If you live with diabetes, managing what you eat while maintaining good blood sugar levels is complicated.
While counting carbohydrates for a meal and taking medication accordingly, it can be tiring. But we are still humans and everyone enjoys good snacks many times!
When it comes to snacks, popcorn is extremely popular all over the world.
This simple snack lets you eat salty or sweet things, and you can enjoy watching movies at movies, beaches, and sporting events.
But when you live with diabetes, is popcorn a good snack?
In this article, we will explain everything you need to know about eating popcorn when living with diabetes.
Snacks with diabetes
People with diabetes are used to being told when they can or cannot eat.
We are used to having on hand to treat hypoglycemia, but we also want to enjoy regular snacks between meals once in a while.
Snacks in diabetes can be quite complicated.
Issues like insulin onboarding, high blood sugar levels, and carbohydrate counting make it difficult to enjoy snacks when living with diabetes.
However, many people suffer from diabetes enjoying snacks. If you’re hungry between meals, you should too!
Snacks are a great way to not only keep us in between meals, but also help us stabilize our blood sugar levels when prepared correctly.
What are the health benefits of popcorn?
When prepared healthy, popcorn can bring many health benefits.
Below are the reasons why you want to choose popcorn as your next snack.
Hypoglycemic index
The Glycemic Index (GI) is a measure of how quickly something raises blood glucose levels.
Popcorn’s GI is relatively low, and is 55 years old. This is much lower than other salty snacks, such as potato chips with a GI of 70.
Glycemic index is ranked in three categories.
low:0-55
Medium:56-69
expensive:70+
This makes popcorn a pretty smart snack, especially if you have diabetes.
There are 21 grams of carbohydrates per serving.
However, these are complex carbohydrates that do not immediately spike your blood sugar levels.
Also, popcorn only has about 100 calories per serving, making it a low-GI low-calorie snack.
Full of fiber
Popcorn is full of fiber, making it perfect for digestive health and normal bowel movements.
Fiber also helps to fill you for longer, prevent overeating, and stabilize your blood sugar spikes.
According to the USDA (USDA), a typical serving of popcorn is 3 cups (24 grams) and has 3.5 grams of fiber.
Most Americans need to make a huge contribution to their overall daily goals of serving of popcorn, aiming for 25-30 grams of fiber per day!
Whole grain snacks
The popcorn is 100% whole grain!
Unlike other salty snacks, which are full of refined grains, popcorn is naturally whole grain.
Eating one serving gives you almost a third of the daily requirements for whole grains.
Whole grains help lower bad cholesterol (LDL), increase good cholesterol (HDL), lower triglycerides, and also reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Eating popcorn is an easy and delicious way to get the whole grain.
Contains vitamins and antioxidants
Popcorn contains many vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, including:
- Folic acid
- Niacin
- Riboflavin
- Thiamin
- Pantothenic Acid
- Vitamin B6
- Vitamin a
- Vitamin e
- Vitamin K.
You won’t find this many vitamins and minerals in other delicious snacks.
This is definitely something to keep in mind when you reach out to say something when you’re hungry!
What should you be wary of when eating popcorn?
Popcorn can be a low-carb, high-fiber, low-calorie snack.
However, you need to pay attention to the toppings.
Toppings such as butter, salt, and sugar can add many calories, saturated fats, sodium and unnecessary sugar to any otherwise fairly healthy snack.
For example, Regal Cinemas’ big popcorn has 1,235 calories, and then take your low-calorie snack to almost every calorie you need in a day!
Kettle corn is estimated to have over 560 calories and 53 grams of carbohydrates per 100 grams (13 cups). Most of it is pure sugar. (For reference, the big movie popcorn contains about 17-20 cups of popcorn.)
This is why you need to be careful about what you put in your popcorn.
If you’re out to a sporting event or movie, always get smaller and ask for butter on the sides.
Should people with diabetes eat popcorn?
If you live with diabetes, popcorn can be a great snack choice.
Perfect for heart health and preventing type 2 diabetes.
Popcorn can fill you for longer, so eating too much treat is difficult.
The serving size is almost 3 cups, so if you tend to graze snacks, popcorn is the best option.
However, popcorn often comes with unhealthy toppings such as butter, salt and sugar.
This allows you to add calorie count, carbohydrates, sugar and send saturated fats to the snack.
Pay attention to portion sizes and always aim for smaller sizes.
If you’re eating popcorn with toppings, ask next to it.
You know exactly what’s going on with your treat, as making popcorn at home is the healthiest.
How to incorporate popcorn into your diet
If you want to incorporate popcorn into your diet, the following strategies can help:
- Make popcorn at home
- Add healthier toppings such as nutrient yeast, pepper, low-fat grated cheese, chili flakes and extra virgin olive oil (EVOO).
- Choose a smaller portion size, especially when ordering popcorn
- Measure popcorn and take insulin if necessary
- If you can, ask for toppings next to you
- Be careful of kettle corn.
Should I take insulin for popcorn?
This all depends on the insulin-to-carbohydrate ratio, correction factors, and insulin sensitivity ratio.
By itself, popcorn doesn’t have many carbs (about 21 grams for 3 cups).
If you’re drinking a glass of regular air pop popcorn, you may not need to take insulin for 7 grams of carbohydrates.
However, many people need to cover carbohydrates even with 1 cup of popcorn containing insulin. It all depends on your insulin sensitivity and the amount of insulin resistance you may have.
If you are eating popcorn with sugar toppings, you should count the carbohydrates accordingly and dosage insulin accordingly.
If you are worried about how to bolus insulin for popcorn, talk to your doctor.
Can popcorn help me lose weight?
Popcorn can be a great alternative snack choice for those looking to lose weight. In particular, it is full of fiber fillings, which helps people eat less.
Air-popped popcorn is also low in calories, so instead of pretzels, chips, ice cream or other sweet calorie snacks, this makes for a great snack.
If you have diabetes and are considering losing weight, talk to your doctor.
They can offer you personalized suggestions and can also refer you to a registered dietitian (RD) who can develop the right dietary plan to help with your weight loss goals.
Is it Pop Corn Gluten Free?
yes! Popcorn is a naturally gluten-free snack and is perfect for those who have both celiac disease and other gluten sensitivity.
However, always check the labels for pre-paid popcorn for eating, as they may be processed in a facility that prepares gluten individually.
When it’s safe, if you’re celiac disease or other gluten-sensitive, look for popcorn that’s certified as gluten-free.
