Corn porridge: chemical composition and the possibility of introducing it into the diet, useful properties and contraindications to eating golden cereal dishes. Corn porridge recipes, winter low-calorie diet. It is worth mentioning the benefits of corn porridge for pregnant women:
- Reduces the likelihood of developing iron deficiency anemia;
- Prevents lag in the physiological formation of the fetus;
- Stimulates the elimination of toxins and substances from the body that the fetus produces during life;
- Allows you to replenish the reserve of nutrients that the mother's body transfers to the developing body;
- Prevents tooth decay.
Corn porridge for breakfast will provide energy for the whole day. The feeling of heaviness in the stomach will not remain, you can immediately engage in vigorous activity. Corn porridge is quickly absorbed, does not stimulate the accumulation of body fat. Amino acids in the composition of corn grits destroy fats entering the body, and stimulation of the intestines allows you to quickly get rid of them in a natural way.
The benefits and harms of corn porridge for losing weight depends on the method of preparation. A dish with a calorie content of less than 80 kcal - corn porridge on water - is suitable for low-calorie diets and fasting days, but dairy, and even with butter, can quickly add 2-3 extra pounds per week.
Contraindications to the use of corn porridge
With a pronounced violation of appetite and obesity, you should not introduce corn porridge with fruits and nuts into the fasting diet. The dish is so tasty that it will be difficult to stop, and such a diet will not bring benefits.
Contraindications to the use of a healthy dish are:
- Increased nervous irritability - epilepsy and periodic attacks of emotional instability;
- Ulcerative colitis and peptic ulcer with damage to the mucous membrane of the stomach, duodenum and small intestine;
- Chronic kidney disease - urolithiasis, renal failure, glomerulonephritis;
- Troubled, painful menstruation.
Contraindications are relative, if you limit the amount of corn porridge in the diet, deterioration will not occur. To exacerbate kidney disease, the body must accumulate copper, which is quite abundant in corn grits. And the excitement arises due to the increased content of vitamins of group B. 300-400 g of porridge during the week are not dangerous for the body, but it is better to refuse the menu in which it is the main dish for the diseases mentioned above.
You should not introduce corn porridge to infants as the first complementary foods. At this time, the menu is monotonous, and frequent consumption of the dish will cause an acid-base imbalance and stimulate the loss of calcium. Corn flour contains a lot of phosphorus, which binds calcium. They master this type of food after getting used to rice and buckwheat porridge.
How to cook corn porridge
Before cooking corn porridge, you should decide on the grinding of the main ingredient. Large is the most useful for introducing into the diet and for the intestines, it is on its basis that the Italians prepare polenta. Medium grinding retains all the useful substances of corn grits, it is cooked relatively quickly - 30 minutes is enough for the grits to steam. Fine grind is used when preparing corn porridge for children - 15 minutes, and the dish is ready. Corn porridge recipes:
- Simple porridge from cereals of medium grinding … A pot of water is put on fire, the cereals are washed. When the water boils, add medium-ground corn, and when it boils again, add sugar and salt. The ratio of cereals and water is 1 to 3. A piece of butter is added to the plate before serving. When cooking porridge in a slow cooker, set the mode - cereal, and then add time, 10-15 minutes.
- Traditional milk porridge … The groats are washed and boiled in water according to the already described method - a ratio of 1 to 2. When the water boils away, add milk - the same amount as there was water, cover with a lid and leave on low heat until thickened. Salt and sugar are already poured into milk, focusing on your taste. The porridge turns out to be crumbly, soft, this is exactly what is suitable for children's stomachs.
- Corn porridge with pumpkin … Ingredients: a glass of medium-sized corn grits, 750 ml of milk, butter - better ghee, pumpkin pulp - 300 g. Corn grits are fried in a hot skillet with a minimum addition of oil until a beautiful golden color and poured with boiling water. Leave for 40 minutes so that the cereal swells. Put the pumpkin cubes to stew, sprinkled with sugar - a tablespoon is enough. The porridge is boiled for about 10 minutes over low heat. Then the porridge and juicy, fully prepared pumpkin are combined, brought to a boil, added to taste, removed from the heat and wrapped in a warm blanket. After 40-50 minutes, the contents of the pan will "rebuke", the porridge can be served. A piece of butter is added to each plate.
