Can Diabetics Eat Popcorn? (Plus Seasonings)

Are you looking for a low-carb snack that is good for diabetes? Maybe you are wondering if people with diabetes can eat popcorn.

People with diabetes can eat popcorn without worrying about blood sugar excursions. Popcorn has a relatively low amount of carbohydrates and a high amount of fiber in a serving. A 3-cup serving without any toppings has18 g carb and 3 g fiber, which will not likely raise blood sugar.

Keep reading if you want to find out:

Popcorn Nutrition Value

What are the Health Benefits of Popcorn for People with Diabetes?

Popcorn contains many important nutrients, which are beneficial for people with diabetes. According to the FDA, these include the following:

• Fiber
• Thiamin (vitamin B1)
• Niacin (vitamin B3)
• Pyridoxine (vitamin B6)
• Iron
• Phosphorous
• Magnesium
• Potassium
• Zinc
• Copper
• Manganese
• Antioxidants

Is Popcorn a Whole Grain Food or a Refined Grain?

Popcorn is considered a whole grain, which means it has high-quality carbohydrates. A whole grain contains the entire kernel of the grain. This includes the bran, the germ, and the endosperm.

Refined grains have undergone a process called milling, where the brown and germ are removed. This is done to improve the shelf life of the grain, and to give the grain a finer texture. Unfortunately, the milling process removes dietary fiber, iron, and several vitamins.

What is the Glycemic Index (GI) of Popcorn?

The Glycemic Index is a scale from 1 to 100 that tells you how fast the sugar enters the bloodstream after consumption. The higher the score, the faster your blood sugar will spike.

This can be useful for a person with diabetes to know so they can help predict a postprandial (after meal) blood sugar with any given food, including popcorn.

Popcorn has a glycemic index of 55, making it a healthier option and lowering the risk of hyperglycemia (high blood sugar). However, this only applies to popcorn with no sugars or carbohydrates in it.

Popcorn with salt, butter, and oils will still have a glycemic index of 55 because sodium and fats will not increase the GI.

Sweetened popcorn, such as caramel corn or kettle corn will have a higher glycemic index because of the added sugars, with a GI of 85-89.

GI is not a diet, but rather a tool when making food choices. The purpose of GI is to allow people to see how likely a food is to cause a large increase in blood sugar. It is not entirely reliable because it does not specify portion sizes, total calories, proteins or fat.

Popcorn Preparation Options for People with Diabetes

Popcorn can be enjoyed in many different ways: covered in butter at the movie theater, coated in caramel or cheese powder, popped in the microwave, made in a pot of oil on the stove, or popped in your hot air popper.

Because people with diabetes should generally avoid excess oil or butter, the best method to make diabetes-friendly popcorn is to use your air-popper.

Air Popped Popcorn

Air-popped popcorn on its own is your most healthful choice because it has 3 grams of fiber per cup. It also contains vitamins and minerals, well as some antioxidants.

Too much salt can be troublesome for anyone with heart problems, and heart problems are more common in people who have diabetes. It is best to keep your popcorn unsalted and unbuttered.

Adding sugary, salty, and fatty toppings may taste delicious, but you will defeat the goal of using popcorn as a healthful snack

Butter, for example, is a saturated (solid at room temperature) fat, and too much of it is not good for the heart. It also adds excessive and unnecessary calories, which does not favor your waistline.  

Air-popped, unsalted, and unsweetened popcorn is the most healthful, but as you know, it tastes rather bland.

What are some Healthful Toppings I can use to Flavor my Air-Popped Popcorn?

To add flavor to your popcorn without adding fats and calories, try any of the following:

• A small amount of grated, low-fat cheese, such as Parmesan
• A drizzle of olive oil or balsamic vinaigrette
• Black pepper and olive oil
• White pepper
• A splash of lemon or lime juice
• Nutritional yeast (healthy, vegan option)
• Italian herbs
• Cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes
• Chili powder
• Garlic powder
• Cinnamon

My Flavoring Tip:

When flavoring your own popcorn, be sure to apply your seasonings when the popcorn is still hot. Your flavors will adhere nicely.

Dell Cove Sugar-Free Popcorn Seasonings

If you’d like to purchase your sugar-free, no-sodium, or low-sodium seasonings instead of using your own, visit Dell Cove Spices for flavorful and healthful options.

What About Other Popcorn Preparations?

Microwave Popcorn

Microwave popcorn is quick and easy when you are in need of a quick snack. However, microwave popcorn is often loaded with fat and sodium. They tend to have more calories, as well.

Trans fats are no longer used in microwave popcorn products, but some companies are now using palm oil, which is 50% saturated fat. Palm oil has less saturated fat than butter and contains no trans fat. However, just because it contains no trans fat, that doesn’t make it a healthy food.

Microwave popcorn is quick, easy, and relatively inexpensive. However, some features of microwave popcorn could produce negative health effects.

The Negatives of Microwave Popcorn:

• PFCs or perfluorinated compounds are used in the design of the bag. They are added to the inside of the bag to keep the grease from seeping out. PFC breaks down to a known carcinogen, which has been linked to cancer, as identified in a United States environmental protection agency report.
• Microwave popcorn contains preservatives, including TBHQ (tert-Butyldrquinone). NLM (the National Library of Medicine) cites studies that reveal that TBHQ causes convulsions, liver enlargement, neurotoxic effects, and paralysis in laboratory animals when consumed.
• It contains hydrogenated oils, soybean, or canola oil, which have been shown to contribute to inflammation.
• Diacetyl, the “artificial butter” in microwave popcorn, was phased out of microwave popcorn production by the year 2015. Studies found respiratory issues connected to diacetyl so much that OSHA (occupational safety and health administration) recommended controlled exposure to factory workers working with the product due to the risk of bronchiolitis obliterans, or inflammation of the small airways in the lungs. The disease was discovered in the workers who were inhaling the flavored chemical.

