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lemachet t1_iucpnju wrote

Reply to comment by EspritFort in ELI5: what is the point of chewing food thoroughly if your stomach will digest everything anyway? by Dacadey

Oh wait,.does this explain corn?

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jlharper t1_iucq4z3 wrote

No, like other whole grains we digest corn very efficiently with little to no trace of the grain left once it passes through our system. The shell around the kernel - called the pericarp - is much harder to digest though, so we just pass it whole.

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EspritFort t1_iucryru wrote

>is much harder to digest though, so we just pass it whole.

That's the point though - properly masticated that thing absolutely gets digested.

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jlharper t1_iucssdw wrote

Better strap in and set aside some serious chewing time if your goal is to entirely masticate all 800ish corn kernel pericarps, assuming you're eating a whole cob.

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bah77 t1_iudun7n wrote

Does it, or do you just not notice 500 little bits of corn rather than one whole bit when it comes out the other side?

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