January is popcorn month and Karen at Wellness Works NW’s favorite snack is popcorn. It is crunchy and meets the snack needs she has. Popcorn is a healthy snack. It is high in fiber. It is also high in phenolic acid which is an antioxidant. Popcorn also has a ton of B Vitamins, manganese, and magnesium. These are all things our bodies need.
Popcorn is a small kernel that comes from a similar type of corn, used to make masa, that when exposed to heat pops. Popcorn has been around for around 5,000 years and we American’s consume around 1.2 Billion pounds a year.
They say that popcorn was at the first Thanksgiving feast in 1621. A French explorer wrote about the Iroquois Indians popping tough corn in clay jars in sand. In 1840, a man named Daniel Brown put the first popcorn recipe in a cookbook. It was made with beer on a grill. In the 1890’s a Entrepreneur from Chicago invented the first popcorn popping machine. The microwave was invented by Percy Spencer in 1946. He worked for the Raytheon Manufacturing Company. In the early 1980’s microwave popcorn started becoming popular because of the convenience and healthy snack options for kids and family during home movie nights. Popcorn has had a rich American history and even a Mexican history with the Aztecs.
Here are Reasons Popcorn is Good for Your Health:
- It improves digestion
- It lowers cholesterol
- It regulates the blood sugar
- It aids in weight loss
Here are Some Tips to Making Healthy Popcorn:
- If you get microwave popcorn make sure you get the reduced salt and reduced fat variety.
- If you pop it yourself use olive oil, coconut oil, or avocado oil instead of butter or vegetable oil.
- Add herbs and spices, such as cinnamon, rosemary, basil, or other herbs you may like instead of butter
- Remember portion control. A serving of air popped popcorn is 30 calories before the butter is added to it. If you add butter or oil it is 80 calories.
Karen's Favorite Popcorn
Karen LOVES it when Summer air pops popcorn and adds:
- a blend of coconut and olive oil
- Himalayan sea salt
- black pepper
- granulated garlic
Having healthy snack options helps maintain a wellness plan and wellness goals for everyone. Popcorn can and is a healthy option for snacking. It is delicious. It is crunchy. You can flavor it in many ways, and you get key nutrients for your body from eating it.
Karen and the Wellness Works NW Team is happy to help you with your wellness goals in 2021 and even help you choose a healthy popcorn for snacking. If you would like to learn more check out our Resources and WWNW’s YouTube Channel (Don’t Forget to Subscribe!).
Here are some links I would like to share with you:
- 5 Surprising Benefits of Popcorn by John Staughton, BASc, BFA for Organic Facts
- All About Popcorn: Nutritional Information by PopCorn.org Staff
- Health Benefits of Popcorn by WebMD Staff
- Popcorn Nutrition Facts: A Healthy, Low-Calorie Snack? by Kayla McDonell, RD for HealthLine
- Image Credit: Popcorn: A “Pop” History by Tori Avey for PBS.org
Related Articles:
- National Kidney Month 2020
- Fat Cells 200: How Our Bodies Use Fat
- Learning About Salt
- Product Review: Lorissa’s Herb Roasted Turkey Cuts
- Product Review: SlimFast Keto Fat Bomb Caramel Cup
To look for a particular topic please see our Healthy Living Blogs page. If you don’t find what you are looking for please click on the button below to fill out a request form and someone from Our Team will be glad to research it for you for FREE!
Jamie Holloway is a co-owner of Wellness Works NW and she is also our Research Manager and writes our Chasing Wellness with Jamie Holloway and Dear Jamie columns. Jamie is also an Independent Wellness Advocate at dōTERRA. She lives in the Portland, Oregon area. Since October 2011 she has been sharing her Journey Toward Health and Wellness with Vasculitis through her blog at JamieChasesButterflies.com. We hope you are as inspired as we are with the raw candor Jamie uses in her writing. If you would like to help support Jamie’s writing efforts please Donate now.
