Why you should eat popcorn? Did you know that the average American consumes around fifty quarts of popcorn each year? That’s a lot of popcorn! It turns out there are some excellent reasons why reaching for popcorn the next time you snack is a good idea. Here are 4 reasons why eating popcorn (maybe hold the butter, though!) is a good idea:
Why You Should Eat Popcorn
Healthy Snack
Air-popped popcorn has only thirty calories per cup. If you choose to pop it with oil on the stove, it has only fifty calories per cup. Depending on how it is prepared, popcorn can have less than half the fat of regular potato chips. This makes it a great diet food! It’s also high in fiber, making it suitable for dieters because it fills you up without weighing you down. Since numerous studies have shown that whole grain foods are healthier because they are high in fiber, popcorn is a more nutritious snack than other carbohydrate or sugar-loaded snacks.
Another reason popcorn is such a healthy snack that it is rich in nutrients. It has protein, fiber, antioxidants, phosphorous, and even iron. It is known as a “nutrient-dense” food, which means that it contains a high amount of nutrients and is low in calories. Most other snack foods contain a relatively small amount of nutrients.
Versatile Snack
Popcorn is an incredibly versatile snack which means that it tastes great with various ingredients. Try it with chocolate, caramel, and even cheese toppings! This means that you can use your creativity once you pop it. It’s even an excellent addition to your main course as a breading instead of breadcrumbs, and you can even use it when making cocktails! However, if creating a healthy snack is your goal, make sure that the ingredients you blend with the popcorn don’t contain too many calories.
Gluten-Free
Are you following a strict, gluten-free diet? If so, popcorn is one of those foods that you can eat! However, you may want to pop the popcorn yourself to be safe. Some manufacturers use the same facility to process popcorn as they do for other foods that have gluten, which means that cross-contamination is a possibility. Check with the manufacturer to make sure the popcorn is safe.
Cost-Effective
When you buy the kernels yourself, popcorn costs around twenty cents an ounce; this means that a batch of air-popped popcorn will cost less than a dollar to make. Since the kernels are so inexpensive, popcorn purchased in the store is also a cost-effective choice compared to other snack foods.
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