Popcorn is one of the favorite snacks in the U.S. with Americans consuming about 16 billion quarts of it every year. Modern Americans are not the first group with this popcorn fixation, however, as archeologists in New Mexico found 4,000-year-old popcorn in cave. While it's doubtful that these ancient forebears ate popcorn because it was a low-calorie food, we do know that it was an important part of ancient food cultures in South America and Meso-America.
Variations
The calorie content of popcorn depends on how it is popped. Air-popped popcorn has the fewest calories with a mere 31 calories per cup. Popcorn made using heated oil racks up 55 calories per cup. Microwave popcorn has anywhere from 32 calories for low-fat popcorn to 60 or 70 calories per cup for regular varieties. Novelty popcorns that are coated with sugar syrup or caramel can have 150 or more calories per cup.
Calorie Sources
The main source of calories in air-popped popcorn is from carbohydrates, which account for 81 percent of the calories. This is different from the main source of calories in microwave oil-popped popcorn in which 54 percent of the calories come from fat. Regardless how the corn is popped, protein accounts for roughly 2 percent of the calories.
Calories and Fiber
Regardless how it is made, 1 cup of popcorn has between 0.9 and 1.2 g of fiber. The Harvard School of Public Health recommends that people consume 14 g of fiber for every 1,000 calories they eat. A 1-cup serving of popcorn that has 70 calories and 1 g of fiber has exactly the same ratio of fiber to calories that the Harvard School of Public Health recommends.
Other Nutrients
While all types of popcorn are not a significant source of iron, calcium, vitamin A and vitamin C, 1 cup of oil-popped popcorn supplies 0.82 g of protein. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that adults need 0.8 g of protein per kg of body weight per day. Three cups of popcorn supply 3 percent of the daily protein requirements for a 120-lb. woman. This suggests that the calories in popcorn are not empty calories.
Sodium
In addition to being low in calories, popcorn is also relatively low in sodium. One cup of oil-popped microwave popcorn has only 88 mg of sodium. Given that the Harvard School of Public Health recommends that people consume only 1,500 mg of sodium per day, a serving of popcorn will not damage efforts to maintain a low-sodium diet.
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