Is Popcorn Healthy?
There’s a lot to love about popcorn. It’s crunchy, satisfying, and oh-so-versatile. The whole grain is also a classic snack, as it’s often enjoyed at wholesome events from county fairs to movie nights. However, if you’ve got nutrition on the mind, you might catch yourself wondering, “Is popcorn healthy?”
It depends. Popcorn can be prepared in many ways, which can affect the nutrition of the end product. This includes different cooking methods (ie, stovetop, microwave, or air popper machine), types of oils used to cook the popcorn, and additional seasonings (ie, salt, powdered cheese, garlic powder, butter, etc.). Needless to say, the answer to whether popcorn’s healthy may not seem obvious. If you’d like a cheat sheet on popcorn nutrition, find the main pros and cons of the food, below.
In case you didn’t know, popcorn results from corn kernels that have expanded or, well, popped. Corn kernels (and therefore, popcorn) are a type of whole grain, which happen to be chock-full of satiating fibre, according to Charmaine Jones, MS, RDN, LDN, registered dietitian nutritionist and founder of Food Jonezi. Popcorn also offers modest amounts of essential vitamins and minerals, including folate, vitamin A, potassium, and magnesium, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Excerpted from Lifestyle Asia
