Plain, Air Popped Popcorn. Healthy or Not?

[easysurfer]

I've been eating, plain air popped popcorn.

1/2 cup of kernels makes about 2 quarts of popcorn.

Just popcorn, no salt, not butter.

As for health is that pretty much like eating corn from a corn cob without butter and salt? Or is that still considered junk food?

 

[pacergal]

air popped, nothing added=carbs and fiber.
same as corn to me, but I am not a dietician.

 

[OldShooter]

No worries. If the food police don't like it this year, just wait a year or two and it will be back on the approved list.

Few if any of these food pronouncements can be backed up with statistical research because the necessary experiments are impossible. They'd take too long, cost too much, and involve trying to isolate the interactions of hundreds of variables. The best the food police can do is to overdose a few mice and extrapolate.

 

[Sunset]

Probably very healthy, but so tasteless to me..

I've been making popcorn in a paper bag via the microwave.

paper bag size they put a wine bottle in.
1/2 cup kernels.
spray in some olive oil , about 4-5 squirts with our sprayer
1/2 teaspoon of butter flavored salt.
fold down the top of the bank 2 folds.
Put bag in microwave standing up.
2 min in microwave.

Dump in a bowl and enjoy.... while the salt sounds like a lot, most of it is at the bottom of the bowl when done, so it's not all that bad.

 

[NW-Bound]

air popped, nothing added=carbs and fiber.
same as corn to me, but I am not a dietician.

Unless one cannot eat any carb, I don't see that air-popped corn is bad.

And, come to think of it, humans need some fat too, and that's butter. As long as you do not eat a lot of it, I don't see that it's bad.

Salt, on the other hand, is something that's people have a surplus of in their intake. You do not need more of that.

Of course, Koolau would end this post with "YMMV".

 

[KB]

I microwave my popcorn and then spray with a little olive oil spray and add seasoned salt. Pretty tasty when I want a salty snack.

 

[skipro33]

As far as health, it is still a grain and therefore lots of carbs, so there's that. Not keto friendly. Cows seem to gain a lot of weight on corn fed diet.

 

[W2R]

As far as health, it is still a grain and therefore lots of carbs, so there's that. Not keto friendly. Cows seem to gain a lot of weight on corn fed diet.

+1

Not healthy, IMO, but it is sure delicious! Besides, my philosophy is that we have to give ourselves a break once in a long while and enjoy something unhealthy.

 

[folivier]

Seldom eat popcorn but when I do it's in the Whirly Pop with coconut oil. Then a bit of salt. Sometimes I'll microwave syrup and butter until it's almost a caramel and mix that in. Either maple or cane syrup works great, even molasses.

 

[bloom2708]

Try a sprinkle of nutritional yeast on your popcorn.

I make it air or microwave with no butter/oil/salt. Sprinkle on some nutritional yeast.

Once you ween yourself off the butter/salt/oil it has plenty of taste.

 

[Bamaman]

I ate a bag of Act II popcorn the other night. It ran my blood sugar up 100 points approximately.

And popcorn without some kind of butter or oil will not hold onto any appreciable amount of salt seasoning.

I guess that leaves me tasteless rice cakes for a snack.

 

[nap470]

I think the health factor is relative to to what the popcorn is replacing? If air popped, unsalted popcorn is keeping you from eating sugar-filled cookies or donuts, then it is much healthier. Obviously, popcorn would not beat out fruit as a healthier snack.

As with any food, moderation is the key.

 

[audreyh1]

No grains for me.

Air popped popcorn is too high in carbs - no fat will spike your blood sugar. This is a problem fo a lot of people.

 

[Sojourner]

Popcorn made at home with little or no added salt, not slathered with oil/butter, air popped, is certainly healthier than almost any other similar snack food. Good source of fiber, fairly low in net carbs (only 5g/cup). Definitely much better than Doritos or potato chips. But, relative to something like roasted, unsalted almonds or walnuts, not as good. I always add coconut oil to my homemade popcorn to improve the fat/carb balance, and the subtle coconut flavor is really nice.

