Popcorn can help you lose weight. Homemade air-popped popcorn isn’t a guilty pleasure. Actually, popcorn can help you lose weight.
Is popcorn good for losing weight?
Air-popped popcorn is the ideal snack for losing weight. Popcorn is really low in calories, but high in fiber. A cup of popcorn has only 31 calories, 1g of fiber and 1g of protein. Popcorn keeps you full for a long time. You can even eat it late at night as a healthy snack.
How I lost weight eating popcorn late at night?
I’m a night eater. I always enjoyed a healthy meal late at night, watching my favorite TV program. Sounds familiar?
I couldn’t lose some extra pounds, even after I started running. As it was really difficult for me to quit dinner late at night, I decided to cut down calories. After all, eating late at night doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll gain weight.
My dinner used to be about 500-700 calories. So, I decided to eat popcorn instead. A cup of air-popped popcorn has only 31 calories, while a serving of 5 cups has only 150 calories (1).
Eating popcorn is a great late night snack. It helped me consume fewer calories late at night.
Actually, caloric deficit is the necessary in order to lose weight. We have to burn 3,500 calories in order to lose 1 pound of body weight.
Is popcorn healthy for losing weight?
Eating popcorn is pretty healthy. After all, popcorn is a whole-grain-food. It’s high in mineral, fiber, and even polyphenols, while it contains decent amounts of protein!
Nutritional value of popcorn
Above all, popcorn is particularly high in fiber. Fiber keeps us full for a long time, helping us lose weight.
A cup of air-popped popcorn has 1g of fiber. Therefore, a serving of popcorn (5 cups) contains more than 6g of dietary fiber. We need about 28g of fiber a day. So, eating popcorn provides about 22% of the daily required dose.
Additionally, just a cup of air-popped popcorn contains many minerals and antioxidants. Certainly, eating popcorn is good for your health. Analytically, according to the USDA, a cup of popcorn contains (1):
- calcium (0.56 mg),
- iron (0.25 mg),
- magnesium (11.4 mg),
- phosphorus (28.6 mg),
- potassium (26.2 mg),
- zinc (0.25 mg),
- lutein & zeaxanthin (116 mcg).
As you can see, just 1 cup of popped popcorn is rich in nutrients. For instance, lutein and zeaxanthin are powerful carotenoids, which are very important for eye health.
Homemade popcorn: Hot air machine vs microwave
If you want to lose weight, you should eat only homemade popcorn. Commercial popcorn is pretty high in calories. It’s packed with sugars and fat.
There are 2 easy ways to prepare low-calorie popcorn at home. You can use a hot-air popcorn maker or just put corn kernels in the microwave.
I personally use a hot-air popcorn machine. I bought a simple popcorn machine from Amazon.
If you have a microwave, you could use one of these silicone popcorn poppers. In a couple of minutes, you’ll enjoy popcorn.
When does eating popcorn become bad for weight loss?
Popcorn is great for losing weight because it’s low in calories and keeps you full for a really long time.
But, you should avoid any calorie-dense seasoning. Most seasoning are pretty high in calories. For instance, a cup of caramel coated popcorn has about 150 calories! 5 times more calories than simple air-popped popcorn.
Can I depend on popcorn for losing weight?
We lose weight when we consume fewer calories than we burn. Popcorn could help us be in a caloric deficit. Certainly, popcorn should be part of a healthy, well-balanced diet.
QUIZ: Why can’t I lose weight on a plant-based diet?
Yes!
Hmm
Yes!
Hmm
Yes!
Hmm
Yes!
Hmm
Yes!
Hmm
Yes!
Hmm
Yes!
Hmm
Yes!
Hmm
Yes!
Hmm
Yes!
Hmm
Yes!
Hmm
Yes!
Hmm
Yes!
Hmm
Yes!
Hmm
Share the quiz to show your results !
Subscribe to see your results
I got %%score%% of %%total%% right
Loading...
