Know2eat

Cornmeal

Zea mays

What cornmeal has been studied for

2 associations assessed — 1 with at least some human evidence behind it. Strongest first.

  • 1 Limited
  • 1 Insufficient
4 things to know first — allergies, interactions and intake limits

About cornmeal

Dried maize ground to a coarse or medium meal, the base of polenta, cornbread and the staple porridges of southern and eastern Africa. The USDA reference entry is whole-grain yellow cornmeal, which retains the bran and germ; degermed cornmeal is the more common supermarket product.

Also known as Polenta, Maize meal, Mielie meal, Corn grits

Eye HealthBlood Sugar & Metabolic Health

The evidence in depth

Best supported: Limited

What each association actually rests on, and the papers behind it. A rating describes the state of the research, not how impressive the food is. How we rate evidence.

Macular health

Eye Health
Limited evidence

Yellow maize contributes lutein and zeaxanthin, the carotenoids concentrated in the macula, and higher intake of those carotenoids is associated with better macular pigment density. The evidence sits with the carotenoids and with leafy greens rather than with cornmeal, which supplies a modest amount.

Limited evidence. Early human work, or mostly lab and animal research.

4 sources

Deep research mode adds each paper’s own conclusion and stated limitations.

Blood glucose response

Blood Sugar & Metabolic Health
Insufficient evidence

There is no dependable evidence that cornmeal offers a blood-glucose advantage. Soft-cooked maize porridge is among the higher-glycaemic staple preparations, and results vary so much with grind and cooking that a single answer would be misleading.

Insufficient evidence. Not enough human research to say anything useful yet.

1 source

Deep research mode adds each paper’s own conclusion and stated limitations.

Ask about Cornmeal

Ask about Cornmeal

Answers are written only from the entries on this page — the same nutrients, compounds, claims and citations you can read above. Nothing is added from outside the database, and every answer lists what it was built from.

AI explanations are not switched on for this site, so there is nothing to ask here. Everything above is read straight from the database and does not need them.

Key nutrients

Nutrient content per 100 grams
NutrientAmount% DV
Macronutrients
Calories362 kcal18%
Protein8.12 g16%
Total fat3.59 g5%
Carbohydrate76.9 g28%
Fibre7.3 g26%
Total sugars0.64 g—
Water10.3 g—
Fats
Saturated fat0.505 g3%
Monounsaturated fat0.948 g—
Polyunsaturated fat1.64 g—
Cholesterol0 mg0%
EPA (omega-3)0 g—
DHA (omega-3)0 g—
DPA (omega-3)0 g—
Linoleic acid (omega-6)1.59 g—
Vitamins
Vitamin A11 µg1%
Vitamin C0 mg0%
Vitamin D0 µg0%
Vitamin E0.42 mg3%
Vitamin K0.3 µg0%
Thiamin (B1)0.385 mg32%
Riboflavin (B2)0.201 mg15%
Niacin (B3)3.63 mg23%
Pantothenic acid (B5)0.425 mg9%
Vitamin B60.304 mg18%
Folate25 µg6%
Vitamin B120 µg0%
Choline21.6 mg4%
Minerals
Calcium6 mg0%
Iron3.45 mg19%
Magnesium127 mg30%
Phosphorus241 mg19%
Potassium287 mg6%
Sodium35 mg2%
Zinc1.82 mg17%
Copper0.193 mg21%
Manganese0.498 mg22%
Selenium15.5 µg28%
Other measured compounds
Beta-carotene97 µg—
Alpha-carotene63 µg—
Lycopene0 µg—
Lutein + zeaxanthin1355 µg—
Caffeine0 mg—
Ash1.13 g—

Nutrient values are per 100 g of the USDA reference entry named on this page and vary with variety, growing conditions, storage and preparation.

Source record: Cornmeal, whole-grain, yellow (USDA FoodData Central, FDC ID 169697).

% DV uses the FDA Daily Values for adults and children aged 4 and over. A dash means no Daily Value has been established for that nutrient.

Bioactive compounds

Compounds present in meaningful amounts. Presence is banded rather than quantified, because whole-food levels vary enormously with variety, growing conditions, storage and preparation.

How preparation changes things

Only effects with real support are listed. If a preparation method is missing, it is because nothing dependable is documented — not because it makes no difference.

  • cookedIncreases resistant starch

    Cooking polenta and allowing it to set firm before grilling or frying retrogrades part of the starch into a resistant form, lowering the glucose response compared with soft freshly cooked porridge.

Things to know

Allergies, interactions and intake concerns. Every food gets this section — a reference where everything is uniformly good is not a reference.

  • Worth knowing

    Niacin is bound unless the maize is nixtamalised

    The niacin in maize is chemically bound and largely unavailable. Populations that adopted maize as a staple without the alkaline nixtamalisation used in Mesoamerica suffered epidemic pellagra, and the disease still appears in maize-dependent populations under famine conditions. Treating maize with lime releases the niacin; plain cornmeal does not.

  • Worth knowing

    Mycotoxins in maize

    Maize is prone to fumonisin and aflatoxin contamination when grown or stored in warm humid conditions. Regulated supply chains test for this; informally milled maize in high-burden regions is a documented exposure route.

  • Worth knowing

    Degermed cornmeal is a different food

    Most supermarket cornmeal has had the germ removed for shelf life, taking much of the fat, vitamin E and some minerals with it. This entry describes the whole-grain product.

  • Worth knowing

    Rapidly digested when cooked soft

    Finely ground cornmeal cooked into a soft porridge is digested quickly and produces a high glucose response. Coarse polenta cooked and then set firm behaves rather differently.