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From:	Jeff Novick, MS, RD, LD, LN (novick.vegsource.com)
Subject:	Re: popcorn
Date:	September 30, 2007 at 12:24 pm PST

In Reply to: popcorn posted by wuzzette on September 30, 2007 at 8:06 am:

In the traditional world of nutrition and portion/serving sizes, a 1 cup serving of popped popcorn, is around 25-30 calories. In this same "traditional" world, a serving of whole grains is around 80 calories. So, around 2.5-3 cups of popped air-pop popcorn would be a "traditional" serving.

Popcorn, inspite of being "fluffy" and appearing to have lots of volume (a key benefit in the world of calorie density) is still a calorie dense food coming in around 1800 calorie/pound. The reason people think it is low in calories is because of its "fluffiness"/Volume. However, that fluffiness/volume comes from air, which doesn't add a lot of weight. In addition, after popping, it remains a fairly "dry" food. In addition, you "chew" most of the fluffiness/volume out of the popcorn, so the "volume" from the fluffiness never makes it to your stomach. Because of these issues, it is calorie dense and not very filling. Therefore, it is easy to overeat on.

So, this is a food, that though technically a "whole grain", if someone has a weight problem, should be limited.

Hope that helps
In Health
Jeff

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