With sweetcorn season in full swing, there some sweet reasons to get stuck into the golden vegetable.

There was a time when sweetcorn regularly featured on dinner plates up and down the country.

It's fallen out of favour somewhat in more recent years, however, not as trendy as the likes of kale and, according to some corn critics, too high in carbohydrates.

However, not only does sweetcorn add crunch and colour to meals, those tasty kernels are packed with health-boosting nutrients.

Eating your five-a-day is something that many people strive to do to be healthy and sweetcorn is an easy way to start.

Nutritionist and co-author of The Detox Kitchen Bible, Rob Hobson said: "I hate all these things where people tell you not to eat certain starchy vegetables.

"As a vegetable, sweetcorn is one of your five-a-day to start with, and it has plenty of nutritional value."

Rob Hobson says corn, along with other yellow and orange veggies, is rich in nutrients, including the antioxidants beta-carotene and lutein, the carotenoids which give the vegetables their distinctive colour.

These are essential for preventing eye diseases, which is why we say carrots help you see in the dark.

Corn also contains certain B vitamins and vitamin C, as well as magnesium and potassium.

As sweetcorn tastes so sweet, so you'd think it was full of sugar.

But apparently, an ear of corn has about the same number of calories as an apple and less than a quarter the sugar.

The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) recently reported that we're not eating enough fibre, with most of us managing to consume around 20g each day, far lower than the recommended daily intake of 30g.

Rob Hobson said: "Most of us don't get anywhere near enough fibre in our diet. Like all vegetables, sweetcorn is a source of fibre, which is good for digestive health."

While sweetcorn does have high amounts of insoluble fibre, but apparently that's good for your gut, as it feeds the good bacteria in your tummy.

With the ever increasing notion of gluten-free diets and many people realising they are gluten-intolerant - or prefer to avoid eating gluten as it simply doesn't agree with them, sweetcorn is naturally gluten-free.

In its flour form, maize is used to make gluten-free pasta, which is a healthy alternative to the wheat version.

So now you have a handful of reasons to love and enjoy this simple food that really packs a health punch into your diet.

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