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As you start considering changing up your diet, you find yourself staring at the cornbread you’ve been munching on for the last five minutes. You pause and think, is cornbread good or bad for you?

Come along with us as we talk about the pros and cons of cornbread. Let’s find out whether you should cut it out of your diet or not.

Typical Ingredients and Nutrients of Cornbread

Cornbread is a Southern staple side dish usually paired with main dishes, soups, and stews. Early North American immigrants used to have this bread as their go-to meal.

Because it’s a quick bread, it’s quite easy and convenient to make. Cornbread doesn’t contain yeast so it rises and cooks quickly.

It’s typically made of cornmeal, oil, eggs, flour, and baking powder.

According to LiveStrong, cornbread contains nutrients like fiber, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, folic acid, and vitamin B.

Cornbread Benefits

Cornbread is known to have a number of health benefits. Let’s learn about each one.

Fiber

The basic ingredient of cornbread, cornmeal, is a whole-grain food. Whole-grain foods provide fiber to your system that helps regulate your bowel movement and absorb cholesterol.

Fiber also aids weight loss. Since fiber adds bulk to the food you eat, it slows down your digestion, making you feel full while reducing your appetite, too!

Vitamins and Minerals

Cornbread is a source of vitamins and minerals like phosphorus, calcium, and magnesium that contribute to your bone, muscle, and dental health. Meanwhile, folic acid and vitamin B help strengthen your immunity to fight off various illnesses.

Amino Acids

Newer research has proven that cornbread contains several amino acids.

Amino acids play lots of different roles in your body. They help in repairing body tissue and strengthening your immune system.

Antioxidants

Antioxidants help in boosting your immune system as it guards your body against different types of medical conditions.

Cornmeal in cornbread contains high contents of antioxidants such as carotenoids. These compounds help reduce the risks of cancer and heart disease.

Your body also converts some carotenoids into vitamin A which is essential for eye health and growth and development.

Gluten-Free

There hasn’t been enough scientific research proving gluten is bad for you. However, gluten can be harmful to specific individuals.

People who have been diagnosed with celiac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis can’t consume gluten. If they eat food with gluten, they could develop symptoms like diarrhea, abdominal pain, severe rashes, and constipation.

Cornbread is gluten-free which makes it perfect to include in their diet.

Is Cornbread Fattening?

You need calories because they provide energy to your body. If you consume calories more than what your body needs, they’re stored in your system in the form of fat.

Some ingredients of cornbread like cornmeal and flour contain high levels of carbs and saturated fat. These two produce calories for your body.

If you eat too much cornbread, you’d be consuming more calories than what your body requires, making you gain fat. This may lead to higher blood glucose levels, higher cholesterol levels, and a higher risk of heart disease.

It’s important to control the portions of cornbread you eat to avoid gaining fat as well as the health risks that come with it. It also helps to exercise so you can use up all the excess calories you gain.

Is Cornbread Good for Gaining Weight?

Not only does cornbread help you lose weight, but it can also help you gain some. Whole-grain foods like cornbread provide carbs to your body that aid you in gaining weight.

Pairing cornbread with foods rich in protein is the perfect diet for people who would like to gain weight in a healthy way.

Are Cornbread Muffins Healthy?

Cornbread muffins are healthy because they are rich sources of nutrients and whole grains. They contain carbs that provide energy essential to your body.

The ingredients you’ll be needing for this recipe are the following:

One cup of yellow cornmeal
One cup of whole wheat flour
One tablespoon of kosher salt
One tablespoon of honey
One cup of whole milk
Two eggs beaten
One tablespoon of baking powder
One tablespoon of unsweetened applesauce

Baking Instructions:

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 400°F.
Step 2: Use non-stick cooking spray on your pan.
Step 3: Mix all the dry ingredients into a bowl. These are cornmeal, flour, salt, and baking powder.
Step 4: Pour the honey, milk, eggs, and applesauce into the mix.
Step 5: Mix all the ingredients before pouring the batter into your muffin pan cups. Fill about ¾ of the cup; which is just below its top.
Step 6: Place the muffin pan on the middle rack of your oven and bake for 15-18 minutes.
Step 7: Remove the muffin pan from the oven and leave the muffins to cool for five to ten minutes.

Are Cornbread Pancakes Healthy?

These pancakes are a much healthier option than your regular ones. Cornbread pancakes contain extra protein that helps build and repair your bones and muscles.

