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Carrion Luggage #1095081 added August 11, 2025 at 9:34am
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That's Corny
I'm trying to get to the movie theater more often again, so finding this article was timely. From Delish:
They call it "movie theater butter" because it has nothing in common with actual butter; that is, no cow titties were ever involved.
Popcorn is one of the most versatile snacks in the world.
Sure. You can eat it, or you can string it up for decoration.
But there are a lot of contradicting opinions about the nutritional merits of popcorn.
Of course there are.
Is popcorn actually a good-for-you snack, or is it something you should avoid if you're trying to eat better?
Uh huh. That depends. Are you a Calvinist (John-not-cartoon-kid) who believes that everything that tastes or feels good must be, by definition, evil?
Since it’s whole grain by nature, it is filled to the brim with fiber.
They couldn't come up with a more appropriate metaphor?
According to experts, another major benefit of popcorn is the high concentration of polyphenols.
"But that's a CHEMICAL!!!"
From a macronutrient perspective, popcorn on its own is an extremely low calorie food.
Right, well, I suspect here is where people start to confuse "popcorn" with "popcorn how people actually eat it."
Look, we can all agree that, say, brussels sprouts are good for you, right? Green vegetable, basically cabbage, and until fairly recently they tasted so bitter people started calling them the Devil's Hemorrhoids. Okay, maybe they didn't, but they could have. The taste was proof (to Calvinists, anyway) that they had to be good for you.
To make them more palatable, people slathered them in butter and cheese and all those things that, at the time, they thought would clog your arteries right up, and even if they didn't, it still increased the calorie count by several orders of magnitude.
The point is, while I'm perfectly content to munch on lightly salted, but otherwise plain, popcorn, not everyone can or will do that, instead adding things that would make even brussels sprouts (or kale, which is really the same plant) unhealthy.
This happens to every "healthy" thing, by the way. Take coffee. No, seriously, take it; I don't drink the stuff. But I don't have to drink it to know about the studies that seem to support its health benefits. But any benefits are from black coffee, which very few people drink. Instead, they'll go to Starsucks and order a venti whipped caramel mocha chocolate frappe latte, or whatever, to the point where you're like "You want any coffee in your flavorings?"
Or yogurt, which is supposedly good for you, but not if you're going to turn it into candy.
Now, look. I'm not saying "don't eat or drink these things." That would be hypocritical. Eat and drink what you want; enjoy life. All I'm urging is that you don't load up your healthy thing with sugar, salt, and fat, and then pretend it's still healthy.
Okay, fine, back to the article.
Popcorn kernels on their own can be considered a healthy food, but its most popular preparations are anything but. “Not all popcorn is created equal," says Elisa Kosonen, RHN, CHC, NNCP. "The biggest concerns come down to how it’s made and what’s added to it."
I suppose all of the capital letters and commas after her name are there to lend gravitas to her statement, which is, after all, practically a tautology. And they might do that if I had the slightest clue what all those initials meant. Sure, I could look it up, but that would be cheating.
"A lot of the pre-packaged or movie-theater versions are loaded with butter, salt, and artificial flavorings, which can turn a light snack into something super high in calories, sodium, and unhealthy fats," Ortiz says.
Which is what I've been saying, but the initials after my name only make my statements about civil engineering meaningful. That's one reason I hardly ever talk about civil engineering: I don't need the liability if I'm wrong. The other is that it's generally boring as shit. (Yes, that's an attempt at a sanitary sewer pun.)
Another thing to worry about? The packaging. "Microwave popcorn is often packaged in bags that may contain chemicals, such as perfluorooctanoic acid," Routhenstein adds.
Oooh, another scary-sounding chemical, followed by the equally scary "acid!" In this case, though, the scariness may be somewhat justified.
So like I said. I believe in eating what you want. But I also believe in being educated about things. As such, I might actually look up that quoted person's credentials. Later. |
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