Topic: Why does corn come out like it went in?
Anonymous A started this discussion 11 years ago #44,703
If you are the kind of person who examines their poo, firstly, that is just a little bit weird, and secondly, you may have noticed that when you eat corn it tends to come out pretty much the same as it went in. So what's going on?
The thing is, modern humans are not really built for digesting corn. Years ago, when we didn't eat much meat and instead feasted on vegetables, our digestive systems were quite different from how they are today. Our digestive tract was much longer and our appendix actually did something useful. Our teeth were different too - our molars were bigger and our incisors smaller. Today, we don't need such big teeth to chew on tough plant matter and evolution is phasing them out. As our jaws get smaller, our wisdom teeth no longer fit so well (and this explains why we sometimes need to have our wisdom teeth removed to prevent infections and pain).
The reason that early man had such a different digestive system from us modern folk is that all the plant matter they ate is pretty hard to digest. Plant cell walls all contain a type of carbohydrate called cellulose and this cannot be digested by modern humans. We can break down other carbohydrates (like starch in bread) because we possess the enzymes that can cut the links between the individual components. But we don’t have the right enzymes for breaking down cellulose.
However, early man did. Back then, the appendix would have played a big role in the digestion of this plant material. (You know how rabbits eat their poo? Well that's because their intestines contain bacteria that breaks down cellulose - in a sort of rabbit version of our appendix. Lots of important nutrients are released but some are lost in the rabbits' poo, so our fluffy friends do the smart thing - they eat it all over again and absorb the nutrients second time round.)
But back to the corn. With our modern, smaller teeth, we tend to not chew our food very well. When eating corn, we often swallow the kernels whole and don’t have the enzymes to break them down. Even the acid in our stomach doesn’t help – this is there mainly to help us break down proteins. So the kernels pass through digestive systems and come out as they went in. Chewing our food into a nice smooth mush before swallowing can solve the problem though.
The thing is, modern humans are not really built for digesting corn. Years ago, when we didn't eat much meat and instead feasted on vegetables, our digestive systems were quite different from how they are today. Our digestive tract was much longer and our appendix actually did something useful. Our teeth were different too - our molars were bigger and our incisors smaller. Today, we don't need such big teeth to chew on tough plant matter and evolution is phasing them out. As our jaws get smaller, our wisdom teeth no longer fit so well (and this explains why we sometimes need to have our wisdom teeth removed to prevent infections and pain).
The reason that early man had such a different digestive system from us modern folk is that all the plant matter they ate is pretty hard to digest. Plant cell walls all contain a type of carbohydrate called cellulose and this cannot be digested by modern humans. We can break down other carbohydrates (like starch in bread) because we possess the enzymes that can cut the links between the individual components. But we don’t have the right enzymes for breaking down cellulose.
However, early man did. Back then, the appendix would have played a big role in the digestion of this plant material. (You know how rabbits eat their poo? Well that's because their intestines contain bacteria that breaks down cellulose - in a sort of rabbit version of our appendix. Lots of important nutrients are released but some are lost in the rabbits' poo, so our fluffy friends do the smart thing - they eat it all over again and absorb the nutrients second time round.)
But back to the corn. With our modern, smaller teeth, we tend to not chew our food very well. When eating corn, we often swallow the kernels whole and don’t have the enzymes to break them down. Even the acid in our stomach doesn’t help – this is there mainly to help us break down proteins. So the kernels pass through digestive systems and come out as they went in. Chewing our food into a nice smooth mush before swallowing can solve the problem though.
kook !!Phkn/3Gic joined in and replied with this 11 years ago, 5 minutes later[^] [v] #590,273
That isn't true. You are only seeing the outer hull filled with shit.
Anonymous A (OP) replied with this 11 years ago, 3 minutes later, 9 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #590,275
Killer Lettuce !!iNo3FkiZx joined in and replied with this 11 years ago, 53 seconds later, 10 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #590,276
kook !!Phkn/3Gic replied with this 11 years ago, 6 minutes later, 17 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #590,278
Anonymous D joined in and replied with this 11 years ago, 16 minutes later, 33 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #590,280
Corn comes in. Corn goes out. You can't explain that.
Anonymous E joined in and replied with this 11 years ago, 4 hours later, 5 hours after the original post[^] [v] #590,364
@OP chew moar
Anonymous A (OP) replied with this 11 years ago, 6 hours later, 11 hours after the original post[^] [v] #590,489
Anonymous F joined in and replied with this 11 years ago, 1 hour later, 12 hours after the original post[^] [v] #590,509
@590,275 (A)
Everybody knows that! Try chewing one of those bits of poo-filled corn husks. You will taste poo.
Everybody knows that! Try chewing one of those bits of poo-filled corn husks. You will taste poo.