Hello Professor,
My husband Jason tells me that eating purple corn will make me live longer! Is he trying to pull the golden
wool over my eyes? – Medea
Hello, Medea! Don’t be too quick to get angry with him – he’s actually not kidding, much! Allow me to
explain why it’s true, so you and Jason can become purple pros like me!
Corn is actually quite nutritious in general, which is why it is such a popular staple item. Corn is good
for a variety of reasons – providing excellent fiber content, averaging as much as 4.6 grams per cup!
Corn also provides many B vitamins and approximately 5-6 grams of protein content per cup, which
together can be potentially helpful in maintaining proper blood sugar levels for individuals with either
type 1 or type 2 diabetes.
But included among those benefits is a mysterious group of phytonutrients known as antioxidants,
a team of molecular superheroes which have been noted for their ability to inhibit oxidation in other
molecules. Stopping oxidation reduces production of the free radicals that can be damaging to cells
by accelerating the aging processes and increasing chances of cancerous cells forming. Blue and
purple corn varieties are unique for containing particularly effective varieties of antioxidants called
“anthocyannins,” which are unique to these colors of corn. And it’s not just purple corn that this applies
to – many other vegetables that are purple in hue also contain these anthocyannin antioxidants, such as eggplants, blueberries,
purple carrots, purple potatoes, and blackberries. It helps make it easy to take advantage of those benefits since these are all
delicious foods, too! – The Professor