Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Pop This for More Antioxidants

Here is a 2014 food trend – popcorn is coming back. Watch for it with new flavors and seasonings. Seems popcorn is a great snack. It contains more polyphenols (healthy antioxidants) than fruit and vegetables! Popcorn contains only about 4 percent water while fruits and vegetables contain about 90 percent. Because of this the polyphenols in fruits and vegetables are diluted while those in popcorn are concentrated. Popcorn contains about 300mg of polyphenols per serving, sweet corn 114mg and fruit 160mg.
While popcorn is a great snack and a good source of fiber, we still need to eat our fruits and vegetables. They contain valuable phytonutrients that are not found in popcorn.
Caveat – popcorn needs to be air popped. Air popped is healthy and is only about 100 calories a serving where oil popped has two to three times the amount of calories. Adding butter adds calories!
So air pop and when hot sprinkle the popcorn with spices such as oregano, basil or fresh ground pepper. Try chili pepper or seasoning salt.
Spices sprinkled on hot popcorn enhance the flavor without adding calories!
POP for health! Check out an heirloom popcorn – Tiny But Mighty Pop Corn.

Doctor Lynn

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