Calories in Pocorn
The 20 calories is probably the unpopped calories, not the popped. The bag will usually also list calories per cup of popped popcorn. That is easier to figure out. Usually 3 cups popped is generally accepted as a serving. The bag, though, usually details both popped and unpopped. I always just look at the popped.
The confusion really begins when we look at the many kinds of microwave popcorn available. The brand popcorns lowest in fat, like Healthy Choice and Orville Redenbacher’s “Smart Pop” or “Light Natural,” have just 45 to 60 calories and one to two grams of fat in a three-cup serving. But if you choose the “theater style” or “ultimate butter” types, don’t try to convince yourself it’s health food. A three-cup serving (usually a third or less of the bag) of this type of popcorn has 120 to 135 calories and 8 to 12 grams of fat. And keep in mind that the saturated fat listed is not the only part of the fat that hurts your health. Trans fats raise blood cholesterol and may have other undesirable effects, but they are not specifically listed on the label.
The size of your portion is the major health issue. The nutrition information on boxes of microwave popcorn is often listed by the cup, or is based on a standard three-cup serving. If you eat the whole bag, equal to three to five of these standard servings, the lightest popcorns provide a moderately reasonable 145 to 300 calories. Eating the whole bag of high-fat versions makes the impact greater, of course: 400 to 500 calories and 35 grams of fat.
Nutritional information is not widely available about the popcorn sold in movie theaters. A few years ago, one report said that the smallest portions (often six cups, or double the standard serving) contain about 20 grams of fat. The large buckets reportedly contain 80 grams of fat, or almost 130 grams if served with added butter. If true, the fat content in that snack would be comparable to three to five Big Macs or six to 10 candy bars.
Regards,
D. Renee
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