Regular corn can be helpful when trying to lose weight but it is different from hominy. Find out whether this food is good for weight loss or fattening.
The first thing to note is that the other foods you eat and lifestyle habits you implement are important. These will ultimately play a big role in whether or not a diet with hominy in it makes you lose or gain weight.
For example, if your current routine makes you stay at a certain weight, you keep everything else the same, and add hominy, you will likely gain a bit of weight.
That being said, hominy will generally be good for weight loss because it helps you feel fuller without adding that many calories to your diet.
In turn, this can help you eat less of other foods that are more fattening.
At the same time, you do want to keep an eye on your other foods and lifestyle habits. If you are not getting closer to the goal you desire, these may deserve more attention.
Calories in hominy
Weight loss is not only influenced by the number of calories but also by where these calories come from. That being said, this nutrition data is still helpful to get an idea about how good a certain food like hominy is for weight loss.
White canned hominy contains around 72 calories per 100 grams (1).
Compared to most vegetables and fruits, this is slightly above average.
That being said, compared to many whole foods and especially processed foods, the number of calories in hominy is relatively low.
Unfortunately for people on low-carb diets like the ketogenic diet, hominy contains a decent amount of carbohydrates. More specifically, 100 grams of hominy contains around 11.8 grams of net carbs.
The example hominy does not have a lot of sugar but does contain 1.8 grams of this nutrient.
Fiber in hominy
When deciding about whether or not to add hominy to your weight loss diet you definitely want to take a look at the amount of fiber in this food too.
100 grams of white canned hominy contains around 2.5 grams of fiber (1).
This is not the most impressive compared to many whole foods but at the same time, the extra fiber is definitely helpful when trying to lose weight for a few reasons.
The main one is that fiber helps you feel fuller without really adding any extra calories that get absorbed into your diet.
Since many people struggle with hunger and cravings when trying to lose weight, this can be extremely helpful.
Secondly, fiber tends to influence how the other foods you eat in combination with it get digested. For example, eating fiber together with carbohydrate-rich foods will generally reduce the blood sugar spike from these foods.
The positive effects on weight loss from this will generally not be as big as the hunger reduction but this is one of the effects of the fiber in hominy that tends to help you.
Vitamins and minerals in hominy
Fats, carbohydrates, and protein typically get the most attention and these are indeed important. However, micronutrients like vitamins and minerals in hominy can matter too.
These tend to play a role in the weight loss process in one way or another. There are many internal processes that get influenced, often positively, by getting more vitamins and minerals from whole foods.
100 grams of white canned hominy contains some of the following amounts of vitamins and minerals (1):
- Sodium: 9% of the DV (Daily Value)
- Zinc: 7% of the DV
- Manganese: 4% of the DV
- Selenium: 4% of the DV
- Magnesium: 4% of the DV
- Phosphorus: 4% of the DV
And a few other vitamins and minerals in smaller amounts.
These amounts of vitamins and minerals in hominy are definitely not that impressive.
If you have any micronutrient insufficiencies that would benefit weight loss if they are resolved you likely want to turn to adding other foods to your diet (too).
Is hominy good for weight loss?
With the nutrient details mentioned, you can start to figure out whether hominy is good for weight loss or fattening.
First of all, if you are currently at a weight plateau, keep all your other lifestyle habits the exact same, and add hominy to your diet, you can gain a bit of fat.
To lose weight you have to make it so your body requires more energy than is coming in from food. Adding hominy would only add energy, measured in calories, to your diet.
That being said, in reality, hominy will be reasonably filling compared to the calories it contains. This could make it so you eat less of foods that are less helpful for weight loss.
In that case, hominy will be good for weight loss.
You could also eat hominy instead of foods that have a similar effect on weight loss. Doing this will likely not influence your weight too much.
In short, hominy tends to be good for weight loss because it is somewhat filling and relatively low in calories.
At the same time, the other foods you eat and lifestyle habits you implement ultimately decide whether or not a diet with hominy will help you lose weight or be fattening.