- Oven corn porridge … Milk diluted in half with water is poured into a deep frying pan or heat-resistant saucepan. Bring to a boil over a fire, add cereal - a proportion of 1 part of cereal and 4 parts of liquid, and put the preheated container in the oven at 180 ° C. When the porridge is cooked for about half an hour, take it out, stir it, if it is very thick, add pre-boiled milk, soaked raisins or other dried fruits and put it back in the oven for another 10-15 minutes.
- Corn porridge with mushrooms … To speed up the cooking process, finely ground cereals are used. The proportions of grains and water - 1 to 3. First, mushrooms are fried in a pan, adding onions. If you chose fresh boletus, then they are pre-boiled for 10 minutes, then thrown back on a sieve. There is no need to boil champignons or oyster mushrooms. Finely chop the onion, fry until golden brown, add chopped mushrooms and fry everything. Porridge is boiled in the usual way - for fine grinding, boiling for 15 minutes is enough. The porridge is mixed with fried mushrooms right in the container, allowed to stand over low heat for 3 minutes and then wrapped in a warm blanket for another 30 minutes.
So that the taste of corn porridge does not disappoint, the proportions of cereal and liquid should be 1 to 2, 5, 1 to 3, dishes - with a thick bottom and walls. Stir at least once every 5 minutes, put a piece of butter in each plate before serving.
The cooled porridge looks unappetizing - it turns into a homogeneous viscous mass. No need to throw out the leftovers - the preheated dish will become crumbly again. If you don't feel like messing around, reheating, you can cut into pieces and fry, getting delicious cakes.
Diet on corn porridge
The value of the corn diet is provided by the special properties of the product: the breakdown of the fatty layer at the cellular level. The composition of nutrients in grains is rich, therefore, the depletion of the body and disruption of normal life does not occur.
Diet rules:
- The maximum daily rate of corn in any form is 800 g;
- Food intake - no more than 4 times a day;
- For the first 2 days, each serving of the main product is 200 g;
- Last days - 100 g each;
- Animal protein is completely excluded from the diet;
- It is allowed to consume fermented milk products once a day;
- Be sure to drink 2 liters of clean water a day;
- Tea and coffee - if you really want to, but no sweeteners;
- Allowed non-starchy vegetables and fruits: carrots, cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes, kiwi, oranges, apples.
The recipe for low-calorie porridge, which will be the main dish of a diet designed for 4 days: a glass of medium-ground corn grits is poured in a deep cast-iron pan with boiling water - 1 to 3, salt to taste and a handful of cranberries are added, all this is put in an oven preheated to 180-190 ° C and brought to readiness, focusing on the appearance of a golden crust. This usually takes 40 minutes.
1 day menu:
- Breakfast - porridge with lemon juice and grated carrots;
- Lunch - an addition to the main course, stewed cabbage with onions;
- Afternoon snack - any fruit of your choice;
- Dinner is a main course with herbs and bell peppers.
On day 2, only the type of "side dish" for porridge changes. For 3-4 days, instead of dressing for dinner and lunch, use low-fat sour cream, yogurt or kefir. As already mentioned, the amount of the main product is halved.
The corn porridge diet can be considered the "winter" version of the summer corn unloading diet. In summer, the main ingredient for weight loss is steamed milk cobs.
Interesting facts about corn porridge
The first corn breeders were the ancestors of the Mexicans. They learned to sow the cobs in 2000 BC.
For the Indians of South America, corn was a familiar product, but the first European to taste corn porridge was Christopher Columbus. The conquistadors brought corn to Europe, but it gained popularity only after a drought in the 18th century - before that it was grown for decorative purposes.
In the Middle Ages, it was believed that the golden color of the cobs is given by the gold that the grain lifts from the soil. During chemical studies, no gold was found in the composition of grains.
Banosh differs from classic corn porridge only in the way it is cooked - it is boiled over an open fire. Dressed with cream.
In Ukraine, about 2-3 varieties of edible corn are grown, from which porridge can be cooked. There are currently more than 100 food varieties in Mexico, and about 45 of them are suitable for making cereals.
In the middle of the twentieth century, Nikita Khrushchev, General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, made an attempt to expand the area of growing raw materials for corn porridge, but the initiative was not crowned with success. From fodder varieties, which turned into elite varieties because of the cool climate, "you can't cook porridge."
Watch a video about corn grits:
You should not store corn grits for a long time - worms quickly start in it, it absorbs moisture from the air. At home, the product is poured into a glass jar, tightly closed, and removed to a dark place. It is better to purchase coarse groats - they are stored longer. And before cooking, the porridge is ground to a medium consistency using a blender, food processor or coffee grinder.
