Introduction
Corn starch is a famous ingredient in thickening soups, desserts, sauces, and stews.
It can also be utilized in various recipes, allowing the joint holding of fruit-based pie fillings, softening particular baked goods, and adding a crispy coating to veggies, crusts, and meats.
Regardless, despite its versatility as an everyday kitchen staple, many wonder whether it’s good for you.
This article examines cornstarch’s nutritional facts and health impacts on your diet.
Corn starch
Corn starch, often maize starch or corn flour, is a form of carbohydrates removed from the endosperm of dried corn kernels. It is a powdery white essence that can be used in the kitchen, industries, and households. Since cornstarch arrives from the endosperm only, it presents no protein. Despite being created from corn, pure cornstarch is gluten-free.
Originating in New Jersey in 1844 by plant employee Thomas Kinsford, corn starch is now widely available in corn-growing nations such as the United States, Brazil, China, and India. Corn starch has a flat, floury flavour and is used as a thickener instead of for its flavour. It allows for the thickening of marinades, glazes, gravies, sauces, soups, casseroles, pies, and other sweets. Moreover, cornstarch’s clear and flavourless nature will balance tastes and make your dish look clean.
Corn starch vs Corn flour
Corn starch and corn flour come from corn but vary in nutrient profiles, tastes, and uses.
In the United States, corn flour guides to finely ground powder created from whole corn kernels. Corn starch is even a fine powder, but it is created only from the starchy portion of corn.
Due to their distinctive nutritional ranges and processing techniques, they have different culinary uses. What’s more, the terms for each differ in some parts of the world.
Corn flour results from crushing whole corn kernels into a fine powder. It is typically yellow and includes protein, fibre, vitamins, starch, and minerals in whole corn.
On the other hand, corn starch is more refined. It is made by extracting the protein and fibre of the corn kernel, leaving only the starchy centre called the endosperm. It is then processed into a white powder.
Nutrients
Corn starch is high in carbs and calories but lacks essential nutrients like protein, vitamins, fibre, and minerals.
One cup (128 grams) of corn starch includes the following nutrients:
- Calories: 488
- Carbs: 117 grams
- Protein: 0.5 grams
- Copper: 7% of the Daily Value (DV)
- Selenium: 7% of the DV
- Fiber: 1 gram
- Iron: 3% of the DV
- Manganese: 3% of the DV
Recognize that portion is much more important than what most individuals consume in a single serving.
For example, corn starch can thicken soups. You may only use 1–2 table spoons (8–16 grams), which is unlikely to contribute any essential nutrients to your diet apart from carbohydrates and calories.
Corn starch uses
Corn starch is an everyday food component, often used to thicken soups or sauces and to make corn syrup and other sugars. It is universal, easily modified, and sees many uses in industry, such as adhesives, paper products, textile manufacturing, and anti-sticking agents.
Potential Benefits of Cornstarch
1. Ensure Safe Swallowing for Individuals with Dysphagia
Individuals with dysphagia (difficulty swallowing) can improve the consistency of their beverages with cornstarch to make gulping more comfortable. Thickened beverages also aid in the prevention of aspiration and enhance the safety of swallowing. It is a thickening representative that thickens drinks for dysphagia sufferers.
Analysis indicates that texture-modified cornstarch food delivers a safe swallowing experience for someone with dysphagia. In expansion, gum-based thickeners have become more dominant in current years, although some worry about their safety, particularly in infants.
Unfortunately, thickeners, like cornstarch, can result in unpalatable beverages. These thickened liquids also enhance the feeling of fullness, which might direct to a lack of appetite.
2. Gluten-Free Substitute
Cornstarch can substitute flour in recipes for those with grain allergies, celiac illness, non-celiac gluten intolerance, or who carry an allergen diet for different reasons. Corn is naturally gluten-free because no other component is added to its making. Regardless, most packaged cornstarches are susceptible to cross-contamination because many businesses that make cornstarch produce flour.
Thus, if cornstarch and a gluten-containing grain are manufactured and processed with the exact tools, the cornstarch may not be gluten-free. It’s essential to pick your cornstarch wisely and explore for one that communicates gluten-free on the label.
3. Treats Skin Yeast Infection
An analysis indicates that cornstarch does not improve the development of yeasts on human skin. As a consequence, you can use it to minimize or supply protection against frictional injury.
Yeast like C. albicans advances on human skin when adequate moisture is present. Cornstarch is a genuine drying agency that keeps skin yeast infections at bay. It also dries out water or sweat to stop yeast growth. Mix cornstarch with tea tree oil and spread it as a soothing balm to ease irritation and itchiness.
