Nutritional Information For Air-popped Popcorn

Popcorn provides more fiber than snacks made with refined flour while adding fewer calories to your daily total. The American Dietetic Association places popcorn on its list of healthy snacks. The best type of popcorn is air popped -- as long as you don't buy prepopped products that come in bags labeled "air popped," as they may be sprayed with unhealthy oil after they're popped, according to Keep Kids Healthy.

Identification

If you eat 1 cup of air-popped popcorn, you're consuming 31 calories, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Nutrient Database. The majority of these calories come from 6 g of carbohydrates. There's about 1 g of protein and 0.36 g of fat. The standard serving of popcorn is 3 cups. That means you're consuming 93 calories if you skip the butter.

Benefits

Your cup of popcorn has 1.2 g of dietary fiber, with a 3-cup serving providing 3.6 g. Women should consume a minimum of 21 to 25 g of fiber each day. Men need 30 to 38 g a day, according to the Mayo Clinic. Fiber provides a variety of benefits, including help in controlling your blood sugar and weight, lowering cholesterol, normalizing bowel movements and improving bowel health.

Vitamins

Popcorn has a small amount of the vitamins folate and niacin. You get 2 mcg of folate and 0.19 of mg niacin per cup of air-popped corn. That's about 1 percent of your daily recommended intake for each of these. Folate helps your body make new cells, while niacin helps your body convert food into energy, according to the Harvard Medical School.

Minerals

Air-popped popcorn provides a variety of minerals. You get 12 mg of magnesium, 29 mg of phosphorus, .09 mg of manganese and 26 mg of potassium per cup. That translates to about 3 percent of your daily magnesium and phosphorus needs, 4 percent of your manganese requirements and 1 percent of your potassium needs. Magnesium helps regulate your blood pressure, phosphorus protects and builds your bones and teeth, manganese helps your body metabolize carbs and amino acids, and potassium helps your body maintain the proper fluid balance, according to the Harvard Medical School.

Considerations

Using an electric air-popper is the most efficient and healthy way to make your popcorn, says Fred A. Stutman, author of "One Hundred Weight Loss Tips that Really Work." Popping corn with oil instead of air increases the fat content to 3 g per cup of popcorn. That raises your calories to 55 per cup. A cup of microwave popcorn has about 4.8 g of fat and 64 calories.