Guess corn sales have slowed now that everyone's paranoid about gmo foods...
I think Dr. Oz was talking about that on one of his recent shows and I was happy about it because i eat popcorn a couple of times a week.
And he mentioned that dried fruit supposedly has more antioxidants than fresh fruit due to the lack of liquid.
The first thing I thought was; pick 2 apricots and put them side by side. Now dry one and put it back along side the other apricot. How does it now have more antioxidants? LOL Doesn't make any sense. How did the extra antioxidants get in there merely by drying it?
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We just started using our air popcorn maker. We use one small spray of olive oil in the kernels so when its air popped toppings can stick to it and we aren't getting excess oil. We use chili powder for topping.
We are thinking about switching out olive oil for rice bran oil. I keep reading how much better rice bran oil is over olive oil when cooking. But without heat olive oil is better, so its better on salads.
My mother has been using rice bran oil on popcorn and she says it tastes better.
Recently, I have not been using oil during the pop cycle at all. I take a lunch paper bag, put in about 1/4 cup popcorn, fold the top down about twice, put in microwave for about 2 1/2 minutes. To top it, I spray olive oil on it.
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- Jim "The most powerful force ever known on this planet is human cooperation � a force for construction and destruction.� (Jonathan Haidt)
Recently, I have not been using oil during the pop cycle at all. I take a lunch paper bag, put in about 1/4 cup popcorn, fold the top down about twice, put in microwave for about 2 1/2 minutes. To top it, I spray olive oil on it.
It's not really known to be a high antioxidant food. It's actually acidic in the body. The article says "it is closer to a yes (for being healthy) than previously thought." What does closer mean?
Also the article goes on to say, "In fact, the hull, where the polyphenols lie, is comprised of insoluble fiber, which tends to pass right through the body. Without conducting experiments using human subjects, it�s impossible to know how much of the antioxidant we absorb on its way out." Unless you're taking a digestive enzyme with enough cellulase the hull will not break down and it'll just go through your system.
My guess is with Cookie that corn sales must be down. Time for a new study to get the public to purchase their product.
I'm not saying don't eat popcorn. Just don't buy that it's loaded with lots of antioxidants when in fact your body has to buffer the acid remains this food produces your body.
It's not really known to be a high antioxidant food.
"The new study found that the amount of polyphenols found in popcorn was up to 300 mg a serving compared to 114 mg for a serving of sweet corn and 160 mg for all fruits per serving. In addition, one serving of popcorn would provide 13 percent of an average intake of polyphenols a day per person in the U.S. Fruits provide 255 mg per day of polyphenols and vegetables provide 218 mg per day to the average U.S. diet."
Corn Disease Information Note
Steve Koenning, Plant Pathology Extension Specialist
Gary Payne, Professor of Plant Pathology
Toxic metabolic by-products of fungi, known as mycotoxins, have received considerable attention during the past several years. Mycotoxins are known to cause serious health problems in animals including equine leukoencephalomalacia in horses and porcine edema in swine. Reduced weight gain, capillary fragility, reduced fertility, suppressed disease resistance, and even death have been attributed to mycotoxins. No animal is known to be resistant, but in general, older animals are more tolerant than younger animals. Some mycotoxins, fumonisin, aflatoxin, and ochratoxin in particular; have also been associated with human health problems. Certain mycotoxins are suspected carcinogens.
The mycotoxins reported to occur in corn are listed in table 1. The most commonly found mycotoxins in North Carolina-grown corn are aflatoxin, fumonsin, and deoxynivalenol (DON). Probably the most familiar of these is aflatoxin. The detection of aflatoxin in corn can result in a reduced price for grain or even rejection. A mycotoxin of more recent concern is fumonisin. Some corn containing greater than 15 parts per million (ppm) fumonisin was rejected in North Carolina in 1998. Contamination of corn with mycotoxins is greatly influenced by weather.
