Popcorn and How You Digest It

    * Aug 6, 2011
    * Jenny Mulligan

Popcorn is a low-fat, low-calorie addition to your diet. - veggiefrog

Popcorn is a popular snack, low in both calories and fat.

Popcorn likely originated in the Americas, with 1,000-year-old popcorn kernels having been found in both Peru and Utah, according to the National Agricultural Library. It became popular in the U.S. during the late 1800s and continues to be a commonly consumed snack food today, as the U.S. population eats, on average, 68 quarts per year. Popcorn contains carbohydrate as its major macronutrient, with a moderate protein and low fat content. Your body digests these three macronutrients in different ways.
Carbohydrate Digestion

A 1-oz. serving of popped popcorn provides 22 g of carbohydrate, 4 g of which is dietary fiber. The digestion of the popcorn’s starch begins in your mouth with the action of salivary amylase. This enzyme starts to break down large starch molecules into smaller starch molecules and the disaccharide maltose. When these components pass through your stomach and into your small intestine, different amylases, secreted from your pancreas, continue the process of degrading the popcorn starch. The digestive enzyme maltase completes the starch digestion by clipping each maltose into individual glucose units, ready for absorption by your small intestine. The dietary fiber in your serving of popcorn remains undigested as it passes through your large intestine for eventual elimination.

Protein Digestion

The 4 g of protein available in an ounce of popped popcorn undergoes preliminary digestion in your stomach. Here, your stomach acid denatures the protein, allowing the digestive enzyme pepsin to clip the protein strand into smaller pieces. As the pieces travel to your small intestine, additional enzymes that originate in your pancreas break them apart until single amino acids remain. Your small intestine then absorbs the amino acids and transfers them to your bloodstream.
Fat Digestion

Although fat accounts for a small amount of the nutrients in popcorn – only 1 g in a single ounce – your body nonetheless digests it. Most of your dietary fat digestion occurs in your small intestine, where the fat mixes with a fluid called bile, which functions to help the fat combine more easily with water. This allows pancreatic lipase to act on the fat molecule, splitting it into one glycerol and three fatty acids. These fat components are then small enough for your small intestine to take them up for use by your body.

Considerations

Although popcorn is a popular snack food and may be a healthy addition to your diet - if you refrain from loading it up with high-fat toppings such as butter - it may also cause you digestive trouble. For example, if you suffer from diverticulitis, a disorder in which little pouches of your intestine become inflamed, you may choose to avoid foods that could become stuck in the pouches and aggravate your condition. Nuts, seeds and popcorn fall into this category. Other than that, however, popcorn’s low fat content coupled with its bulk helps you feel full for very few calories, making it an ideal snack food when you are watching your weight.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and should not be used for diagnosis or to guide treatment without the opinion of a health professional. Any reader who is concerned about his or her health should contact a doctor for advice.


Copyright Jenny Mulligan. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.

Jenny Mulligan - A longtime Seattle resident, Jenny Mulligan writes on health and fitness topics, with a special interest in science-based ...


