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Popcorn is mother nature’s most awesome snack. Almost everyone I know loves popcorn. And it is a healthy, good for you food. Bring on the popcorn!
Popcorn is a whole grain. One cup of air popped popcorn contains approximately 30 calories. As a whole grain, it is high in vitamins, nutrients, and minerals while delivering a huge amount of fiber.
Popcorn packs a major punch of nutrition, yet it makes a difference how you prepare your popcorn. Along with not covering your popcorn in fake butter or sugary toppings, you need to know a few other things about how your popcorn is prepared.
This is especially true if you eat the premade microwave popcorn bags. There are two chemicals used in this type of popcorn that change this from a healthy snack to a toxic one.
These two chemicals are diacetyl and the chemical PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid, also known as C8). Yikes! I didn’t work so hard to heal from Hashimoto’s to just go back to having chemicals in my food.
POPCORN: ADDED CHEMICALS
Diacetyl is a chemical that is in the artificial butter flavoring that is used in microwave popcorn. This chemical has been linked to a rare lung disease called bronchiolitis obliterans, although, it is sometimes referred to as “popcorn worker’s lung.”
When diacetyl is inhaled into the lungs repeatedly in vaporized form, the lungs become damaged and eventually destroyed. The only cure for this disease is a lung transplant. Many say that it is ok to eat this chemical as long as you don’t inhale it regularly over time, but knowing this I am not sure why you would.
The other chemical named PFOA, is used in the lining of microwave popcorn bags. PFOA is used for Teflon and other stain or stick resistant materials. This includes pizza boxes.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identified PFOA as likely carcinogenic. It did not conclude if PFOA was a cancer risk to humans, however, animal studies have identified 4 tumors in rats and mice exposed to PFOA. The 4 tumors are pancreatic, liver, testicular and breast cancer related to exposure of PFOA.
While these scientific studies have not solidified a link between microwave popcorn bags or other products containing trace amounts of PFOA to a rise in cancer in humans, the chemical has been shown to cause cancer and birth defects in animals.
PFOA is so common that it’s found in the blood of 95 percent of Americans.
MAKING HEALTHY POPCORN
It may not seem noteworthy, however, many people are not aware of some easy ways to make this healthy and delicious snack.
My favorite (and easy!) way to make popcorn is using this silicon popcorn bowl. This popcorn bowl has measurement lines on the bottom to pour in my organic popcorn grains. I generally use ½ a cup, enough for my husband and myself together.
Then, with no oil, I put the lid on it and stick it in the microwave for 4 minutes. When it comes starts to have 2-3 seconds between pops, I pull it out. Sometimes it takes the entire 4 minutes, other times it finishes 15 seconds early. Just as simple as the bag popcorn!
After popping, I can add REAL butter and sea salt to make my popcorn taste delicious. Real food is always better than chemical laden, fake food substitutes.
And just like that- healthy, delicious popcorn! How do you like to season your popcorn?