Aflatoxin in Corn
The fungus Aspergillus flavus(Fig. 1) produces the mycotoxin known as aflatoxin on a number of crops including corn, peanut, and cotton. Typically, the fungus has a yellow green appearance when it is growing on corn kernels. The fungus is quite common in nature, but its population increases during hot dry weather.
Aflatoxin contamination is greater in corn that has been produced under stress conditions. Thus, drought, heat, insect, nematode, and fertilizer stress are all conducive to high levels of aflatoxins. Seed companies are in the process of developing corn hybrids with some level of resistance to the fungus or that have less tendency to accumulate the toxin. Although these hybrids will tend to have lower levels of aflatoxin than others grown under the same conditions, complete resistance is unlikely.
Management practices such as irrigation, good insect control and timely fertilization may reduce stress to the corn plant and thus lower aflatoxin levels.
Aflatoxin levels are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) at 20 ppb (parts per billion) in food and feed. Aflatoxin can also appear in milk of lactating animals fed aflatoxin-contaminated feed. The allowable limit in milk is 0.5 ppb.
Fumonisins in Corn
Fumonisins are a group of mycotoxins produced by fungi in the genus Fusarium. The fungus Fusarium moniliforme (Fusarium verticillioides) is a common pathogen of corn, so common in fact that it is found wherever corn is grown. Fusarium moniliforme usually appears white to salmon colored, although it may not be visible on the corn kernel.
This fungus often produces a symptom on the corn kernels referred to as "starburst," or a white streaking of the kernel (Fig. 2). The visual absence of mold, however, does not mean that kernels do not contain the toxin. Intact corn kernels may contain the fungus and the toxin but show no sign of the fungal contamination. In severe cases, the corn shucks will become "glued" to the kernels in the cob.
Fumonisins have been implicated as a possible cause of human esophageal cancer, equine leukoencephalomalacia (ELEM), a serious disease in horses, and porcine edema – a disease in swine. Poultry and cattle are not especially susceptible to fumonisins. However, caution should be used in feeding moldy corn to these animals as other mycotoxins may also be present in rotted or moldy corn. Fumonisins were found at levels above 5 ppm in 23.5 % and 31.0% of suspect grain samples in North Carolina in 1992 and 1993 respectively. Contamination with fumonisins was more severe in 1998, and corn with fumonisin levels in excess of 15 ppm was rejected by some buyers.
Currently, no levels for fumonisins have been set by the FDA, but they will likely be less than 5 ppm for human consumption and horses. Buyers of corn used in feed may accept grain with higher levels of fumonisins than those recommended, depending on what portion of the feed ration is corn. Also, corn and corn products shipped to Europe may be regulated at a lower level in the future.
Currently there are no corn hybrids resistant to the fungus F. moniliforme, which is the principle producer of fumonisins. Some hybrids may be more susceptible to Fusarium than other hybrids, but no hybrid is known to be completely resistant. Dry weather early in the season, followed by wet weather during silking of the corn plant, and insect infestation increase the amount of fungal infection of corn kernels.
Typically, infection by F. moniliforme will not greatly affect the yield of corn. However, if conditions favorable for fungal growth continue up to harvest, fumonisin levels in harvested corn may exceed recommended levels for certain animals. Factors that influence fumonisin production in corn are not well understood at this time. Certainly, insects provide an avenue of infection for both Aspergillus and Fusarium. Hybrids genetically engineered to resist insects may have lower levels of fumonisins. Also, research is under way in the corn industry to engineer plants with an enzyme to degrade fumonisins.
Deoxynivalenol
Deoxynivalenol (DON or vomitoxin) is a mycotoxin produced by certain species of Fusarium, the most important of which is F. graminearum (Gibberella zeae). This fungus causes Gibberella ear (also known as red ear rot) or stalk rot on corn and head scab in wheat. The fungus itself appears reddish to pinkish. The fungus may cause a reddish dicoloration of the cob and kernels.
