Corn on the Cob
 

Just a quick question.

Is corn on the cob (grilled) okay to have with my dinner every now and then? I LOVE corn on the cob and I don't find it necessary to put butter OR salt on it. I eat it straight up the way it is.

The reason I am wondering this is because I googled it and I got so MANY mixed reviews. Some say "Oh yea sure, just go easy on the butter and salt" but others say "NOOOO! It's too starchy!!"

So ladies, what do you think?

Corn can fit into a healthy balanced eating plan. IF you slather it with butter and salt (which you don't) it may not be the best choice for you. Without the butter, it is perfectly fine if your eating plan includes starchy carbs (you may want to choose something else if you are following a low-starchy carb diet). IMHO. I have it AND potatoes, too. So there!!! :lol:

Kira

I adore corn on the cob, no butter or salt. I love it grilled, nuked, boiled ... doesn't matter to me, it's one of my favorites. I eat it when I want to, and just plan for it in my daily allotment of calories/carbs/etc.

I eat corn on the cob often it fits into MY diet and its in season. It is sweet enough on its own. Enjoy!

I consider corn a whole grain. I nearly always have some sort of whole grain for dinner, sometimes it's corn. I love grilled corn on the cob!

I am in the camp of no food is off limits and that certainly would include whole foods like corn on the cob! Yum!

Peg

Oh yay! You ladies just made my day!

It is delicious with chili and lime.

Yum! I love that corn on the cob is associated with celebrations--like cookouts, and Thanksgiving--but is all-natural and low-cal!

Yummmm sounds great. Do you just squeeze a wedge of lime over the top and sprinkle with chili powder?

I enjoy corn, and I eat it in the summer a few times a month. Because I have no salt issues and no blood pressure issues, I give it a quick spray of olive oil and a good sprinkle of salt and pepper...but the addition of lime and chili sound GREAT, with almost 0 additional calories. :D

YMMV, but to me, it's not summer without corn on the cob cooked in a fire. :)

Well it's already been said but if it fits into your eating plan it's a great vegetable and has vitamins in it too so I would definitely have some (no butter or a few sprays of butter spray for 5 calories)
yummy

South Beach and other low carb plans often warn against corn, but while many of the high GI carbs do trigger hunger spikes - for me, I've never had that problem with corn on the cob (frozen and canned corn yes). I think the reason is that frozen and canned corn is often picked very mature, and I like immature sweet corn (shoepeg) the best.

The closer to the farm you buy your sweet corn, the more likely it is to be picked at it's best flavor (early). If you're buying it from a farmers' market or directly from the farm, for example. In the grocery stores, you'll often buy it in a much more mature state, because people who don't know much about sweet corn tend to prefer to see very plump, neat rows of kernels. It looks pretty, but it's a sign that the kernels are starting to get tough and the complex carbohydrates are breaking down into simpler sugars and starches (the GI/GL is increasing).

As with potatoes, the younger you buy them, the lower GI/GL they will have (and will therefore be more filling).

I like sweet corn naked or with a bit of butter. A little butter can actually improve the GL. I follow a calorie controlled exchange plan, so I often do use my exchanges on sweet corn in the summer, and even a bit of butter, but I find that a tsp (one fat exchange) generally is plenty for one ear of corn (which unless it's oversized, is one starch/grain serving).

I do have to consider GI/GL, because if I eat too much sugar/starch (even if they're from whole foods), I do get much hungrier, and then have a hard time staying on plan. So I add butter if I'm going to eat sweet corn AS my meal (which I often do in the summer 2 ears of corn and 2 tsp of butter - a satisfying meal for 300 to 400 calories), but if I eat sweet corn with a protein meal I usually eat the corn naked.

My favorite way to eat sweet corn is to shuck it, rinse it, and wrap it in a paper towel and then rinse it again (to soak the paper towel) then I microwave it for about 90 seconds to 2 minutes for each ear of corn.