Calorie content, benefits and harms of popcorn for the human body. Popcorn calories: how many calories are in a salty and sweet product How many grams are in a liter of popcorn

There is a dangerous myth that it is low in calories because it is so light and weightless. But it's not!

Big bag of popcorn, which can be bought at almost any cinema, contains 1,800 calories. Alas, many movie lovers do not even know about it. Experts believe that people have a right to know.

The British Food Standards Agency believes that popcorn bags, plastic soda cups and ice cream should contain high calorie warnings, found on any other factory-produced food.

Nutrition experts are concerned that moviegoers have recently been fed "horse" doses of so-called "junk" food. After all, one big bag of popcorn calories almost replaces the entire daily diet of an adult. But the feeling of fullness after taking this portion passes very quickly.

Experts have calculated that one large serving of salted popcorn contains 1,779 calories. As much as three servings of pizza, garlic bread or tiramisu.

Cinema owners justify themselves by saying that it is customary to share a large bag of popcorn. Alas, often the viewer eats it alone during a two-hour session.

Portions are growing all the time, now incredibly large packs are being sold. I think they should be lowered. And besides, on all packages should be placed a warning about the approximate calorie content per serving. But it's not just popcorn that we're concerned about. A standard hot dog has 650 calories, a popular Mexican dish called nachos has 716 calories, and a large glass of Coca-Cola has 328 calories.

Popcorn is a favorite delicacy of a huge number of people, it is especially popular when watching movies. It is obtained by heating grains of special corn, which leads to their disclosure and increase in volume. Coming to the cinema and ordering a bucket of delicious popcorn, few people think about its calorie content. This issue is especially important for people who monitor their weight, since such a snack can negatively affect the figure. The energy value of popcorn depends on the additions used, as today there are salty and sweet options.

Properties and calorie content of popcorn

In principle, the benefits of this product is a rather controversial concept. Substances that are in corn pass into these air flakes, but there is one significant "but". The use of various kinds of fillers, dyes, flavors and other harmful substances completely destroy any beneficial properties of corn grains. Nutritionists say that the harm of popcorn lies not only in its high calorie content, but also in the fact that it literally clogs the stomach. As a result, there are problems with and with the work of the digestive system. And this, as you know, the main causes of excess weight.

The most useful is popcorn without additives, the calorie content of which is low. Such a product can only be prepared at home and exclusively from grains, and not semi-finished products. In this case, to prepare 100 g of popcorn, you will need to use only 3 g of salt and 1 tbsp. a spoonful of vegetable oil, although you can do without it. In such a product, useful substances are stored that determine the following properties:

Such popcorn contains healthy carbohydrates that are digested for a long time, which helps to saturate the body for a long time and get rid of hunger.
The composition of popcorn includes a large amount of fiber, which cleanses the intestines from decay products and normalizes its work.
It contains a large amount of B vitamins, which are necessary for the normal development and functioning of the body. They also have a positive effect on the work of the cardiovascular, digestive and nervous systems.
Rich in popcorn and potassium, which helps to remove excess fluid, which in turn relieves swelling and helps regulate water balance. Potassium normalizes blood pressure and improves heart function.

The energy value varies depending on the fillers. Here are the most popular options today:

Now calculate how many calories you eat when you take a big bucket of popcorn at the cinema. This is not a lot, not a little, but about 1300 kcal, which is the daily norm and this is just a couple of hours of pleasure. In addition, after eating any kind of popcorn, you always feel thirsty, and in such establishments people buy sweet carbonated drinks, which are also very high in calories and not at all useful for the figure and body.

Popcorn is a delicacy that is popular all over the world with both children and adults. Not a single trip to the cinema is complete without it. Yes, and at home, with friends or watching a movie, this product brightens up leisure. The assortment pleases with its diversity: traditional, salty, caramel, with different flavors. At first glance, it seems that it can be more harmless than popcorn. But even here there are pitfalls regarding the benefits of consumption and the allowable amount. After all, the calorie content of popcorn directly depends on the composition, which can harm the figure and provoke a number of diseases.

