If you’re eating microwave popcorn or movie theater popcorn every day, you might be taking in a lot of extra salt and calories, as well as potentially harmful chemicals and artificial ingredients. However, homemade popcorn that’s made with olive or avocado oil can be a healthy addition to your daily diet.
Each day you can have 5 to 8 ounces, or equivalents, from this food group. At least half of your servings, or about 3 to 4 ounces, should come from whole-grain sources, like popcorn. Based on this recommendation, set forth in the USDA’s ChooseMyPlate.gov, a 1-ounce equivalent from the grain group is 3 cups of popcorn.
Air-popped is the healthiest way to eat popcorn. This snack contains only 93 calories per 3-cup serving. Eat popcorn in moderation even if it is a healthy snack.
While most of us enjoy eating popcorn year-round, The Popcorn Board says that sales generally peak and stay high during the winter, before dropping off during the spring and summer months. Ok, seriously now, do you really need a reason to eat popcorn?
How many carbs are in popcorn?
One of popcorn’s claims to fame is its fiber content. One cup of popped popcorn contains 6.2 grams of carbohydrates, 1.2 grams of which come from fiber. According to the American Heart Association, the fiber in popcorn not only helps keep you full for relatively few calories — a cup of air-popped popcorn contains only 31 calories — it can also help promote weight loss. Fiber is also known for keeping your digestive system healthy and helping to prevent constipation.
Advertisement. Read more: Atkins Diet and Popcorn. On the other hand, if you’re making your popcorn at home, you can choose the ingredients you use and only add things that contribute to your health, instead of take away from it. If you cook the popcorn in healthy oils, like olive oil and avocado oil, that are rich in monounsaturated fats …
While popcorn cooked at home in an air popper or over the stove with healthy oils can contribute antioxidants and good fats, microwave-ready and movie theater popcorn contains artificial ingredients that are better enjoyed only occasionally. Advertisement.
However, homemade popcorn that’s made with olive or avocado oil can be a healthy addition to your daily diet.
Another chemical, called diacetyl, that’s used in some microwave popcorn butter flavorings has been shown to cause respiratory problems (nicknamed “popcorn lung“) when you in hale too much of it. If you’re eating microwave popcorn every day, you may be exposing yourself to more of these chemicals than you should.
If you cook the popcorn in healthy oils, like olive oil and avocado oil, that are rich in monounsaturated fats (which help keep your heart healthy), a small amount of daily popcorn can be a good choice. Just don’t overdo it and make sure to stick to the recommended serving sizes. Advertisement.
Fiber is also known for keeping your digestive system healthy and helping to prevent constipation. Popcorn also contains significant amounts of certain types of antioxidants called phenolic acids, according to a report that was published in the journal Antioxidants in January 2019.
Why do we eat popcorn?
Because of its high fiber content, eating popcorn may help to promote healthy gut bacteria — which are essential for not only …
The absolute best oil choice for making your homemade, organic popcorn is organic virgin coconut oil. This oil is loaded with health benefits and nourishes all of your body’s systems.
A lot of the reason that popcorn itself has gotten a bad wrap is likely due to microwave popcorn. While it’s certainly convenient, microwave popcorn is a health nightmare. For starters, there’s the artificial butter flavoring — a far cry from real butter. A study published in 2012 in the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology linked the artificial butter flavoring often used in microwave popcorn to a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
Corn comes in many colors, including white, yellow, black, and red, but most these days are white (which is sweeter) or yellow. When kernels are heated in oil, magic happens, and the resulting popcorn has been enjoyed for centuries — not …
This corn, known as Bt ( Bacillus thuringiensis) corn, is genetically modified to produce an insecticide to destroy pests when they ingest the corn. This insecticide is present in every part of the plant. Bt corn is also modified to be resistant to Roundup — the pesticide most commonly sprayed on cornfields.
Corn contains phosphorus, a mineral that aids in supporting healthy bone function, as well as the function of many types of cells throughout the body. Manganese, another mineral found in corn, not only supports healthy bones, it also plays a part in regulating blood sugar, and is instrumental in promoting healthy skin.
Aside from choosing organic corn, in order to make your popcorn as healthy as can be, you need to choose the right oil and salt. Stay away from highly processed oils, such as soybean oil, canola oil, and vegetable oil, which come under the guise of being healthy — they are anything but.
Where was popcorn invented?
According to History, archeologists have found evidence of popcorn being made and eaten in thousand-year-old Peruvian tombs, and it’s been around in the United States since the 1800s. If you think of popcorn as simply a lower-calorie alternative to other crunchy snacks like chips, you might be surprised to learn that those perfectly puffed kernels …
However, the nickname “popcorn lung” came from the many popcorn factory workers who contracted the illness after years of inhaling microwave popcorn fumes daily. The chemical thought to be responsible, diacetyl, was found in that delicious butter flavoring but was removed by major brands in 2007 (via Healthline ).
The quickest way to make a healthy food into an unhealthy food is to smother it in fats and high-salt or high-sugar toppings, like, for instance, caramel, candy coating, butter, and sodium-filled popcorn seasonings.
In 2011, popcorn companies voluntarily removed the suspected carcinogen. That same year, U.S. companies stopped producing three other PFCs, which the FDA eventually banned in 2016 (via EWG ). While those chemicals have been removed, many still remain, and their potential effects are currently unknown. And the truth is, you just don’t need them …
Popcorn also contains vitamin K, which helps promote bone health and wound healing (via Live Science ), and vitamin A, which maintains healthy eyesight and proper functioning of the immune system (via Healthline ).
For these reasons, air-popped popcorn is definitely a better choice to satisfy that craving for crunch (via Good Housekeeping ).
How many quarts of popcorn do Americans eat a year?
If you’re in any doubt over popcorn’s pop-ularity, consider the data: Americans eat more than 17 billion quarts of popcorn every year, which comes out to about 68 quarts per person, according to the Northern Ag Network.
The USDA says three cups of air-popped popcorn has 93 calories, 1.1 grams of fat, 1.9 mg of sodium, 18.6 carbohydrates, 0.2 grams of sugars, and 3 grams of protein. The 3.6 grams of fiber is the gift comes from indigestible carbs that help you stay feeling full for longer (via VerywellFit ). That’s why popcorn’s high fiber content …
On the other end of the scale, a 190 fluid-ounce tub of plain popcorn with no butter contains 1,090 calories. That’s plenty of extra calories you likely don’t need, especially if you have it every single day.
Air popping your corn involves heating an empty 2 quart pot with a tight lid over medium high heat for two minutes. The pan is ready when you add drops of water to the pot and they sizzle immediately. Add the popping corn and close the lid. Shake the pot every two seconds and kernels should start popping between a minute or two.
And by well-prepared, the American Heart Association suggests that the popcorn be air-popped.
You may or may not realize this, but what happens to your body when you eat popcorn everyday comes down to how you prepare it. “When prepared well, popcorn actually is a pretty good snack ,” University of Rhode Island assistant professor at the department of nutrition and food sciences Maya Vadiveloo tells the American Heart Association.
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