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The Spartan Diet
- Public
Why You Should Never Eat Popcorn In a Movie Theater
Have you ever noticed that eating too much movie theater popcorn can make you feel a little sick? That's because it probably is making you a little sick.
Popcorn may seem like the one snack available in a movie theater that's not that bad for you. After all, popcorn is just corn, a whole grain. If you ask for it without butter, it's healthy, right?
Well, no. Not even close.
As you probably know, some theaters buy pre-popped popcorn, which is warmed up using lights in the theater. Pre-popped popcorn is typically cooked in unhealthy trans fat oils, and flavored and colored with artificial ingredients, often including MSG. And because this kind of popcorn is popped first, then stored for an unknown amount of time, it has preservatives added.
A bag of popcorn popped in the theater typically contains four individual concession stand supply products, including the popping corn, cooking oil, "butter" and seasoning salt. Go here to see a nice collection of movie theater popcorn supply products:
http://www.gmpopcorn.com/products/product-classes.cfm?catid=6&classid=5
The corn itself is grown using insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, fumigants and other chemicals used to "treat" the corn. Go here to see the complete list:
http://www.popcorn.org/PopcornAgriChemicalHandbook/tabid/148/Default.aspx
Most movie theater popcorn is cooked in an oil product that is mostly hydrogenated coconut oil, a highly toxic trans fat. (The National Academy of Sciences has stated publicly that there is no safe level of trans fat consumption, and that it should be totally eliminated from the human diet.) The oil used for popping theater popcorn also contains artificial butter flavoring. That's why when you ask for no butter, the popcorn still tastes like fake butter, and still has a weird yellow color.
Some theaters boast of popcorn cooked in canola oil, which is supposed to be a health benefit. In fact, they're popping the corn in partially hydrogenated canola shortening, which is also a trans fat.
So if you order movie theater popcorn with no butter and no salt, that's what you're getting: corn that has been compromised by insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, fumigants and other chemicals, as well as trans fats, artificial flavors and probably preservatives as well.
But what if you do go for the butter and salt?
The artificial-butter-flavored topping is typically made mainly from hydrogenated soybean oil (another trans fat), artificial flavoring, beta carotene for color, and preservatives. Different theaters use different brands or supply sources, but this roster of toxic ingredients is typical.
One "flavoring agent" used in popcorn "butter" is called diacetyl, and it has been associated with lung disease among workers in the factories where it's made.
Popcorn supply companies don't have to disclose the use of diacetyl, or specific exactly what their flavoring agents are made of.
In addition, even the salt theaters use is something of a science project. The list of ingredients for one movie theater concession stand salt (which is typical), includes: "salt, artificial flavors, artificial sweetener (Acesulfame K), Yellow #5 Lake and Yellow #6 Lake." Some products also contain MSG.
Last year, the Center for Science in the Public Interest conducted a study on some nutritional aspects of movie theater popcorn, especially calories, fat and salt content, as well as other theater concession stand fare:
http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/nahpopcorn.pdf
Even by that shallow analysis, movie popcorn comes out as an assault on health. From the report: "A combo at [one theater chain] (medium popcorn plus medium soda) has 1,610 calories. That’s like eating six scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese, four bacon strips, and four sausage links before the lights come up."
If you enjoy eating popcorn at the movies, why not pop and bring your own? Unless you ruin it with chemicals and other junk ingredients, popcorn is extremely healthy:
http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_ARTICLEMAIN&node_id=222&content_id=CNBP_029635&use_sec=true&sec_url_var=region1&__uuid=bbb3d96f-e7da-4f93-bae1-577908c49260
Buy organic popping corn from the bin section of your grocery or health-food store. Pop it in an air popper, and add a little extra virgin olive oil and a little quality sea salt, then smuggle it into the theater.
The whole thing will cost less than one-tenth of what you'll pay at the megaplex. It will taste a whole lot better. And best of all, it will actually be very healthy, instead of a massive toxic hit to your body.
Have you ever noticed that eating too much movie theater popcorn can make you feel a little sick? That's because it probably is making you a little sick.
Popcorn may seem like the one snack available in a movie theater that's not that bad for you. After all, popcorn is just corn, a whole grain. If you ask for it without butter, it's healthy, right?
Well, no. Not even close.
As you probably know, some theaters buy pre-popped popcorn, which is warmed up using lights in the theater. Pre-popped popcorn is typically cooked in unhealthy trans fat oils, and flavored and colored with artificial ingredients, often including MSG. And because this kind of popcorn is popped first, then stored for an unknown amount of time, it has preservatives added.
