Popcorn is healthy
29 Mar 2012 by Evoluted New Media
Popcorn might be a popular cinema treat, but popped corn can actually provide more antioxidants than fruit or vegetables.
The snack contains up to 300mg of polyphenols a serving, compared to 114mg for sweet corn and 160mg for all fruit per serving. The high levels of polyphenols are because popcorn only contains about 4% water say researchers from the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania. Fruit and veg, on the other hand, contain about 90% water, and the polyphenols are diluted.
“Popcorn may be the perfect snack food,” said Joe Vinson. “It’s the only snack that is 100% unprocessed whole grain. All other grains are processed and diluted with other ingredients, and although cereals are called ‘whole grain’, this simply means that over 51% of the weight of the product is whole grain.”
Vinson said that one serving of popcorn a day could provide 70% of the daily intake of whole grain, and 13% of the average American’s intake of polyphenols. The average person gets about half a serving of whole grains a day, and popcorn could fill that gap. The study – found that the levels of polyphenols in popcorn rivalled those in nuts, and were 15 times greater than those in whole grain tortilla chips.
Surprisingly, the researchers found that the hulls of popcorn – the nasty bits that get stuck in everyone’s teeth – have the highest concentration of polyphenols and fibre.
“Those hulls deserve more respect. They’re nutritional gold nuggets,” Vinson said.
However, Vinson said the way the popcorn is prepared can quickly chance the healthy appearance of the snack.
“Air-popped popcorn has the lowest number of calories,” he said. “Microwave popcorn has twice as many calories as air-popped corn, and if you pop your own with oil, this has twice as many calories as air-popped corn. About 43% of microwave popcorn is fat, compared to 28% if you pop the corn in oil yourself.”
But popcorn shouldn’t replace fruit and veg, which provide vitamins and other nutrients lacking in popcorn, said Vinson, who also pointed out that dried fruit has a polyphenol edge over regular fruit.
