Sorry, I couldn't resist that…the slogan"kale is the new beef" has always made me laugh, knowing as soon as the next superfood on the horizon…and its marketers…figure out a way to bump kale out of its current favored superfood slot, it will be pushed to the last word in that slogan!
I was so interested to read a new study this week about a favorite"diet" food, popcorn, that we sometimes think of as being pretty empty nutritionally but something to satisfy the need to crunch. Turns out, popcorn is more than a pretty face, it's got some great antioxidant power!
Some scientist, and I'm guessing someone who's not so fond of green food, decided to run popcorn through antioxidant testing and it scored pretty well! In fact, because the water in fruits and vegetables dilutes the concentration of polyphenols (the type of antioxidant popcorn contains), ounce for ounce, the antioxidant content of dryer popcorn is even higher.
Remember, however, that the way you fix popcorn can quickly detract from this nutritional potential. We're not talking kettle corn here, and we're not talking pre-prepared microwave envelopes, and we're certainly not talking movie popcorn. Here are three ways you can take advantage of popcorn and keep it focused on the good part.
1. Air pop it. Simple enough.
2. Make your own microwave popcorn. Here's a great set of instructions from the Snack Girl blog.
3. Trader Joe's sells a bagged popcorn cooked in olive oil, which I will go for in a pinch.
There you have it, a whole grain, low fat, high fiber, low glycemic, anti-oxidant snack. Enjoy!
American Chemical Society (ACS) (2012, March 25). Popcorn: The snack with even higher antioxidants levels than fruits and vegetables. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 26, 2012, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2012/03/120325173008.htm#.T3CJEqUT3-M.mailto