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Composition and calories

Popcorn is made from corn, but not all varieties of the plant are suitable for this. Since the grains should not burst immediately, the shell needs to be denser in order to retain moisture inside for a long time. Under the influence of high temperature, the steam accumulating inside has time to be evenly distributed and during the micro-explosion, the tender pulp sticks out. If you try to make popcorn from ordinary corn, then this effect does not occur.

To date, manufacturers are trying to diversify the range of snacks by introducing various food additives: sugar, salt, fat and flavorings. For this reason, the nutritional value and calorie content (KBZhU) varies. On average, 100 grams of product has about 60-70 grams of carbohydrates, 15 grams of fat and 8-9 grams of protein. The following types are most commonly found on the market:

Sweet: is most in demand among consumers. Caramel is obtained from it, which has a richer taste and a characteristic crunch. An ideal dessert, but very rich in calories: about 500 kcal per 100 grams.
Salty: suitable as an appetizer for beer and various side dishes. Calorie content - 300-330 kilocalories.
cheesy: the composition contains artificial inclusions with a cheese flavor. The approximate number of calories is about 400.

Along with these, there are others that have an attractive multi-colored color: chocolate - brown, berry - red. In this variety, the calorie content is kept within 400 kcal.

To accurately understand the calories eaten, you should roughly know how many calories are in the portions sold:

a small glass (50 grams) - about 180 kcal;
medium (70 grams) - from 250 kcal;
large (100 grams) - over 350 kcal;
a bucket (130 grams) - 470 kcal or more.

For one film show, an adult eats the daily norm of the required number of calories. Despite the high calorie content, the snack consists of useful substances and vitamins. So, B vitamins have a beneficial effect on the structure of hair and nails. Calcium is essential for muscles and bones. Potassium helps the normal functioning of the cardiovascular system.

Vegetable fiber has a positive effect on digestion, prevents constipation. Drinking in large quantities can significantly harm the figure, but to avoid this, popcorn is preferred without any high-calorie additives and dyes.

Benefits of using

The benefits and harms of popcorn are interpreted depending on its composition. The pure product and without oil brings the greatest benefit. Cooked at home, in the microwave, it is preferable for health than sold in cinemas and stores. Considering the beneficial properties, you should rely on natural puffed corn. It contains a lot of vitamin B9 and E, which are not lost even under thermal influence.

Another advantage of popcorn is its high nutritional value - only 50 grams is enough to satisfy your hunger and recharge your batteries for a long period. Therefore, nutritionists recommend replacing them with harmful snacks from sweets and flour products.

Homemade corn is quite safe for both adults and young children. The following useful properties of everyone's favorite delicacy are noted:

normalizes the digestive system;
lowers blood sugar levels;
has a positive effect on the skin;
easily absorbed by the body.

Due to the high carbohydrate saturation, air flakes do not suppress appetite in any way. This is due to rapid digestion and elimination from the stomach. Thanks to vitamins B1 and B2, metabolism is improved, depression is eliminated and the energy resource is quickly restored. Therefore, in acceptable quantities, the product is indicated for athletes and people undergoing daily physical exertion.

During pregnancy and diet

According to recent studies conducted in the United States, popcorn has a high concentration of polyphenols. They have a beneficial effect on the functioning of the heart and liver, and also prevent the development of many serious diseases. If we talk about losing weight, then only a pure product brings benefits - without any flavorings and oils. A minimum inclusion of olive oil, salt and herbal seasonings is allowed.

It is permissible to include it in diets or eat exclusively air grains, then there is no need for other food. It is an ideal addition to a diet based on vegetables, fruits and nuts. Then it is impossible to gain weight, and the benefits for the body will be maximum.

