Corn

Corn is the main staple in Central America. It is found in tortillas, which we ate in abundance in Guatemala. Some native women eat 15 or more corn tortillas per day. We learned that a natural fungus that clings to corn produces a toxin called fumonisin that is partially responsible for the high rates of open neural tube defects and cleft lips/palates in Central America. Research suggests that fumonisin interferes with the body's ability to absorb folic acid, starving the developing embryo of its protection. One study in the Rio Grande Valley in the early 1990s, demonstrated in humans the link between tortilla consumption, fumonisin, and neural tube defects. According to this report, "pregnant women who ate 300-400 tortillas per month during the first trimester had more than twice the risk of giving birth to babies with neural tube defects than did women who ate fewer than 100 tortillias" - Environmental News Network, Study suggests bad corn caused birth defects in the Rio Grande Valley, February 10, 2006. Several other studies have reported a similar connection.

Dr. Asensio tells his patients that six months before pregnancy they should decrease their corn intake and increase their folic acid. He realizes this is a near impossibility for families living on $2/day who have no other food options.