Good or bad: Popcorn

I love popcorn and can eat a whole huge bag of salted popcorn without thinking twice. I'd eat it everyday!

Having this obsession about popcorn and being concerned that it is not healthy I started to search the Internet to find out if popcorn is good or bad for you and if there are any nutritional benefits of popcorn or any bad consequences of eating too much of it.

Guess what? There are numerous people that are worried about loving popcorn too much. So let's have a look at nutritional values of popcorn (air-popped, white, with no oil or butter added).

Website NutritionData.com an excellent placed to find out about nutrition information for almost every food. It has lots of nutrition facts graphs and tables with the data on micro nutrients and vitamins. I personally like Caloric Ratio Pyramid (TM) that "shows you what percentage of the calories in a food come from carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and alcohol". So you can see if the foods you eat are more carbs, proteins fats or somewhere in between. Popcorn is 81% carbohydrate and it has a bit of fats and proteins.

According to the website popcorn's benefit is it is a good source of fibre and it is low in calories. It is a healthier snack than crisps if it is made without butter or oil and salt. But no salt on popcorn is boring to my mind so I still like to add a bit. If you don't make popcorn yourself and buy it in the supermarket then be aware that a packaged popcorn could have much more calories due to added oil or butter so check the label before stuffing your face with it. Some people like it sweet or toffee which is fine but it is not a healthy snack anymore but rather it is a Sunday treat.

Are there any risks of eating too much popcorn? Too much of anything is bad (even too much carrots). Popcorn doesn't have any minerals or vitamins so it gives you empty calories that don't bring any nutritional value to your body. Also it has high (72) GI which means it has rapid effect on blood sugar levels which have been linked to increased risks for diabetes and some other diseases. Remember that these are the risks of overeating popcorn but if you enjoy it in moderation it is a good healthy snack.

My friend Val makes the best homemade popcorn I have ever tried and it is very healthy. I asked her to share the recipe with me.

“Put a little bit of sunflower oil into a large saucepan and wait for about 5 mins or until it gets warm. Next put the corn seeds (¼ of a glass) in the saucepan and cover it. Once corn stops popping then it’s ready.”

Mmm... I think it is a popcorn time for me now....