*Side note:

Diacetyl is legal in the United States, and is approved by the FDA (US Food and Drug Administration). You will never see this on a nutrition label; it is one of the items included under “artificial flavorings” or “natural flavorings.”

If your microwave popcorn is advertised as having a “”buttery flavor,” chances are the products will contain diacetyl.

Stove or Oil Popped Popcorn  

Popcorn prepared on the stovetop with oil contains more calories and can help you feel full longer, and you might not feel the need to eat more.

Homemade popcorn made with olive oil or avocado oil is your healthiest option, but other substitutes for butter include: coconut oil, olive oil, canola oil, avocado oil, vegetable oil, grapeseed oil, sesame oil, or ghee.

Grapeseed oil: Not recommended for making popcorn due to the high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA).

Movie Theater Popcorn

As you may have guessed, movie popcorn is the most unhealthy choice when selecting popcorn. It is served in very large portions, and if you get all of the toppings, is loaded with fat and sodium.

I contacted the AMC Theaters in both Duluth Minnesota, and Hibbing Minnesota to collect my data. Both locations use coconut oil when preparing their popcorn.

Coconut oil contributes to the delicious flavor of your movie popcorn, but it is a saturated fat (solid at room temperature). For this reason, I do not recommend the use of coconut oil on a regular basis.

Movie Theater Butter Flavored Oil

The butter on the movie popcorn is really a butter-flavored oil, and contains no butter at all. The butter-flavored oil is a partially hydrogenated soybean product that has been colored and flavored. The yellow coloring comes from “Flavacol,” a super fine, yellow salt.

The specific ingredients in this product include soybean oil, artificial butter flavoring, TBHQ and citric acid (added as antioxidants).

Movie Theater Popcorn Portion Sizes- Tubs

When I was gathering information on the nutrition details for each serving of popcorn offered, I was shocked by what I found! I knew the numbers were high, but seeing them in print was more astonishing than I anticipated!

A small tub of plain popcorn is 90 oz or 11.25 cups, which is 3.75 carb choices, if you are following a carbohydrate-controlled meal plan. This would be considered enough carbohydrates for one meal, according to most meal plans. The small tub of unbuttered popcorn provides 300 calories.

A medium tub of plain popcorn is 130 oz or 16.25 cups. This is just short of 5.5 carb choices on the carb-counting meal plan. The medium tub of unbuttered popcorn provides 600 calories.

A large tub of plain popcorn is 190 oz or 21.25 cups. This is considered 7 carb choice and exceeds the recommendations of any meal on any carb-counting meal plan. The large tub of unbuttered popcorn contains 970 calories.

Note that these values apply to coconut oil-popped movie theater popcorn with NO butter, and NO added salt.

AMC theaters in other cities and states may offer different sizes and/or preparations. Some theaters may pop their popcorn and canola oil, and others offer caramel corn or cheese corn. Your AMC theater may even offer a 170 oz tub, or 21.25 cups!

To read more nutrition information on AMC popcorn and other snacks, visit AMC Theatres nutrition information.

The Buttery Flavoring on your Movie Theater Popcorn adds Calories

A “pat” of real butter is 1 tbsp (14.2 g). The individually wrapped, small squares of butter that you receive with your meal in a restaurant is an example of a “pat” of butter. One pat of butter contains 102 calories from fat.

If you opt for butter-flavored popcorn topping on your movie theater popcorn, you know that you are not getting just one or two “pats” of the product. Rather, you are likely getting one or two “pumps” of butter from the “butter” pumps.

One tablespoon of the butter-flavored popcorn topping has 120 calories.

The two representatives I spoke with from both movie theaters could not tell me how much butter was dispersed when they provide you with your shot of “butter.” As we know, it’s a lot more than 2 pats, and the calories can add up quickly.

What is One Serving of Popcorn for a Person with Diabetes?

A standard serving of popcorn is 4 to 5 cups of popped kernels. If you have diabetes, the serving size is 3 cups.

A serving size of 3 cups fits nicely into a carbohydrate-controlled, or “carb counting” meal plan. If you are on a carb-counting meal plan, you will recall that one carb choice is 15 grams of carbohydrates. Since 1 cup of popped popcorn contains about five or 6 g of carbohydrates, your 3 cups of popcorn equal one carb choice, at about 15 g of carbohydrates.

My Personal Favorite:

For nice, fluffy popcorn, I use smaller kernels. I buy Amish baby white popcorn kernels. They are extra small, tender, and hulless.

This type of popcorn is a favorite among popcorn fans. Your popcorn will have a tender texture, a perfect snack. Flavor any of my suggested toppings.

Conclusion

Popcorn is a low-carb, low-calorie, high-fiber snack that can fit into the diabetes meal plan. It is a healthful snack choice for someone with diabetes if portioned correctly and prepared appropriately.

LeeAnna Stock-Luoma RD, LD, CD, CDCES

Thanks for stopping by my Dealing With Diabetes blog! My name is LeeAnna.