Is science telling me that its ok to gobble down a whole bucket of popcorn? New scientific study shows that its far from being junk food, and that popcorn packs a better nutritional punch compared to fruit or vegetables, kind of.
Conducted at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, it shows that popcorn has more antioxidants in it than fruit or vegetables, and the husks, contain incredibly high concentrations of both antioxidants and fiber.
"Those hulls deserve more respect," explains Joe Vinson, one of the researchers. "They are nutritional gold nuggets." Vinson explains via Science Daily:
"Popcorn may be the perfect snack food. It's the only snack that is 100 percent 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 percent of the weight of the product is whole grain. One serving of popcorn will provide more than 70 percent of the daily intake of whole grain. The average person only gets about half a serving of whole grains a day, and popcorn could fill that gap in a very pleasant way."
A serving of popcorn provides up to 300mg of polyphenols, antioxidants in question, while a typical daily vege or fruit intake will provide you between 200-250mg.
Of course, it needs to be the healthy kind. You should air pop the kernels, and microwave popcorn has twice as many calories as air-popped, according to Vinson, and popping with oil in a pan can be just as bad. [Science Daily]
