Your Diet".

Corn as fuel is considered Net Zero by the IPCC.

Corn is, however, ideal for making ethanol, one of the net zero liquid biofuels. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (“IPCC”) considers CO₂ emissions from the combustion of liquid biofuels to be net zero because plants cultivated for the production of the source biomasses, as they grow, absorb CO₂ from the atmosphere (photosynthesis) in an amount substantially equivalent to that released through their combustion.

While it is argued that significant amounts of water, fertilisers, pesticides and energy, mostly of fossil origin, are consumed to cultivate the crops required to make ethanol (corn), our farming practices use low impact methods that reduce water requirement and eliminate the need for pesticides, weed killers and chemical fertilisers. It only takes a small amount of effort to correct these issues that are put forward as the “unsolvable” problem with liquid biofuels.

By 2030, the Net Zero scenario predicts three times more biofuel consumption than in 2021, or 10% of total transport energy consumption. Consumption will be absorbed by road transport, with a small share for aviation and shipping. Looking ahead to 2050, things change dramatically. The lack of ambition of the commitments announced by governments for the electrification of road transport (APS scenario) would lead to a 50% growth in total biofuel consumption vs. 2030, entirely absorbed by this sector.

Corn as food for human consumption is demonstrably and provably a bad idea - it really is unhealthy. Corn for use as a net zero transport fuel is good for our planet and the humans that live on it.