The Story of Corn

Corn as we know it today would not exist if it weren’t for the humans that cultivated and developed it. It is a human invention, a plant that does not exist naturally in the wild. It can only survive if planted and protected by humans.

Scientists believe people living in central Mexico developed corn at least 7000 years ago. It was started from a wild grass called teosinte. Teosinte looked very different from our corn today. The kernels were small and were not placed close together like kernels on the husked ear of modern corn. Also known as maize Indians throughout North and South America, eventually depended upon this crop for much of their food.

From Mexico maize spread north into the Southwestern United States and south down the coast to Peru. About 1000 years ago, as Indian people migrated north to the eastern woodlands of present day North America, they brought corn with them.

When Europeans like Columbus made contact with people living in North and South America, corn was a major part of the diet of most native people. When Columbus “discovered” America, he also discovered corn. But up to this time, people living in Europe did not know about corn.

The first Thanksgiving was held in 1621. While sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie were not on the menu, Indian corn certainly would have been.

Eating Whole Grains Can Prevent Type 2 Diabetes

A large study indicates that people who eat whole grains of any kind every day are much less likely to develop type 2 diabetes. The researchers urge people not to mistakenly avoid whole grains if they intend to follow low-carb diets.

Scientists at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden, investigated the health-related data of tens of thousands of people over many years to understand how eating whole grains influences a person’s risk of type 2 diabetes.

Previous studies, they say, looked primarily at the consumption of one type of grain, namely wheat, and suggested that it may have a protective role against diabetes.

However, the team wanted to see whether different kinds of whole grains would also have similar effects.

“Most studies similar to ours have previously been conducted in the [United States], where people mainly get their whole grain from wheat,” explains senior researcher Prof. Rikard Landberg.

We wanted to see if there was a difference between different cereals. One might expect there would be, because they contain different types of dietary fiber and bioactive substances, which have been shown to influence risk factors for type 2 diabetes.”

However, as the researchers report in a study paper now published in The Journal of Nutrition, all commonly eaten whole grains appear to have the same positive protective effect.

All whole grains are good for you

The scientists worked with data collected from 55,465 participants via the Danish Diet, Cancer, and Health cohort study. All the participants were between 50 and 65 years old and free of diabetes at baseline, and they were followed up for a median period of 15 years.

When they joined the study, they filled in forms in which they gave details about their dietary habits, which included how many whole grains — such as wheat, rye, and oats — they ate every day.

The participants also indicated what kinds of whole-grain products they consumed, such as rye and other whole-grain breads, oatmeal porridge, and muesli.

To determine how many of these participants later developed diabetes, the researchers also used data from Denmark’s national diabetes register. A total of 7,417 participants received a type 2 diabetes diagnosis during the follow-up period.

Prof. Landberg and team revealed that eating any type of whole grain on a daily basis appeared to keep type 2 diabetes at bay.

Still, those who reported consuming the most whole grain each day — at least 50 grams every day, or about one portion of oatmeal porridge and one slice of whole-grain bread — had the lowest risk of developing diabetes.

The less whole grain that a participant ate each day, the more their risk of diabetes increased, the researchers explain.

Among those who ate the most whole grains each day, the risk of diabetes was 22 percent lower for women and 34 percent lower for men, compared with the individuals who reported eating the least amount of whole grains.

“It is unusual to be able to investigate such a large range when it comes to how much whole grain people eat,” says Prof. Landberg.

“If you divided American participants into four groups, the group that ate the most whole grain would be the same level as the group that ate the least whole grain in Denmark. In Europe, Scandinavia eats the most, Spain and Italy the least,” he adds.

‘The research results are clear’

The researchers also explain that their results strengthen existing dietary advice for the prevention of diabetes, which suggests switching from products made from white flour to whole-grain foods.

They also note that making other dietary changes — such as avoiding red meat — can help people keep diabetes at bay.

“Our results are in line with dietary advice, which recommends switching out foods containing white flour for whole grains,” says Prof. Landberg.

“You get extra health benefits — white flour has some negative effects on health, while whole grain has several positive effects, beyond protection against type 2 diabetes,” he adds.

Additionally, the authors warn that some people may wrongly avoid eating whole grains altogether because they want to follow a low-carb diet. However, they explain, not all foods that are high in carbohydrates are also harmful.

“Carbohydrates are a very varied group of foodstuffs, including sugar, starch, and fiber,” notes Prof. Landberg, adding, “We should discuss these more individually, and not throw them together in one group, because they have totally different effects on our physiology and health.”

“When it comes to whole grains,” he concludes, “the research results are clear: among the many studies which have been made, in varied groups of people around the world, there hasn’t been a single study which has shown negative health effects.”

What is sustainable agriculture?

The goal of sustainable agriculture is to meet society’s food and textile needs in the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Practitioners of sustainable agriculture seek to integrate three main objectives into their work: a healthy environment, economic profitability, and social and economic equity. Every person involved in the food system—growers, food processors, distributors, retailers, consumers, and waste managers—can play a role in ensuring a sustainable agricultural system.

There are many practices commonly used by people working in sustainable agriculture and sustainable food systems. Growers may use methods to promote soil health, minimize water use, and lower pollution levels on the farm. Consumers and retailers concerned with sustainability can look for “values-based” foods that are grown using methods promoting farmworker wellbeing, that are environmentally friendly, or that strengthen the local economy. And researchers in sustainable agriculture often cross disciplinary lines with their work: combining biology, economics, engineering, chemistry, community development, and many others. However, sustainable agriculture is more than a collection of practices. It is also process of negotiation: a push and pull between the sometimes competing interests of an individual farmer or of people in a community as they work to solve complex problems about how we grow our food and fiber.

What Are Whole Grains?

The History Of Whole Grains People have been eating whole grains for thousands of years. In Guns, Germs, and Steel, author Jared Diamond identifies eight so-called “founder crops” as being among the earliest to be cultivated by humankind. Included in this group are barley, flax, and einkorn and emmer wheat (the latter being one ancestor of durum wheat, common or bread wheat, and kamut, a lesser-known type of wheat). These founder crops may have been grown as far back as 9000 B.C.E. in the “Fertile Crescent” of Middle East.* Other grains have been cultivated for nearly as many millennia. Rice may have been grown in what is now Thailand as far back as 4000 B.C.E. And corn probably predates that, having been grown perhaps as early as 6000 B.C.E. in Central and South America. Millet, teff, and spelt are further examples of cereal grasses that have been providing nourishment to our species for countless generations. In fact, whole grains have been a dietary staple for the bulk of the world’s populations for millennia. Most grains must be processed to be edible, but very early “processing” must have been minimal indeed. Probably, grains were first eaten raw, but it must have discovered early on that they were easier and more pleasant to consume, and could provide more variety in the diet, when cooked or baked. This required milling to remove indigestible outer hulls and grind the grain, especially where flour was desired. An additional bonus was that grain and flour, if kept dry and out of the reach of pests, could be stored, so either or both would yield a food source for winter or in times of scarcity. Grain also provided an essential component for certain alcoholic beverages, notably ale or beer, valuable sources of carbohydrates and calories for some societies and another means of preserving the grain. It’s worth mentioning that larger-scale civilizations did not begin to flourish until people could grow and store enough food in one area to survive—a change which put an end to the previously nomadic lifestyle and allowed for greater population growth. Whole grains must have been an essential part of this early alteration of human behavior.

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