Corn is called the oldest cereal and possibly the oldest cultivated plant. Corn is an extremely valuable food, second only to wheat in terms of marketing.
The corn is composed of: Water, Carbohydrates, Sugar, Dietary Fiber, Protein, Fat, Calories, Potassium, Phosphorus, Sodium, Calcium, Iron, Zinc, Vitamin C, Vitamin PP, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B6, Vitamin E, Vitamin A and Vitamin B2.
Comparison of the nutrient content in fresh and processed corn kernels suggests that the greatest loss of vitamins and some minerals occurs during product canning. Then, the presence of potassium, phosphorus and magnesium is almost halved.
Sodium in corn is a mineral whose content undergoes the most significant change according to the type of preparation. If during cooking, sodium almost disappears from the composition, when preserved, its concentration increases more than 10 times.
In general, the analysis of the table allows us to conclude that if fresh corn is not available for some reason, then the frozen option will be the most complete replacement, in which the proportion of vitamins and minerals not only does not decrease, but even It increases in some aspects.
The main healing function is performed by stigmas and corn oil, which have beneficial effects on various vital organs and systems of the body:
In the circulatory system, substances extracted from stigmas increase the number of platelets, normalize the blood clotting process and vitamin E in the oil reduces the concentration of cholesterol after damage to the inner wall of the vessel.
The antioxidant properties and the ability to protect liver cells allow the use of stigmas in the treatment of toxic hepatitis and the complications of diabetes.
The choleretic effect of corn oil and stigmas, as well as an increase in bile secretion with a decrease in its viscosity and density, helps fight a number of diseases of the gallbladder, the liver.
Corn hairs in water infusions of various concentrations are used to dissolve carbonate stones.
Some of the healing properties of raw corn are improved after processing, and some, on the contrary, are lost. So, for example, popcorn (if not "discredited" by adding a large amount of sugar and salt) increases the amount of plant antioxidants (polyphenols) that prevent oxidation and cell aging. And corn flakes, having passed the processing and preparation stages, lose almost all the phenolic acids that can fight cancerous tumors.
For medical purposes, they use raw materials known as corn hair obtained from corn stalks. Stigmas contain fat-soluble hydrophobic vitamins, which participate in protein synthesis and provide a normal level of blood clotting. They also contain ascorbic acid that guarantees the functioning of connective and bone tissue, and fatty oil, some steroid alcohols, glycosides, traces of essential oil.
Corn hair has a choleretic and diuretic effect, its extract in liquid form is prescribed for insufficient bile secretion, as well as for infectious inflammation of the bile ducts (cholangitis), inflammation of the gallbladder (cholecystitis), formation of carbonate stones there and liver diseases (hepatitis). A little less frequent, with inflammation of the prostate gland, the genitourinary tract and also as a means to delay bleeding.
Unrefined fatty oil, which contains up to 57% in the seeds of some varieties of corn, is prescribed as an auxiliary and prophylactic for obesity, disorders of lipid and protein metabolism in atherosclerotic formations, as well as for altered absorption of glucose and diabetes risk.