Waxy Corn Review

With the explosion of the internet, the fitness industry has evolved at a very fast pace. As soon as new ideas come to the attention of the public, everyone who is engaged in bodybuilding or fitness training rushes to try them. The “new kid on the block” right now is waxy corn. For those of you not interested in extreme bodybuilding supplementation or fitness training, you may be wondering what that is.

Waxy corn is a naturally flavored corn starch (although some brands sell flavored versions). I personally don’t care for the taste at all and use it multiple times throughout the day in place of solid carbs when training for lean muscle. So why is a little cornstarch so powerful? It has a higher molecular weight and lower blood osmolarity rate than dextrose or maltodextrose, which has been the preferred post-workout carbohydrate source for years. Therefore, it is absorbed in the small intestine very quickly and carries the nutrients it was consumed with (protein, bcaa, creatine) to the muscles faster.

With other carbohydrate sources, these nutrients spend too much time in the stomach and are actually broken down, making less available for recovery or its various purposes. So we can transport the nutrients to our muscles faster, recover faster and get a better “pump”. So it’s all good, right? Remember what I said about the Internet? Well things get messy and confused and that’s the way it is with waxy corn.

I really don’t understand why people beat waxy corn, I mean the science behind it is so sound. I think it’s honestly because it’s new. Let’s break it down for a second. People talk about it being a “high molecular weight” carbohydrate. You should remember from high school chemistry that all molecular weight is the weight of one molecule. Simple really, right? Let’s compare it to dextrose. Now I’ve seen various studies on this, but the molecular weight of dextrose is around 150-325, somewhere in that range. The lowest molecular weight I’ve ever seen is around 2000!

Another benefit is osmolality, right? The osmolarity of well blood is around 300. Most commercial products contain an osmolality of around 10-15. That’s crazy.

Think about this. We’ve all had very high carb meals, right? Do you know how you swell up and your stomach becomes heavy? Well, that’s because of the osmality level of the blood. Nothing forces those carbohydrates into the small intestine (where about 80% of carbohydrate metabolism occurs).

So it just shoots all your nutrients into your small intestine. I mean I’m starving 20 minutes after taking it. Oh, is it a carbohydrate you say? Well, let’s take a look at post-workout insulin. During that time your body is dying to replenish muscle glycogen, so which option would be better? To replenish it as quickly as possible or wait more than 60-75 minutes. Obviously the first, since the sooner we replenish our muscle glycogen, the sooner our body stops burning muscle tissue to recover. Not to mention, the insulin spike happens so quickly. You owe it to yourself to take a close look at waxy corn.