 

[Amethyst]

We eat air-popped popcorn once a week with a little bit of salt and some Swiss cheese; it's our Netflix snack.

Husband just got his fasting metabolic panel back. Total cholesterol 153; HDL 81. (Wish mine was that good, but heredity).

EDIT: fasting blood sugar, 91.

So I suspect it's not bad for us.

'

I've been eating, plain air popped popcorn.

1/2 cup of kernels makes about 2 quarts of popcorn.

Just popcorn, no salt, not butter.

As for health is that pretty much like eating corn from a corn cob without butter and salt? Or is that still considered junk food?

 

[O2Bfree]

I consider popcorn a health food:

https://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/news/20120325/popcorn-packed-with-antioxidants#1

Popcorn, already known to be a good source of fiber, has higher levels of healthy antioxidants than some fruits and vegetables, according to new research.

"Based on fiber, whole grains, and antioxidant levels, popcorn is the king of snack foods," says Joe Vinson, PhD, professor of chemistry at the University of Scranton.

It does say that further study is needed...

But he isn't suggesting that anyone scrap fruits and vegetables in favor of popcorn. It's not yet clear how much of popcorn's healthy antioxidants get absorbed by the body.

But even so, it can't be too bad for ya. We like it with olive oil (healthy fat) and salt. I'll sometimes sprinkle on dried marjoram or oregano, which also contain antioxidants. Or the nutritional yeast - more healthy stuff plus umami.

At any rate, the King of Snacks in our house is popcorn!

 

[Amethyst]

No wonder! Microwave popcorn even smells poisonous; that fake butter stuff smells so rancid. Used to the be the curse of every office I worked in, until people got together and agreed to ban it in the office microwave. I'm sure there's added sugar, too.

I ate a bag of Act II popcorn the other night. It ran my blood sugar up 100 points approximately.

And popcorn without some kind of butter or oil will not hold onto any appreciable amount of salt seasoning.

I guess that leaves me tasteless rice cakes for a snack.

 

[Amethyst]

We cut up a few slices of Swiss cheese, sprinkle salt on the cheese, and eat a scrap of cheese with each mouthful of popcorn. Net consumption, for two quarts of air-popped popcorn apiece, is about 2 ounces of cheese and 1/2 teaspoon of salt apiece. And tastes really good.

 

[CardsFan]

Try a sprinkle of nutritional yeast on your popcorn.

I make it air or microwave with no butter/oil/salt. Sprinkle on some nutritional yeast.

Once you ween yourself off the butter/salt/oil it has plenty of taste.

+1

DS and soon to be DDIL recommended this to us a while back. Very tasty

 

[Koolau]

Unless one cannot eat any carb, I don't see that air-popped corn is bad.

And, come to think of it, humans need some fat too, and that's butter. As long as you do not eat a lot of it, I don't see that it's bad.

Salt, on the other hand, is something that's people have a surplus of in their intake. You do not need more of that.

Of course, Koolau would end this post with "YMMV".

Yeah, the way I look at it, none of us gets out of here alive. In the pantheon of snack foods, air popped pop corn (hold the grease and flavor) sounds pretty tame. (I tried plain rice cakes and went back to eating my styro cup after coffee.) So (altogether, now) YMMV.

Oh, I forgot

 

[Lewis Clark]

... Salt, on the other hand, is something that's people have a surplus of in their intake. You do not need more of that. ...

Many folks have problems with too much sodium. But other types of salt are available. We have some salt at home based on potassium instead of sodium. We can't taste the difference and it is much healthier for me.

 

[Montecfo]

We cut up a few slices of Swiss cheese, sprinkle salt on the cheese, and eat a scrap of cheese with each mouthful of popcorn. Net consumption, for two quarts of air-popped popcorn apiece, is about 2 ounces of cheese and 1/2 teaspoon of salt apiece. And tastes really good.

Could you just put some parmesan on it?

I'm new to popcorn as health food, but we eat it occasionally, Stir-Crazy.