A bag of popcorn popped in the theater typically contains four individual concession stand supply products, including the popping corn, cooking oil, "butter" and seasoning salt. Go here to see a nice collection of movie theater popcorn supply products:
http://www.gmpopcorn.com/products/product-classes.cfm?catid=6&classid=5
The corn itself is grown using insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, fumigants and other chemicals used to "treat" the corn. Go here to see the complete list:
http://www.popcorn.org/PopcornAgriChemicalHandbook/tabid/148/Default.aspx
Most movie theater popcorn is cooked in an oil product that is mostly hydrogenated coconut oil, a highly toxic trans fat. (The National Academy of Sciences has stated publicly that there is no safe level of trans fat consumption, and that it should be totally eliminated from the human diet.) The oil used for popping theater popcorn also contains artificial butter flavoring. That's why when you ask for no butter, the popcorn still tastes like fake butter, and still has a weird yellow color.
Some theaters boast of popcorn cooked in canola oil, which is supposed to be a health benefit. In fact, they're popping the corn in partially hydrogenated canola shortening, which is also a trans fat.
So if you order movie theater popcorn with no butter and no salt, that's what you're getting: corn that has been compromised by insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, fumigants and other chemicals, as well as trans fats, artificial flavors and probably preservatives as well.
But what if you do go for the butter and salt?
The artificial-butter-flavored topping is typically made mainly from hydrogenated soybean oil (another trans fat), artificial flavoring, beta carotene for color, and preservatives. Different theaters use different brands or supply sources, but this roster of toxic ingredients is typical.
One "flavoring agent" used in popcorn "butter" is called diacetyl, and it has been associated with lung disease among workers in the factories where it's made.
Popcorn supply companies don't have to disclose the use of diacetyl, or specific exactly what their flavoring agents are made of.
In addition, even the salt theaters use is something of a science project. The list of ingredients for one movie theater concession stand salt (which is typical), includes: "salt, artificial flavors, artificial sweetener (Acesulfame K), Yellow #5 Lake and Yellow #6 Lake." Some products also contain MSG.
Last year, the Center for Science in the Public Interest conducted a study on some nutritional aspects of movie theater popcorn, especially calories, fat and salt content, as well as other theater concession stand fare:
http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/nahpopcorn.pdf
Even by that shallow analysis, movie popcorn comes out as an assault on health. From the report: "A combo at [one theater chain] (medium popcorn plus medium soda) has 1,610 calories. That’s like eating six scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese, four bacon strips, and four sausage links before the lights come up."
If you enjoy eating popcorn at the movies, why not pop and bring your own? Unless you ruin it with chemicals and other junk ingredients, popcorn is extremely healthy:
http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_ARTICLEMAIN&node_id=222&content_id=CNBP_029635&use_sec=true&sec_url_var=region1&__uuid=bbb3d96f-e7da-4f93-bae1-577908c49260
Buy organic popping corn from the bin section of your grocery or health-food store. Pop it in an air popper, and add a little extra virgin olive oil and a little quality sea salt, then smuggle it into the theater.
The whole thing will cost less than one-tenth of what you'll pay at the megaplex. It will taste a whole lot better. And best of all, it will actually be very healthy, instead of a massive toxic hit to your body.
ASCII Star Wars
Ever wondered what Star Wars would look like in ASCII? Me either. This is a pretty original way of watching it nonetheless.
Ever wondered what Star Wars would look like in ASCII? Me either. This is a pretty original way of watching it nonetheless.
I sat beside this woman yesterday at the DHR office with her two kids. She looked at me with wide eyes and a smile to ask if I've accepted Jesus into my life, and --as a learned automated response-- I said yes. Moving forward, I asked the ages of her children --the oldest being 4 and the youngest only a few months. She proceeded to tell me about her church and her life. She told me that she had been sexually assaulted when she wasn't much older than her youngest, and had experienced sexual and physical assault throughout her life --the oldest being the product of one of these assaults. She told me that she lived alone with her two kids... Honestly I have no idea why this woman was spilling her guts to me, but something really stuck with me; even through all of the terror she had experienced in her life, she was able to smile, look at a stranger and feel concern for others. She said that she felt bad for being on WIC and foodstamps, but she didn't have any other way to survive. I honestly don't know the truth of everything she'd gone through in her life, but I felt compelled to share her story. When people talk about others who ride on the system and just want a hand out, they have no idea the struggles that some of these people go through.
I'm going to make a conscious effort to start using my blog account again. I'm really quite fascinated by the whole process of keeping a long term log of things I'd like to share. I don't know how long Facebook is going to allow this before they start charging for access to your pictures and updates. Either way, we'll see. In the meantime, here's an awesome picture of a giant beetle I took at my house.
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