Why Does Corn Come Out Whole In My Poop?

 Okay, thousands of times you have stood up from the toilet to flush. For some reason you are always compelled to look inside the bowl before sending last nights dinner down the pipe faster than a bobsledder in Vancouver. And today, like many times before, you stare at your turds and ask yourself "Why does corn come out whole in my poop?" You've been wondering why it stays whole even though you've chewed the crap out of it (no pun intended), and today your gonna find out. The explanation for whole corn appearing in poop is quite simple, so let me explain.

The easiest explanation would be that you did not chew the corn, but instead just swallowed all of the kernels whole. We both know that's not true, you're not that much of a glutton. So with that said, we know that you chewed the corn, but yet it "appeared" whole in your poop. An appearance is exactly what it was. I'm not saying you didn't see whole corn in your poop, you did. Getting a little weird...I know, but hey you googled it not me. Okay seriously, here's the rundown on the whole corn in poop thing:

The hull (or outerlayer) of a corn kernel is made up of mostly cellulose. Cellulose is sort of a rubbery substance, which will not break apart easily when chewed. On the other hand, the innards of a corn kernel can be chewed into next to nothing rather easily. With that said, when you chew corn, the outer layer is for the most part staying in tact, while the insides of the kernel are almost dissolving in your mouth. Now picture the hull as a shriveled up empty sleeve, pretty easy to swallow right? But still you wonder why it looks whole in your poop right? Well let's continue if you'd like. but I must warn you it may get a little graphic.

Okay, I'm glad your still with me. It's not really gonna be that graphic, unless the word poop offends you, but at this point I think your comfortable with it so I'll continue.

As humans, we lack the enzyme needed to break down cellulose. Basically this means that the corn's hull (or empty sleeve) is gonna come out your bottom in the same color and form it was in when it entered your esophagus. In the process, these empty sleeves are being packed with the other things your body decided to discard today (poop).

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