Despite the many advantages of the snack, it should be discarded during pregnancy. The body of a woman during this period is especially sensitive and unpredictable. Given the specificity of the production of popcorn, even at home, it is better not to risk health. The glutamate present in the composition, introduced by manufacturers to enhance the taste, is prohibited for pregnant women. And all kinds of additives can harm the child and mother: salt destabilizes the water balance, and sugar - the pancreas.

Contraindications

Despite the benefits, popcorn has a number of contraindications for use. These include:

individual intolerance;
due to the presence of vitamin K, which enhances blood clotting, it is not recommended to eat people with thrombophlebitis and a predisposition to it;
allergic reaction;
diabetes;
indigestion;
gastritis, gastric and duodenal ulcer.

Harm to health can be caused by the wrong way of preparing this dish. In industrial production and in public leisure establishments, low-quality oil is often used, which contains the dangerous substance diacetyl. Under the influence of high temperature, this flavor adversely affects the upper respiratory tract.

Regarding homemade popcorn, the microwave is used for cooking. Until now, the degree of influence of microwaves on the human body has not been fully studied. Therefore, preference is still given to the traditional method of preparation. In addition, all kinds of additives can provoke oncology.

Cooking at home

It is recommended to cook popcorn yourself at home, which allows you to get a product that is healthy and safe for health. Plus, you can save a lot. There are several cooking options: in the microwave, on a conventional stove and in a special appliance.

The simplest and most common option is a microwave. To do this, just buy the finished workpiece in a bag and place it in the oven. According to the instructions on the package, set to maximum power and stand for 3 minutes. Readiness is determined by outgoing sounds: at first, frequent clicks are heard, which gradually become less frequent.

When they take as a basis not a portioned bag of popcorn (semi-finished product), but loose grains, they are placed in a high heat-resistant container. Preliminary, refined oil is poured into the bottom, preferably olive oil. Heat and pour the grains, cover tightly with a lid. As soon as the characteristic pops subside, the delicacy is ready and can be turned off. The lid is removed when all the flakes open completely and stop shooting.

Now various household appliances have come to the aid of housewives, which greatly facilitate and speed up cooking. These include a popcorn maker.

It is convenient in that the corn grains receive uniform heating and the oil is consumed to a minimum. In this way, it is possible to make a lot of tasty and healthy corn in a short time, without additives. The only negative is the cost of the purchase itself and non-stick components, which are essential. Otherwise, the added sugar will burn and quickly disable the equipment.

Corn popcorn is the perfect snack for any occasion. With the right approach to cooking and eating, delicacy brings only pleasure and benefit. When choosing this product, you should pay attention to the composition: the one without oil and other impurities is considered harmless. It is optimal to purchase lightly salted or sweetened.

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12.11.2015 admin

Popcorn This is the perfect option for a snack on a walk or at the cinema. The popularity of this snack came to us from the West, where going to the cinema is always accompanied by a portion of popcorn. At the same time, many people think that such a snack will not bring harm to the figure, because popcorn itself is voluminous and light.

But in fact, you can easily gain a couple of extra pounds by abusing this crunchy treat.

What is popcorn?

The word popcorn is translated from English as popcorn. And this is no coincidence, since white airy flakes are obtained from a corn grain called popcorn, which, when heated, literally bursts from the inside, as water evaporates, interacts with starch and breaks the shell of the grain.

For the preparation of this snack, a special variety of corn is used, in which the shell is both thin and hard. Such a corn grain can increase its size tenfold. It is from this variety that the largest amount of popcorn is obtained at the output.

The history of this delicacy is very rich; heating corn grains was invented several millennia ago. Historical sources say that such an idea first came to the ancient Indians.

When they realized that maize grains could explode and turn into white fluffy flakes, popcorn immediately became an integral part of their diet. For them, it was a kind of fast food, they took its crushed grains with them on long hikes. It was an ideal option for them - it was not only light, tasty and satisfying, but also had the ability to retain all its properties for a long time.

