Popcorn Packs a Wallop as a Snack That Delivers Key Vitamins and Protein

Popcorn, one of our most nutritious snack foods, traces its popularity at American sporting events to the late 19th century but historians say its roots go back thousands of years initially to Central and South America where popcorn kernels and even popped popcorn were discovered in ancient tombs dating back to 5,000 years ago.

How it got here is a matter of some conjecture. “Most likely, North American whalers went to Chile, found varieties of popcorn, picked them up and thought that they were cute, and brought them back to New England in the early 19th century,” according to Andrew Smith, author of “Popped Culture: A Social History of Popcorn,”

Others believe that early colonists picked up popcorn from Native Americans who not only ate popped corn around campfires but also used it in religious rituals.

Popped corn which had to stovetops in colonial times started moving outdoors at the end of the 19th century. That’s because in 1885, at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Charles Cretors introduced a steam powered popcorn popper. His mobile machine with a gas burner allowed him to roam the streets offering popcorn to everyone. Three years after that breakthrough invention, the two Rueckheim brothers, F.W and Louis, created Cracker Jack, the first caramel corn. (Alas, 126 years later, in 2022, its beloved “prize in every box” was replaced by a small cardboard card with a link to an online prize site.)

Popcorn pops when the kernels are heated and moisture inside expands into steam causing them to burst. But you can’t just pop any old kernels. But the corn that pops is not the same one that we use at summer barbeques. The variety of corn that does the job is called zea mays everta, a plant now native to the Americas, North and South.

Unlike some other snacks, the popped kernels are a strikingly nutritious choice. First and definitely foremost, they are whole grain stars that deliver vitamins A, B, E, and K, plus protein (3 grams), soluble and insoluble dietary fiber (3.6 grams), and simple and complex carbs (18.6 grams), all for a measly 93 calorie per 3 cups of air-popped puffs. s. As the reliable website WebMD notes, on its own, minus extra fats and salt, this combo offers a whole list of health benefits. Popcorn’s insoluble fiber helps to stimulate your gut to move food through your body, thus reducing the risk of constipation. Its soluble fiber binds cholesterol, preventing it from sliding into your blood vessels and clotting, thus reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease. All that fiber also helps help blood sugar levels level, a bonus for people with Type 2 diabetes. And, because popcorn is more filling than other snacks such as potato chips, you can also credit it with helping to control your weight.

Today, although most American popping corn is grown in Nebraska and Indiana, Wikipedia names at least six Midwest cities claiming to be the “Popcorn Capital of the World”: North Loup, Nebraska; Valparaiso, Indiana; Van Buren, Indiana; Schaller, Iowa; Marion, Ohio; and Ridgway, Illinois. In 2003, Illinois declared popcorn as its official state snack, recognizing its importance in the state’s agricultural industry. Which matters because aside from its snacking supremacy, popcorn provides some other interesting possibilities.

Business-wise, shipping companies have sometimes experimented with popcorn as a biodegradable replacement for expanded polystyrene packing puffs. Alas, popcorn turned out to attract pests. Also, it’s flammable, and it costs more than the indestructible plastic stuff–drawbacks some folk are working to solve. On the home front, popcorn threaded on a string or wire may decorate a Christmas tree, a tradition carried here by Balkan immigrants from Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Macedonia.

Finally, given its history and its goodness, you will not be surprised to learn that popcorn’s a food with its very own day. Actually, two. Until 2003, fans celebrated National Popcorn Day on January 31, but in 2003, a newspaper in Texas reportedly said, no, it’s January 19, which it’s been ever since. If you missed it this year, only 300 or so days to the next one.