Health Reasons For Popcorn
Plain popcorn has
already been hailed as a great diet food for its low calorie content but now a
group of scientists claim it may even top fruits and vegetables in antioxidant
levels.
Antioxidants known as
polyphenols have huge health benefits as they help fight harmful molecules that
damage cells. Popcorn was found to have a high level of concentrated
antioxidants because it is made up of just four percent water while they are
more diluted in fruits and vegetables because they are made up of up to 90
percent water.
Researchers discovered
one serving of popcorn has up to 300mg of antioxidants nearly double the 160mg
for all fruits per serving. They also found that the crunchy hulls of the
popcorn have the highest concentration of antioxidants and fiber.
The scientists from the
University of Scranton in Pennsylvania unveiled their discovery at a meeting of
the American Chemical Society in San Diego.
Joe Vinson, researcher,
“Those hulls deserve more respect. They are nutritional gold nuggets,” he said.
But warned that people
can't forgo their five-a-day in favor of popcorn, as it doesn't contain vital
vitamins and nutrients found in fruit and vegetables. Although he added that
popcorn has many other health benefits, stating, “ Popcorn may be the perfect
snack food. It's the only snack that is 100 per cent unprocessed whole grain. All
other grains are processed and diluted with other ingredients, although cereals
are called 'whole grain', this simply means that over 51 per cent of the weight
of the product is whole grain. One serving of popcorn will provide more than 70
per cent of the daily intake of whole grain. The average person only gets about
half a serving of whole grains a day, popcorn could fill that gap in a very
pleasant way.”
The scientists warned
that preparation is key to culling popcorn's health benefits, “Air-popped
popcorn has the lowest number of calories while microwave popcorn has twice as
many calories as air-popped.”
BY Portia
Terrific info.
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