Is Popcorn Good for You?

It really depends on who you ask, whether popcorn is “good” for you or not.  There are some that think that any corn-derived food product is the devil, citing corn as the reason for digestive problems, and even linking it to certain kinds of cancer (heck, what ISN’T linked to cancer these days really?).  Of course any no-carb zealot will also tell you that popcorn is a huge no no because of it’s relatively high carb count.

As with any other controversial food, there are also others who point to research that corn derived products have a resistant property that makes them more slowly digested, and therefore supposedly not as likely turned to fat.  What to believe, what to believe?

At any rate, let’s take a look at the facts about one of America’s favorite snack foods, and one that is also used popularly as a diet snack food, as long as it’s not drowned in butter and other fattening flavorings.  For example, movie popcorn and caramel corn are obviously defeating the purpose of having any kind of health food snack in popcorn because of the high fat content of butter (or synthetic butter flavored soybean oil).

Popcorn’s great though because it can be a low fat, high fiber snack that is reasonably filling.  For a whole cup of popcorn, the calories are minimal and if you are buying a brand like Smart Pop or Weight Watchers, you are getting a lot of food that is filling and expands in the stomach because of the fiber content, for low calorie counts.

There are some great low fat butter flavored popcorns that are preportioned so you don’t eat too much, and can be easily popped in the microwave if you look in your snack aisle.  It’s a nice way to change up the boring same old snacks that tend to be associated with dieting and weight watching.  Curves, named after the woman’s gym, also has a great preportioned 100 calorie bag of popcorn that you can throw in the microwave for a quick, low fat and healthy snack that won’t leave you feeling guilty, or still hungry.