Posted on 08/24/2020 9:33:52 AM PDT by Red Badger
Grits are a popular dish widely consumed across the Southern United States.
They’re made from dried, ground corn (Maize) cooked in various liquids — including water, milk, or broth — until the mix reaches a thick, creamy, porridge-like consistency.
While grits are incredibly popular, many people wonder whether they’re good for you.
This article reviews grits, including their nutrition, benefits, and whether they’re healthy.
What are grits?
Grits are a popular Southern American dish made from crushed or ground corn.
They’re most commonly served as a breakfast or side dish and usually made from a variety of corn called dent corn, which has a softer, starchy kernel (1).
The crushed corn granules are typically cooked in either hot water, milk, or broth until they reach a thick yet creamy consistency that is similar to porridge.
Grits are often paired with flavorful ingredients, such as butter, sugar, syrups, cheeses, and meats like bacon, shrimp, and catfish.
You can purchase several varieties of grits, including:
Stone-ground. These are made from whole, dried corn kernels that are coarsely ground in a mill. This type is harder to find in grocery stores because it has a short shelf life and takes 30–60 minutes to cook on the stove (2). Hominy. These are made from corn kernels soaked in an alkali solution to soften the tough pericarp (outer shell or hull). The pericarp is rinsed, then removed, and the corn kernels undergo further processing to make hominy (3Trusted Source). Quick and regular. These types undergo processing, which involves removing the pericarp and germ (nutrient-rich embryo), so they have a longer shelf life. Regular versions are medium ground while quick are finely ground (2). Instant. This precooked, dehydrated version has had both the pericarp and germ removed. They’re widely available in grocery stores.
Summary:
Grits are a popular Southern American dish made from ground, dried corn. They are typically cooked in milk, water, or broth until they reach a thick, creamy consistency.
Grits nutrition facts
Grits contain a variety of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
One cup (257 grams) of cooked, regular grits provides the following nutrients (4):
Calories: 182
Protein: 4 grams
Fat: 1 gram
Carbs: 38 grams
Fiber: 2 grams
Folate: 25% of the Reference Daily Intake (RDI)
Thiamine: 18% of the RDI
Niacin: 13% of the RDI
Riboflavin: 12% of the RDI
Iron: 8% of the RDI
Vitamin B6: 7% of the RDI
Magnesium: 5% of the RDI
Zinc: 4% of the RDI
Phosphorus: 4% of the RDI
What’s most impressive about grits is that they’re high in iron, which is essential for red blood cell production. They also include many B vitamins, such as folate and thiamine, as well as trace amounts of potassium, pantothenic acid, calcium, and vitamin E (5Trusted Source).
However, regular versions contain fewer vitamins and minerals — like calcium and vitamins A and C — than the stone-ground varieties made from whole corn kernels (4).
That’s because they undergo several stages of processing, which removes nutritious parts of the corn like the pericarp and germ (2).
Summary:
Grits provide a variety of nutrients and are especially high in iron and B vitamins. Stone-ground varieties are more nutritious, as they don’t have the pericarp and germ removed.
Crawdads and grits is fine, too!..............
Hi again.
Grits are cooked a number of ways. Grits are prepared a number of ways. I like most all of them.
Okay, since you asked, no sugar, syrup,honey or milk.
5.56mm
***They’re made from dried, ground corn (Maize) ***
In the USA, corn and maize are two different things.
Corn is the “corn” we buy in the store and grow in the garden.
Maize is more of a sorghum cane whose seeds are used in catte feed and bird seed.
If you watch the But Lancaster movie APACHE, he gets some corn seeds from the tribes of the Tahlequah. This is real corn. But when it is gone, his wife gets some corn seed to plant in which the crop that comes up is really “Maize” or sorghum cane.
I’ve had grits just about every which away you can have them. I like them all!......................
One of my favorite movies!!
The very ACME of a southern breakfast must include cat-head biscuits and Cane Syrup.
I know. In Europe they call what we call ‘corn’ ‘maize’............
Grits is a staple of the South
My husband has them every Sunday after church......diners and restaurants serve them here
I like mine with sugar......my husband smushes his eggs over easy into his grits and adds pepper
My eggs are over medium, but otherwise exactly how I eat mine! Yum!
I call grits “southern polenta”
Don’t care for either of them.
I like my sweet grits and I’m Southern to the core!
More tasteless than oatmeal? Better see a doctor; your tastebuds are dying
Don’t worry, leftards will get to it. The white man changed the name; its another symptom of our racist hegemony; and it will be renamed to maize.
Maize-fed beef just doesn’t have the same ring to it though.
As a transplanted Yankee, I was amused when I interviewed for my job in the Deep South and was taken out for breakfast; part of what my interviewers were looking at was my reaction to grits (I did better than Vinnie).
It didn’t take me too long to realize grits are not food, they are a matrix for food - sometimes simple stuff like redeye gravy, or just butter, salt and pepper, or more elaborate things, like cheese or shrimp. I now do mine with sautéed onion and green pepper, which I would recommend veteran grits afficiandos take a shot at.
To answer the question on whether or not grits are good for you, one must 1st ask this question;
Are they tasty?
If the answer is yes, then they are obviously dangerous to your health.
***I now do mine with sautéed onion and green pepper, which I would recommend veteran grits afficiandos take a shot at.***
I think that’s a fine idea, I’ll try that version next time. Any particular choice of meat that you’d recommend?
Grits sweetened with butter and a big glop of sorghum molasses makes any meal a banquet.
Plain grits with no additives at all are rather bland and tasteless. Like a canvas before the artist paints the masterpiece!
So, they must be healthy!...........................
Grits with either redeye gravy or cheese.
“I say they are a lot like Cream of Wheat but with less taste.”
That was my impression. I can see why many smother them in butter.
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