Sometimes the Indians ate popcorn not only in the usual dry form, but also brewed it with hot water.

According to another version, Mexico, which is rich in corn reserves, is considered the birthplace of popcorn. Popcorn was eaten always and everywhere, its grains were even used as accessories for hair, clothes and beads.

This product reached its peak of popularity during the Great Depression, popcorn was a cheap product available to everyone without exception. His industry flourished during this time.

By the way, today Americans are champions in the use of popcorn.

Types of popcorn

Today there are a huge number of different types of popcorn.

You can see cheese, bacon, paprika flavored popcorn, or colorful caramel-flavored crunchy flakes.

They can be relatively divided into three large groups:

salted popcorn(popcorn sprinkled with salt or a variety of salty seasonings);
caramel popcorn(popcorn doused with a large amount of sugar syrup, which, when solidified, form a caramel crust on the surface of white popcorn flakes);
Popcorn with different flavors(popcorn containing dyes, food additives and flavor enhancers).

Vitamins, minerals and nutritional value of popcorn

Popcorn is a fairly high-calorie product, it contains mainly simple carbohydrates - 80 grams per 100 grams of product. The calorie content of popcorn is approximately 400 calories.

Corn itself contains a huge amount of minerals and vitamins, an amazing property of popcorn is that after heat treatment they are stored in puffed corn. There are B vitamins, vitamin C, PP, phosphorus, potassium, fluorine, molybdenum, copper, iodine, as well as useful fiber and polyphenols.

The benefits and harms of popcorn

Corn in its original form does much more good than harm:

Corn is rich in antioxidants- polyphenols, which are able to protect the body from premature aging.
Popcorn is also high in fiber., its benefit lies in the ability to give rapid satiety while not increasing blood sugar. Fiber is rich in corn husks.
Popcorn contains vitamins B1 and B2, magnesium, potassium, sodium and calcium. They are able to perform a protective function of bone tissue, nail plates and hair.
Popcorn is high in starch., which nourishes nerve cells, stimulates the growth of muscle mass, contains vitamins of group B, PP (nicotinic acid) and E. Since popcorn contains a large amount of carbohydrates, it is able to supply us with a certain amount of energy.

There is no doubt about the beneficial properties of corn for a minute; when used in reasonable quantities, it is able to provide the body with certain minerals and vitamins.

But popcorn made with a lot of oil, sugar, or artificial additives is definitely not good for the human body. But it is precisely such corn that is most often found on store shelves and in cinemas.

Caramel popcorn can easily cause an allergic reaction due to the huge amount of sugar in it, which can lead not only to dental problems, but also to the acquisition of diabetes. Also, various flavors have a harmful effect on health, salty popcorn almost always leads to fluid retention in the human body.

Moreover, after eating a portion of popcorn, you will definitely want to drink. It's fine if you choose plain water, but in most cases, popcorn is washed down with sweet soda water, which enhances the negative effects on the human body. Frequent consumption of popcorn can lead to weight gain and obesity.

popcorn calories

During cooking, popcorn makers can add a variety of flavors, sugar syrup, or salt to the corn. In this case, its energy value increases, but not by much. Regardless of the type of popcorn, its calorie content varies from 300 to 500 calories.

Nutritional value of popcorn per 100 grams of product:

357 calories found in popcorn without additives;
401 calories found in sweet popcorn;
407 calories found in popcorn with salt;
506 calories found in cheese popcorn.

As you can see, plain popcorn is the lowest calorie option out there, so that's another advantage it has over other types of popcorn.

Popcorn in the diet of those who follow the figure

Very often, losing weight try to find an alternative to harmful chips and crackers, they choose popcorn instead. After all, in their opinion, corn grains are healthy and completely low-calorie, since no oil is used in the preparation of popcorn. But after analyzing the calorie content, we can safely say that popcorn in the diet of people who follow the figure should not be a frequent guest.