You’ll have to prepare the following ingredients for this recipe:

One cup of yellow cornmeal
One cup of whole wheat flour
Two teaspoons of baking powder
One tablespoon of sugar
One tablespoon of salt
Two beaten eggs
One cup of whole milk
⅓ cup of water
¼ cup of neutral-flavored oil
¼ teaspoon of vanilla extract

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Combine all the dry ingredients like cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a bowl.
Step 2: Add the wet ingredients. This includes your pre-prepared eggs, milk, water, neutral-flavored oil, and vanilla extract.
Step 3: Whisk the mixture carefully together
Step 4: Heat a non-stick pan on medium-low heat. Pour one teaspoon of vegetable oil.
Step 5: Pour a quarter to a third cup of batter onto the pan and form a circle. Flip the pancake when it’s light brown and cook for an additional 30 seconds.
Step 6: Remove the pancake from the pan and repeat step four.

Is Homemade Cornbread Healthy?

There’s nothing healthier than cornbread that’s made from scratch! This way, you’d get to choose organic ingredients like whole wheat flour.

Whole wheat flour contains minerals like iron and calcium, among many others. They help carry oxygen from your lungs to all parts of your body and strengthen your bones, respectively.

The ingredients to make homemade cornbread are listed below:

One cup of whole wheat flour
One cup of yellow cornmeal
One tablespoon of sugar
One tablespoon of salt
One tablespoon of baking powder
½ of butter
Two eggs beaten
One cup of whole milk

Baking Instructions:

Step 1: Spray a round cake pan with non-stick cooking spray.
Step 2: Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Step 3: In a bowl, mix flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, and baking powder.
Step 4: Add the butter, eggs, and milk and mix all ingredients well.
Step 5: Pour the batter onto the pan and bake it for 20-25 minutes.

Are Pinto Beans and Cornbread Healthy?

When you pair legumes like pinto beans with whole grain foods like cornbread, you’d be getting a complete protein. Complete proteins are perfect meat alternatives and contain amino acids, as well.

If you’re working to reduce your meat intake, then this healthy combo will suit your new diet well.

Here’s how to prep and cook pinto beans:

Step 1: To prepare your pinto beans, wash them and discard any dirt, stones, and shriveled-up beans you can find.
Step 2: Place the beans in a bowl and fill it up with water until it’s two inches above the beans.
Step 3: Let the beans soak for eight hours.
Step 4: Then, drain and rinse the beans. Place them in a pot on a stove.
Step 5: Fill the pot with ten cups of water and bring them to a boil.
Step 6: Reduce the heat to a low simmer and cover the pot for two hours.

Disadvantages of Cornbread

Although it’s healthy, cornbread can pose a threat to your health if you eat too much of it. It can also become unhealthy when the bread contains harmful ingredients.

Allergic Reaction

Some people are allergic to the ingredients that make up cornbread mixes. So, it’s best to just make a homemade batch using alternatives.

You may use dairy-free milk, plant-based margarine, and egg substitutes.

Risk of Inflammation

Most cornbread mixes use refined flour. Refined flour has been stripped of most of its nutrients, doing you more harm than good.

Because of its harmful nature, refined flour may cause high levels of inflammation which can lead to heart disease.

If you’re planning to add cornbread to your diet, make sure it’s made up of whole carbs full of nutritional value.

High Sodium

Store-bought cornbread mixes may contain a substantial amount of salt.

According to the CDC, your body only needs a small amount of sodium to function. If you consume too much, your blood pressure rises, putting you at risk of a stroke!

The best course of action, then, is to avoid this and make your own homemade cornbread instead. That way, you’d be able to take charge and decide what ingredients are going in the recipe.

Final Thoughts

Cornbread is quick and easy to make. You can cook it in plenty of ways with various recipes.

However, the important thing to note about what we’ve learned today is that cornbread is a double-edged sword. Whether cornbread is good or bad for you, that’ll be solely up to you and the recipe you choose to follow.

Cornbread can only be healthy if you eat it in moderation and choose organic ingredients full of nutritional value.

Sarah Bridenstine

Sarah is the founder of Baking Kneads, LLC, a blog sharing guides, tips, and recipes for those learning how to bake. Growing up as the daughter of a baker, she spent much of her childhood learning the basics in a local bakery.