This article (Is Popcorn Healthy?) will give you the lowdown on this natural food and tell you how to create healthy popcorn!

Most people are asking “is popcorn good for you,” which it does if you don’t add too many fatty toppings or much too much salt.

POPCORN FACTS

•  Is popcorn nutritious? Let’s keep this simple: popcorn! Yes! Many government organizations and watchdog groups believe that plain popcorn is a healthy snack, including the National Cancer (NCI) and the American Dental Association (ADA).
• Plain Popcorn (no salt or butter) is just 90 calories per 3-cup serving!!! So, is popcorn good for you? Pure Popcorn Sure is!
• Each serving of lowered microwave popcorn contains only 3 g of fat. So, it’s also fantastic!!
• Oil-popped popcorn with butter has about 250 calories per 3-cup serving – not bad for so much food with all of the benefits stated above!
• A 3-cup serving of buttered microwaves popcorn has 11 g of fat.
• A child-sized theater popcorn 20 grams of fat, 14 of which were saturated, were present without the addition of any butter.
• More than 50 grams of the 80 grams of fat in a big theater bag of popcorn were saturated. That equates to approximately three Big Macs’ worth of fat. Approximately three days’ worth of the advised fat in one meal. not cool.
• 130 grams of fat, or around 4 or 5 Big Macs, are included in a big bag of theater popcorn with extra butter. WOW!! Even worse, the fat that raises cholesterol climbs to over four days’ worth of fat! Center for Research in the Public Interest, source.
• The nutritional value of microwave popcorn and movie popcorn is comparable (although hull-less popcorn loses several of the natural nutrition as we will discuss below), but the amount of fat and salt in each type of popcorn varies depending on the theater and manufacturer. Therefore, the answer to the question of whether popcorn is healthy depends on exactly whose popcorn it is and how it was made.

REASONS WHY POPCORN IS HEALTHY

1. Popcorn contains more protein than just about any grain used in cereal, yes.

2. Yes, popcorn has naturally minimal calories, sugar, and fat.

3. Iron, phosphorus, and protein are abundant in the popcorn shell and its outer layers.

4. Is popcorn healthy since it contains more iron than roast beef, spinach, peanuts, or eggs? Yes

5. There are at least 40 nutrients in it, making it a complete grain. 40 nutrients or more! So, yes, popcorn is nutritious once more.

6. All of the Vitamin b-12 vitamins, as well as vitamin E, riboflavin, and thiamine, are present in the popcorn kernel’s “germ.”

IS POPCORN HEALTHY? IS POPCORN FATTENING? HERE IS THE TRUTH:

Considering 3 cups of plain air-popped popcorn with no butter or oil has just 90 calories, popcorn is not a fattening food. Thus, popcorn has low-calorie content and is not fattening.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

• The majority of folks consume far too much popcorn at once. The normal small theater bag contains roughly 6 cups, thus the number of calories in that is double what we mentioned. However, 180 calories without fat are still OK if it is air popped. However, most movie theaters pop their popcorn with fatty oils like coconut oil.

• A 2,000-calorie diet can contain up to 65 grams of total fat (daily value).

20 grams is the maximum allowed quantity of saturated fat.

• A grownup should consume no more than 6 grams of salt each day, which equates to 2300 milligrams of sodium.

Related Post: Best Essential Foods for a Healthy Diet

POPCORN SALT CONTENT IN COMPARISON WITH OTHER FOODS

Popcorn often comes salted and has between 270 and 330 mg of sodium per serving. Additionally, many popcorn toppings, like cheddar and bacon, include salt. However, when compared to these typical portions of other foods, popcorn is far lower in salt!

• 1,106 milligrams in 1 cup of packaged chicken noodle soup

• 5 ounces of frozen turkey and gravy: 787 milligrams

• 1 cup of canned cream corn has 730 milligrams.

• Teriyaki sauce contains 690 milligrams per tablespoon.

• One cup of vegetable juice cocktail has 653 milligrams.

• The small through big movie theater bags of popcorn range from 270 to 330 mg!

THE BOTTOM LINE

Is Popcorn healthy? It is, indeed! Only if you avoid cooking it in oil, smothering it in excessive amounts of butter, and salting it twice or three times (additional salt, plus toppings that may include extra salt!).

N.B. This post is based on our understanding and should not be used in place of advice from a qualified nutritionist.

Related Post: Best essential foods for a healthy diet