Alton Brown did an episode of "Good Eats" on the food network a couple years ago and said they were the same but more often one color or coarseness was ascribed to grits/mush and another to polenta. I just always thought while they were "Good Eats" that it wasn't that healthy....lots of carbs, not much fiber.

It all depends on how it is made and whether the hull and germ of the corn kernal are left in during the grinding process. If the hull and germ are left in, then it will have more fiber and maybe a little more protein. One indication is how it is ground. Steel ground generally means the hull and germ have been removed; stone ground usually means that at least some of the hull and germ are left in. Also, looking at the ingredients might help. If it says "whole kernal corn" then it should have the hull and germ.

Or you can just look at the nutritional label to see if has any fiber and how much protein it has (even with the hull and germ removed, it should still have some protein). Bob's Red Mill Course Ground Cornmeal has 5g of fiber per serving, which 1g more fiber than oatmeal (although oatmeal has 3g more protein per serving--you win some, you lose some ). But the Golden Pheasant polenta I've been buying has less than 1g of fiber per serving (I need to find a place around here that carries Bob's Red Mill products).

Barbara, my local grocery (which is Fred Meyer, owned by Kroger) carries lots of Bob's products in the "health food" section. I usually buy the steel-cut oats there, as well as ground flax (which is in the refrigerated section) but I notice the other day the wide variety of stuff they have. Not bad for a small town grocery....

I love to make arugula pesto or basil or sundried tomato pesto (sometimes all 3) and eat that over polenta. A good puttanesca sauce is good on it too.