An alternative is to use homemade popcorn, which can be flavored with a little salt or spices. Moderate consumption of such popcorn will not do any harm at all. A small amount of corn is an ideal snack that can quickly remove the feeling of hunger.

Among chocolate, chips, crackers, chocolate bars - popcorn is a very safe product for treats.

But note that popcorn, which is offered in a circus or a movie theater, contains a huge amount of artificial additives, salt and sugar. Sweet popcorn is not recommended for people prone to rapid weight gain and diabetes. In turn, salty popcorn retains water in the body and thereby disrupts its water-salt balance, harming the joints, spine and kidneys.

In addition, scientists have proven that popcorn is directly related to lung diseases, since special substances are released when corn kernels are heated.

Popcorn is one of the most popular snacks today. But if you follow your figure and your health, then choose popcorn without additives, which you can easily cook at home. It contains fewer calories, and its composition is rich in minerals and vitamins.

Remember that the popcorn that we are offered, for example, in a cinema or a circus, contains a huge amount of flavors, salt and sugar, which means that its beneficial properties can be completely questioned.

Popcorn is also called puffed corn - it really is a kind of corn, the grains of which, due to heat treatment, literally explode, turning into such a delicacy that they invariably like to choose as a snack while watching a movie or at other entertainment events.

The calorie content of popcorn without additives is 367 calories per 100 grams of product.

But do not forget that this is a very nutritious product, so you should not get carried away with it.

How many calories does sweet or salty popcorn contain

Because popcorn in its usual form, without any additives, has absolutely no taste, they try to diversify it in every possible way, adding:

salt;
salty seasonings;
sweet glaze;
powdered sugar;
oil.

All these ingredients can significantly, sometimes up to two times, increase the nutritional value of this product.

The calorie content of popcorn with additives ranges from 400 to 700 calories per 100 grams of product.

So for people who would not want to get extra calories with a portion of this treat, it is better to choose regular popcorn with salt - it has the minimum nutritional value of all the above options.

Homemade popcorn is the most nutritious(i.e. the one that was fried in oil) with the addition of caramel syrup. Such a treat can reach up to 900 calories - of course, the nutritional value in this case will depend on how much syrup is poured onto the grains.

How many grams and calories in a glass of popcorn

In movie theaters and entertainment events, popcorn is usually sold in glasses or buckets. In this case, the yield (weight) of the product is rarely indicated, and the sellers themselves may not know it, pouring it by eye and selling a treat by sight - a glass (large or small), a bucket, etc. But in order to accurately calculate the calorie content of what you eat, you need to know how many grams of popcorn fit in the declared volumes. Traditionally, these are four containers:

a small glass - 50 grams - from 185 calories;
medium glass - 70 grams - from 257 calories;
a large glass - 100 grams - from 367 calories;
bucket - 130 grams - from 478 calories.

What are the benefits of popcorn

Popcorn is a traditional snack at cultural events, so most people who use it do not even think about whether there is any benefit in this product. First of all, it is chosen because of its availability. and because it is pleasant to crunch these salted or sweetened grains. But, besides this, you can get some benefits from this food.

Consider what is contained in 100 grams of popcorn (without filler):

proteins - 7.3 grams;
fats - 13.5 grams;
carbohydrates - 62.7 grams.

Thus, it is one of the most nutritious quick snack options. However, with a large volume of the product, it is also very light, so the largest portion of this treat will not exceed 150 grams.

In addition, puffed corn contains potassium, iodine, magnesium and zinc - trace elements that are very important for the healthy functioning of our body.

Here you can also find vitamin B, which is responsible for nervous regulation and fiber, which has a positive effect on bowel function. Besides, this delicacy is uplifting.
So this product cannot be called completely useless.

Harm of popcorn

Popcorn should not be abused, and the point here is not so much in the nutritional value of this product (which, by the way, is not a minus for everyone, this is a big plus for those who want to gain weight), but in the fact that: