Popcorn has been popping up everywhere in health food stores, blogs, your name it. Certain types of popcorn tastes delicious and have become my go-to for a mid-day snack. This has led to a pretty interesting question, is popcorn healthy?
Well, surprisingly yes, popcorn is quite a healthy snack. Popcorn is filled with fiber, protein, low in fat, and low in calories. Even better, the air-popped variety has 6 grams of carbs, 0 grams fat, 1 gram protein, and about 1 gram dietary fiber. This is, of course, before all of those tasty toppings. But even some of the topping options are not too bad- especially when considering how tasty a treat it is!
Popcorn can be such a great health food snack because the hull is eaten along with the popped portion. The popcorn hull is also packed with more antioxidants than most fruits and vegetables. According to new research by the American Chemical Society, the popcorn hull has minimal processing and is highly dehydrated, making the antioxidants highly condensed in the hull.
My new favorite kind is the Angie's Snacks Boom Chicka Boom Popcorn. This stuff is crazy good and ridiculously healthy for how tasty it is. The Lightly Sweet variety has 4 grams fat, 21 grams of carbs, 3 grams of fiber and 2 grams of protein for every 3 1/4 cups! Oh, and it only has 120 calories. What?! Awesome. This popcorn is so, so good and the company that makes it is just as incredible. Angie's Popcorn is GMO free, gluten free, kosher, has no high-fructose corn syrup, uses whole grains, and is vegan. They are also part of the fare farming initiative.
Full disclosure: I found this product and loved it. Angie's popcorn has not payed me in any way to advertise their products.