4. Lessen Mild Nocturnal Hypoglycemia
Nocturnal hypoglycemia occurs when blood glucose levels fall below 70 mg/dl while an individual is sleeping. An investigation indicates that an uncooked cornstarch accessory, taken at bedtime, can reduce the number of hypoglycemic episodes.
It is a bedtime carbohydrate supplement to control nocturnal hypoglycemia without altering metabolic management in type 1 diabetes patients.
Corn starch gluten-free
It is a thickening agent derived entirely from corn and is often used to make marinades, sauces, gravies, soups, dressings, and some desserts.
If you follow a gluten-free diet for individual or health reasons, you may wonder whether this creation includes gluten.
Cornstarch is a good, white powder processed from the endosperm of corn. The endosperm is the nutrient-rich tissue on the inner side of the grain.
Corn is a gluten-free grain; no additional ingredients are typically required to produce cornstarch, which is why pure cornstarch contains 100% cornstarch and is naturally gluten-free.
Regardless, cornstarch may be made in a structure that simulates gluten-containing foods.
If so, it may be cross-contaminated with hints of gluten. In this case, a disclaimer on the title should note the factory status.
The best way to provide your cornstarch is gluten-free is to check the title for proper certification.
To be licensed, a food must be tested and approved to contain fewer than 20 parts per million (ppm) of gluten. It is a minimal amount that’s unlikely to trigger signs in people with gluten intolerance.
A gluten-free seal means the product has been tested alone by a third group, such as NSF International, to confirm it meets these conditions.
Also, you can quickly check to confirm that the components list includes only corn or cornstarch.
corn starch side effects
Cornstarch is secure for most people when taken mindfully and in moderation. When utilizing cornstarch slurry as a thickening representative, you usually need a 1 to 2 ratio of cornstarch to water or one spoonful of cornstarch and two table spoons of water. To be secure, stick to 8–15 grams or 1–2 table spoons at a time. Exceeding that limit will have harmful consequences on your health.
Some potential side effects of cornstarch are:
1. Allergies
Anyone who has a corn allergy must bypass cornstarch. The allergy symptoms can vary from moderate to severe. Stomach issues, a weak pulse, wheezing or trouble breathing, Vomiting, skin modifications such as hives, disorientation, swelling of the lips or tongue, or confusion are all probable symptoms. Anaphylaxis can grow in extreme conditions.
2. Increase Blood Sugar
Cornstarch is low in fibre but contains carbohydrates and a high glycemic index. Because of this, it is digested very quickly in the body. The immediate digestion of cornstarch slows down sugar’s assimilation into the bloodstream, raising blood sugar levels. Hence, type 2 diabetes patients must rigorously avoid cornstarch.
3. Affect Heart Health
Overeating cornstarch does not ensure any additional nutrient value. Rather, it only provides more advanced carbohydrates and calories. Cornstarch can raise the chance of coronary heart illness since it is a processed food from corn’s endosperm and contains refined carbohydrates. Moreover, an investigation shows that uncooked cornstarch intake leads to severe cardiomyopathy.
Storage and Cooking Tips for Cornstarch
Cornstarch tends to soak moisture, so it must be in an airtight container. Please hold it away from ambient humidity and excessive heat. Store your cornstarch in a cool, dry, dark cupboard or pantry to confirm it stays fresh for extended periods. Cornstarch does not require low temperatures, so avoid refrigerating it. In expansion, the moisture in refrigerators could be better for cornstarch.
While cooking, do not count cornstarch straight into a hot combination, as it will form lumps. Rather, mix cornstarch with some chilly liquid to make a slurry and then mix it into the hot liquid. Counting it in the slurry form will permit the even diffusion of the cornstarch molecules and control lump formation.
If the cornstarch lacks proper gelatinization, it will remove the moisture once chilled and become thin. Thus, bring the foods, including cornstarch, to a full boil before cooling. Additionally, do not freeze sauces and other mixtures thickened with cornstarch. Freezing can break down the gelatinized cornstarch matrix.
Conclusion
Corn flour is a popular thickening element made from the endosperm of corn. It is primarily added to sauces, marinades, soups, and gravies. Cornstarch is gluten-free, but it includes refined carbohydrates and no protein. Thus, it lacks beneficial nutrients like vitamins, minerals, protein, and fibre. Cornstarch is a non-food material since it has few health advantages and a poor nutrient profile.
If you are intolerant to gluten, it can be a good option. When stored properly, cornstarch will last indefinitely. It would help if you bypassed adding it directly to the liquid. Nevertheless, eating cornstarch has adverse effects as well. Individuals with type 2 diabetes and corn allergy must rigidly avoid cornstarch.
