Cornstarch, otherwise known as corn flour, is not a healthy product and has very few nutritional benefits. Used often as a thickening or binding agent for soups, stews, puddings, casseroles or desserts, cornstarch is the starch of the corn grain and does not contain the same whole-grain benefits of pure corn.

Amylophagia
This condition involves compulsively eating large quanitities of starch. Many amylophagia patients crave cornstarch and go through several boxes of it every week.

Eating cornstarch in these extreme quantities is dangerous and a serious health issue. Cornstarch is a refined starch produced through chemical processes and has negligible nutritional benefits. For this reason, amylophagia is considered to be a form of pica, a disorder that causes patients to crave large amounts of non-nutritive substances such as clay or chalk. Amylophagia traditionally affects pregnant women more than any other demographic.

Pica (disorder)

Pica is a medical disorder characterized by an appetite for substances largely non-nutritive (e.g. metal (coins, etc), clay, coal, soil, feces, chalk, paper, soap, mucus, ash, gum, etc.) or an abnormal appetite for some things that may be considered foods, such as food ingredients (e.g., flour, raw potato, raw rice, starch, ice cubes, salt).1 In order for these actions to be considered pica, they must persist for more than one month at an age where eating such objects is considered developmentally inappropriate. The condition's name comes from the Latin word for magpie, a bird which is reputed to eat almost anything.2 Pica is seen in all ages, particularly in pregnant women, small children, and those with developmental disabilities.

Pica in children, while common, can be dangerous. Children eating painted plaster containing lead may suffer brain damage from lead poisoning. There is a similar risk from eating dirt near roads that existed prior to the phaseout of tetra-ethyl lead in gasoline (in some countries) or prior to the cessation of the use of contaminated oil (either used, or containing toxic PCBs or dioxin) to settle dust. In addition to poisoning, there is also a much greater risk of gastro-intestinal obstruction or tearing in the stomach. This is also true in animals. Another risk of dirt eating is the possible ingestion of animal feces and the accompanying parasites. Pica can also be found in animals, and is most commonly found in dogs.