Popcorn when it is not covered with butter and salt is already known to be a healthy snack food and now a group of scientists say it may even top fruits and vegetables in antioxidant levels.
According to researchers they found great amounts of antioxidants known as polyphenols in popcorn and explained that the substances are more concentrated in the snack, which is made up of about four percent water, while the antioxidants are more diluted in fruits and vegetables, many of which are made of up to 90 percent water. That's the same principle that gives dried fruits an antioxidant edge over their fresh counterparts.
One serving of popcorn has up to 300mg of polyphenols, which is much higher than previously believed and nearly double the 160mg for all fruits per serving, according to the researchers, who presented their findings at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Diego.
However the scientists warned, though, preparation is key to getting popcorn's health benefits. “Air-popped popcorn has the lowest number of calories, of course,” said Joe Vinson of the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania. “Microwave popcorn has twice as many calories as air-popped, and if you pop your own with oil, this has twice as many calories as air-popped popcorn. About 43 percent of microwave popcorn is fat, compared to 28 percent if you pop the corn in oil yourself.”
“Based on fiber, whole grains, and antioxidant levels, popcorn is the king of snack foods,” said Vinson. Vinson and Michael Coco, Jr., a chemistry student at the university, analyzed four commercial brands of popcorn, including two air-popped and two microwave varieties. They evaluated antioxidants known as polyphenols. These compounds are found in a wide variety of plants.
Antioxidants undo the damage that can be done by unstable molecules known as “free radicals.” “Everyone knows plant foods have antioxidants,” Vinson told WebMD. “But nobody has even looked at what is in popcorn with respect to these compounds.” Vinson and Coco ground up the hull and the “fluffy stuff,” Vinson says, and checked the polyphenol levels. Most of the polyphenols - about 90% - were in the hull, Vinson says. “Those hulls deserve more respect,” said Vinson. “They are nutritional gold nuggets.”
The four brands tested had slightly different serving sizes, from a little under an ounce to a little over. The antioxidants per serving ranged from about 242-363 milligrams (mg). In comparison, they found that a serving of many fruits has about 160 mg of polyphenols. Popcorn's polyphenols are not as diluted with water as those are in fruit, Vinson says.”Popcorn starts out about 15% water and ends up a couple percent.”
The study is a good first step, but it wasn't designed to measure health benefits, says Jeffrey B. Blumberg, professor of nutrition at Tufts University and senior scientist and director of Tufts' Antioxidants Research Laboratory. The next step is to figure out how much of popcorn's polyphenols get out of the hull and into your gut, Blumberg said. Vinson agrees. Blumberg is studying polyphenols and other substances in whole grains. He is evaluating how much of the compounds, and which ones, get into the blood. That study is supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and cereal maker Kellogg's. “We already know whole grains are good for you,” Blumberg said. What scientists now need to figure out, he told WebMD, are which components are really important in improving health. The information could be useful for people who grow crops, he says. They could then grow the crops to produce whole grain with more of the compounds found to be healthiest.
The Vinson study does suggest that popcorn is not bad as a snack, says Kantha Shelke, a Chicago food chemist and spokeswoman for the Institute of Food Technologists. “Popcorn is a whole grain,” she said. “It's minimally processed.” But more information is needed, she said, on what amount of popcorn's antioxidants actually go to work in your body.
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