The mycotoxin deoxynivalenol causes reduced weight gain and suppresses animal feeding, especially in swine. At high concentrations (greater than 10 ppm) vomiting and total feed refusal may occur. FDA has recomended that total feed levels of DON not exceed 5 ppm for cattle and chicken, and 1 ppm for swine. DON levels for human food should be less than 1 ppm.
Red ear rot caused by F. graminearum is favored by warm wet weather after silking. Disease tends to be worse when corn is grown without rotation or after wheat as this pathogen also infects wheat. It may be worse when corn is grown in reduced tillage situations.
Management
Both A. flavus and F. moniliforme are widely distributed in nature and are favored by high temperature. Temperatures ranging from 80 to 100 degrees F and a relative humidity of 85 percent (18 to 20 percent moisture in the grain) are optimum for fungal growth and toxin production. Growth of these fungi does not occur below 12 to 13 percent moisture in the grain. In order to minimize the level of mycotoxins in corn, the following practices should be followed:
Use recommended crop production practices. Plant early. Irrigate to reduce drought stress. Minimize insect damage. Harvest early. Avoid kernel damage during harvest. Dry and store corn properly - 13 % or less moisture. Keep storage facilities clean. Dispose of corn screenings - do not feed to animals.
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Let Food Be Your Medicine And Medicine Be Your Food.(Hippocrates)
I agree to stay away from gmo , which you can easily order online popcorn that not gmo and organic. I live in Florida and regardless of where you get corn here it tastes horrible. I used to live in PA and the corn there just tastes amazing. So I really never eat corn.
I'm not sure if its because the popular documentary food inc , monsato, or wh y, but I hear more about corn or soy than anything else. Yet we consume more canola than both. Then there are other products like rice and tomatoes that are commonly on the gmo list, but they are never brought up I'm not sure why .
I honestly find it strange when some people avoid corn because of gmo, yet cook with canola and consume a lot of soy. Maybe its just my ignorance on how corn s modified that is worse compared to other foods.
I honestly find it strange when some people avoid corn because of gmo, yet cook with canola and consume a lot of soy.
These are all bad because they are all GMO, however, the biggest issue with corn is that it is contaminated with fungus.
Organic corn can also be contaminated since this occurs mostly in storage, especially in wet/humid conditions.
I would suggest cooking with virgin organic coconut oil, while using olive oil on salads and low-temp cooking.
I would also suggest avoiding all grains, for several reasons, and that includes corn.
The following article was written by a friend who is a veterinarian. It shows some different viewpoints concerning corn that is used as a filler in cheap dog food. In fact, it is usually the main ingredient.
Is the Pet Food Industry in the Business of Population Control?
By Dogtor J
Does that question seem like a totally absurd notion? Is it possible that the manufacturers of our pet�s food are so out of touch with the animal�s nutritional requirements that they make their formulary blunders by accident ? After studying the effects of gluten, dairy, soy, and corn on the health of people and their pets for the past seven years and reading what researchers have known for years, I have come to the conclusion that there is something seriously wrong in Mudville.
After this incredible pet food recall story, any pet owner with a functional brain has to be questioning why we feed dogs and cats the way we do. Notice that I did not include veterinarians in that last sentence. I am afraid that we have been too thoroughly programmed to look at this situation with the eyes of a child. And once again, I cannot throw stones here but simply make a point. When asked what to feed, I used to parrot back what we have all been led to believe: �Just stick with a good, name brand of pet food and stay away from the generic brands, especially those that spell it �Dog Fude�. Haha. And, do not add table food to your pet�s commercial diets because that will simply unbalance the formula that the pet food manufacturers have worked sooo hard to get right over their years and years of research and manufacturing.� Oh, how I hang my head in shame now that I know differently.
I have this discussion with countless clients over the past 28 years of practice. It has only been the last seven that I have been awake to the reality of just how unscientifically these foods are formulated and produced. All one has to do is look at the ingredient list and compare it to what we know these pets would consume in the wild. It helps to know the history of what man has done to the grains and other ingredients that make them even more unnatural and harmful.
