The truth about microwave popcorn?

Off-topic
1

I’m asking. What is the truth about microwave popcorn calories? If something sounds too good to be true then it probably is.

I’ve been watching my snack food calories lately, and seem to have found the perfect food. Microwave popcorn, particularly the ‘94% Fat Free Natural’ flavored.

Get these Nutrition Facts:
: 3 tablespoons per bag, about 3 cups per bag.
: Per Serving:
: Unpopped: 110calories, 20 from fat, Serving Size:3 tablespoons.
: Popped: 15calories, 0 from fat, Serving Size:1 cup.

I only eat the popped corn and I eat the whole bag full, so below I adjust the numbers to be be both based on a full microwave bag.

Per Bag Popped:
: Unpopped: 110calories, 20 from fat, 3 tablespoons.
: Popped: 45calories, 0 from fat, 3 cups

45 calories per bag, and 0 fat! This sounds too good to be true. What happened to the 65calories (110-45) lost when popped and where did the 20calories from fat go?

A clue is a ‘*’ note below the facts which states: 2g total fat in unpopped and as popped 1 cup provides 2g fat (0 saturated). Sounds to me that the note is saying there is 6g fat per bag. At 9calories per gram of fat, that says there are 56 calories per bag.

Including the ‘*’ note data, I summarize:

Per Bag Popped:
: Popped: 45calories plus 56 from fat in 3 cups.

101 calories doesn’t really seem that bad, but 56 calories from fat isn’t great. It’s a lot higher than the 0 calories from the initial fat listed in the Nutrition Facts.

Can anyone explain what is wrong or right with the final 101 total calories I calculated. Is the real number better or worst?

Oh and just to tie this into unicycling. I would like to loose weight to help improve my skills.

2

This belongs in the deep though thread.:wink:

I think the rest of the calories and fat are stuck to the inside of the bag.

I like to keep my math simple. Make a batch of air-popped popcorn, add 1/2 stick of real butter for 400 Fat calories. Wash it down with a beer.

500+ Calories total, 1/4 of you daily caloric needs. :astonished:

3

I was expecting a juicy exposé on trans fat and genetically-modified soybean oil and genetically-modified corn and the hidden hazards of microwaving food and the health hazards of eating nutritionally-devoid grain-based food.

But all I get are questions and math problems. Sigh… :slight_smile:

4

OK yeah, I went way off on a tangent about popcorn here. I searched the web and didn’t find a better explanation than UniBrier’s answer about the fat sticking to the side of the bag. I did find a popcorn joke, and even a song but they are too corny to repeat.

I’ve used UniBrier’s recipe with the beer and butter. Excellent, but that’s how I got into this mess of needing to lose weight.

5

A freind of mine was on the USA Olympic Mountain bike team. He once told me (while we were kayaking) that if you work out hard enough, burn several thousand calories a day, it doesn’t matter what you eat. It all gets burned up. So forget counting calories, just substitute with pork rinds, bike 30 miles and enjoy.

Your welcome.

6

Oh, my! I wasn’t criticizing! I was just being silly. You pose an excellent question and I’d like to know the answer myself!

7

also i’ve heard if you break biscuits in half before you eat them the callories escape :smiley: i’m not sure if it’s true, but we can all hope

8

Only if you give the other half to me. But before I eat one, are these the same things Americans call cookies?

9

yes biscuits = cookies

10

Beauty!

And you’ve covered 2 of the major food groups. Butter and Beer.
Add Caffiene and Chocolate to your day for a completely balanced diet.:smiley: