What's the point of eating corn?

Matt:

I know this is going to be a little gross, so let me apologize in advance. Is the human body simply incapable of breaking down corn kernels? I can't even seem to chew corn into properly unidentifiable bits. I get to see 'em coming and going no matter what I do or how they're cooked. They come out looking very much like they did going in. This is disturbing.

-- Cris J, the net

No need to apologize, Cris. We're all family here. Of course, a few of us I wouldn't invite to dinner. But if we served corn at that dinner, we'd all be pooping kernels the next day. Just another thing that links the world together into one great human digestive fiesta. So don't worry. If you ate a tree limb, would you be surprised to get splinters in your butt? Probably not. The outer layer of a corn kernel is like a piece of wood-- full of cellulose, the structural stuff that holds stems up and tomato guts in. Termites can digest it, we can't. How recognizable a corn kernel is at the end of it's trip varies from person to person. Sounds like yours are lined up in little rows and still on the cob. All I can say is either live with it or stop looking before you flush.