All of the grains are man-made, man-raised crops that we have cultivated for human consumption starting very early in our agricultural history. People love to point out that man ate wheat and drank milk in Biblical times so these things must be good and healthy. Even well-intentioned, Scripture-oriented books make this statement. But they leave out two very key points: The wheat we consume now is no longer �God�s wheat� and the milk we drink is no longer �God�s milk�.
The original wheat was �pure in its generations� (no hybrids) and contained 4-5% gluten. This was changed forever by our Northern Germanic ancestors in the mid 400′s A.D. when they blended two other plants to �God�s wheat�, creating a hybrid and one that contained much more gluten, so much more that they were stricken with �coeliac disease� (gluten intolerance). This is historical fact.
It is that new wheat, which we term �common wheat�, that became the ancestor of today�s wheat, which now contains as much as 55% gluten, a far cry from the 5% found in original wheat. Plus, our wheat is no longer pure in its generations, as it has become a mutant blend of multiple plants that man has continued to manipulate, especially in the recent past.
The parallel to the wheat story is �the tale of two milks�. The milk they drank in Biblical days was goat�s milk. Remember: They were tending their flocks by night, not their herds. Cattle (oxen) were relegated to doing work and providing meat. It was not until the middle of the second millennium that man went into the dairy industry utilizing cow�s milk. Goat milk, the universal foster milk, has 0-2% alpha s-1casein, the most troublesome of the cow milk proteins and gluten�s evil twin.
Like gluten, this dairy glycoprotein that has been tied to numerous immune-mediated disorders. Cow milk has a whopping 80-86% casein (of which 39% is the alpha s-1 variety)- the protein that Borden uses to make Elmer�s glue. Lactose is not the culprit in milk. It is the various proteins cow milk contains- including alpha s-1 casein, alpha lactalbumin and beta lactalbumin- that do the harm to cells and stimulate the (appropriate) immune responses.
I will leave it up to the reader to decide who started the lactose myth. Just understand that goat milk has plenty of lactose and all mammals can be successfully raised on goat milk- provided they have not already developed a serious intolerance to the myriad of proteins in cow�s milk to which there can be cross-reactions with goat�s milk.
Corn is a very interesting story. Did you know that corn is the only grain that is not self-propagating? Wheat, for example, produces seeds that will fall and produce more wheat. Corn must be planted by man in order to grow and if left alone, it would cease to exist. It was cultivated in Mesoamerica in the millennia B.C. and went through many changes during its domestication. In other words, man had his hands in the making of corn right from the start.
The interesting thing is that wherever this new grain was introduced, pellagra (niacin deficiency) broke out. Many texts will say that it is because the niacin was �locked� inside the corn making this essential vitamin unavailable for absorption, which appears to be true. But, the common characteristic of the �big 4″- gluten (wheat, barley, rye), casein, soy and corn- is their ability to damage the villi of the small intestine (duodenum, jejunum, and ileum) where our most essential nutrients including niacin are absorbed. So, was the pellagra due to the unavailable niacin in the corn or due to the fact that the corn blocked the absorption of niacin from the remainder of their diet? Just how much of this new corn were they eating? Was there no other source of dietary niacin?
The fact is that corn proteins can block the absorption of calcium, iron, iodine, B complex (including niacin), C, and numerous trace minerals (e.g. zinc, boron, magnesium, manganese) in the same fashion that gluten, casein, and soy can in susceptible individuals.
Soy was the Asian�s mistake. After examining the serious effects of soy on human health, I can say that with all confidence. Wheat was the Northern Germanic�s blunder, cow milk consumption was the Anglo-Saxon�s error, corn was the Mesoamerican�s wrongful creation, and soy was the Asian�s serious mistake. They should have never removed soy from the ground, where it was used in crop rotation as a way to fix nitrogen in the soil.
I�m certain that one fine day, someone asked why this crop could not be eaten. They quickly learned that it had to be processed to be consumed safely, including soaking and fermentation, the latter being the key. If one were to read the rigorous process that soy must undergo to render it safe to consume, I dare say that the majority would ask �What is the point???�. But even after that process is completed, the finished product contains more potentially harmful proteins and estrogens than all others.
It is fully capable of inducing villous atrophy of the small intestine and known to be a powerful factor in the development of thyroid disease and estrogen-related disorders. Soy milk has 16-22, 000 times more phytoestrogens than mother�s milk. The effect on the developing child is both potentially devastating and well-documented. All of the �big 4″ are used to make industrial adhesives, but soy is used to make super glue. Yes, they put your car together with soy-based super glues.
Now, I must ask the reader- Is a little ol� veterinarian from Alabama really the only one who understands all of this stuff or do the research and development departments of the pet and human food giants know most of what I just wrote? Are the people responsible for making the decisions concerning your pet�s nutrition blissfully ignorant about how unnatural these man-made, man-raised crops are for your dog and cat or are they making bad decisions in the face of what they know to be true and good? To be honest,
I sometimes wrestle with which is actually worse�ignorance or greed. I always decide that greed is worse because, after all, it is the �root of all evil�. But the ignorance in the face of available knowledge is really frightening. It implies that all of the other undesirable human traits are in play- laziness, apathy, deception, self-centeredness, etc. At least the greedy are motivated. If they could be motivated for good, we would really have something. So, we can easily see it is the combination of these two- ignorance and greed- that reduce the world to something very short of ideal.
After all is said and done, we are left with questions like �Why do we feed carnivores all of these grains?�; �Why are cats fed dry foods when they are so unlike what they would eat in nature?�; and �Why are the average ages of dogs only 12 years and cats only 13 years in the USA when they have been known to live 30 and 40 years respectively?�
�Don�t the pet food makers know better than to make these diets with such harmful ingredients?� �Are they ignorant or greedy�or something else?� I�ve even been asked by thinking clients �Could these food companies be in cahoots with veterinarians so that the pets stay sick and the vets who are pushing these foods make more money?� Or another- �Are the pet food makers and the pharmaceutical companies working hand-in-hand to keep each other in business?� Others, including veterinarians, realize that the pet food companies (and pharmaceutical companies) are often responsible for the continuing education of vets and ask how that figures into the grand scheme of things.
These are ALL great questions.
Related questions that are often asked of me are �Why don�t more people know what you just told me?� and �Why doesn�t my doctor talk to me this way?� Of course, I can write for hours offering answers to these and many other questions. But I would like to leave them with the reader to think about a while.
But, how will the public find the answers to these questions and our initial query found in the title of this piece? Quite simply, they will find them on the Internet and by talking with others. Thank God (literally) for the Internet. Sure, the World Wide Web is a mixed blessing. It is a home for the spider and trap for an unsuspecting victim. But the vast majority of what I have written on my ever-expanding Website can be confirmed by doing creative Internet searches. I am constantly amazed at what can be found in such a short period of time using a simple search. All we need is an idea and it can be turned into an afternoon, a week, or a lifelong quest.
My mission has been to discover truth and make it available to those who need it. Certainly, I do believe that I have had Divine guidance in much of my journey, something Else that is available to anyone who desires It. But the first step is to wake up and see the startling fact that there is something seriously wrong in Mudville.
This awakening can be quite unsettling but well-worth the process. We must put our minds in gear and apply our common sense. When we do this, the first thing that happens is the flooding of our thoughts with questions.
That is a good thing. Then come the answers. They are out there. But, the deeper we go into the rabbit hole, the harder the questions� and, frequently, the more disturbing the answers. It can be a painful process but one that is absolutely necessary. A solid spiritual base is an invaluable asset because the ultimate answer to why things have gone so wrong lies in what is in the hearts of men.
Where are the hearts of those who produce the foods we and our pets consume?
Dogtor J
popcorn has more antioxidants than a lot of fruits and veggies
Use recommended crop production practices. 
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