It may surprise you to
know that corn qualifies as a medicinal plant.
It is also a nutritious
food plant which is a good source of carbohydrates, B vitamins (pantothenic
acid – B5, niacin – B3, riboflavin and thiamine – B1), folic acid, vitamin A
and C, potassium, Chromium, selenium, zinc, phosphorous, magnesium and many
others.
Corn oil is very healthy
and good for the heart.
Scientifically known as
Zea mays, corn is the basis of a lot of dishes used as main meals, but it is
also a popular snack in Nigeria.
The dishes made from corn
are used in all meals of the day.
A popular staple use of
corn is the corn pap.
Corn pap: Some people
(especially from the Western world), refer to it as a corn gruel.
Locally, it is called Ogi,
or Akamu.
It is mostly eaten as
breakfast and it is healthy and nutritious.
It beats the Western
staple “cornflakes” by far.
In a wrestle for points as
to which is superior, corn pap will win the battle any day.
These points include;
-Corn pap is 100% natural.
It has no additives or artificial content whatsoever.
-It has no sodium and contains potassium (lowers B.P). This means that it helps
to maintain a normal blood pressure effortlessly, which makes it a perfect food
for people who are hypertensive and those who do not want to develop high blood
pressure.
-Pap has a high water
content and helps to supply the daily requirement of water. It is as a result
of this that it is used by nursing mothers to help the easy flow of breast milk
(lactation) after delivery.
-The texture of corn pap makes it very easy to digest and a perfect food for
convalescencing individuals who are recovering from illness. The texture also
makes it an ideal breakfast food because it exerts very little stress on the
digestive system when instant energy is required after overnight sleep.
- The carbohydrate in pap
delivers. You may laugh at this, but it is a perfect food for athletes like
footballers during half time when they need to refresh, but cannot take
anything heavy which might hamper their movement in the field. It will also
help to replace some of the fluid that is lost from profuse sweating.
-corn has an adequate
protein score i.e. the protein in it is more than the 8% required in food. The
problem with pap is the volume. This is why our ancestors (in their wisdom),
combine corn pap with a protein-rich accompaniment e.g. Akara (bean cake),
Moin-moin (bean pudding).
-Corn pap does not go through the long manfacturing process that cornflakes
does. As a result, it retains more nutrients.
This is especially so with
the cornmeal which is not sifted i.e. the corn is blended to smoothness and
used like that for pap. Corn pap that is prepared this way is high in fibre
because of the outer coat covering the grain. It is healthy helps to increase
the amount of fibre in our diet.
-The fermented water from
soaked milled corn is very nutritious and has a lot of use traditionally. In
Yoruba language, it is called omidun which literarily translates to “sweet
water”.
Cornfakes: It is a pity that cornflakes have become a fashionable breakfast
meal, especially amongst children (not mine!).
This is a typical case of
using your money to buy what is inferior because cornflakes is expensive (they
have to pay for all the machines and the staff).
Maybe also the snob appeal
of being modern. To my mind, that is ridiculous.
The Japanese and Chinese
have earned the respect of the rest of the World for their local dishes and
traditional cuisine because they are proud of their heritage and pass the
knowledge of their nutritional benefits from generation to generation.
People will respect you
for what is genuinely yours and not when you are trying to imitate them!
-cornflakes is a highly
processed food and therefore NOT natural. It contains preservatives so that it
can stay on the shelf in stores and supermarkets for months.
-It is high in sodium and literarily all the potassium in it has been processed
out. This means that cornflakes is not good for people who are trying to reduce
sodium intake and by so doing control blood presure.
-Some cornflakes varieties
are very high in sugar. This is very bad for adults and children alike, Short
and longterm health problems could include dental caries (rotten teeth),
obesity, insulin resistance, etc.
-The nutrients in cornflakes are artificial minerals and vitamins which are
added during the manufacture of the flakes (this is after the natural ones have
been lost during processing). It is very difficult to add trace elements like
selenium and zinc. The former is a powerful antioxidant and the later is very
important in some metabolic processes in the body.
Cornflakes is eaten with milk
and sugar unlike corn pap that is accompanied with bean pudding or cake, Sugar
is optional and rarely used by the older generation.
Honey is used by the
health conscious.
There is no sweet water
with cornflakes as this would have long gone down the factory drains!!
And for guys who did not
know, pap helps to “thicken” sperm, so it is good to be used on regular basis
by men with watery sperm and it works best if you add #Soyaplus to the pap.
Hmmn,this is very nice. I m an ardent user of Ogi tooo.
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