Good Smut

I posted about this deliciousness once before but now it looks like this Mexican delicacy not only tastes good but it's packed with health benefits too.

From HuffPo...

It's now an established scientific fact: Smut is GOOD for you. Corn smut, that is.

For years, scientists have assumed that huitlacoche (WEET-LA-KO-CHEE) – a gnarly, gray-black corn fungus long-savored in Mexico – had nutritional values similar to those of the corn on which it grew. But test results reveal that an infection that U.S. farmers and crop scientists have spent millions trying to eradicate, is packed with unique proteins, minerals and other nutritional goodies.

Take lysine, one of those "essential amino acids" that the body requires but can't manufacture. We need it to fight infections and strengthen bones. Bodybuilders pound lysine when they want to build muscle, and estheticians recommend it to keep skin looking young. Corn has virtually no lysine; huitlacoche is loaded with it. It also is packed with more beta-glucens – the soluble fiber that gives oatmeal its well-known cholesterol-cutting power – than, well, oatmeal.

And here's a bonus: agro-economists have found it can sell for more than the corn it ruins.