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During pregnancy, you have to take extra care with the foods that you eat! If you’re craving popcorn, you’ll want to know if it’s safe to have as a snack. So, can you still enjoy popcorn while you’re pregnant?
You can eat popcorn while you’re pregnant. Popcorn is high in fiber, a whole grain, and low in calories, which makes it a healthy choice. It’s the toppings you add that make the snack unhealthy, so if you’re pregnant, you’ll need to choose your popcorn flavors carefully.
There are plenty of popcorn flavors that you can enjoy! However, you’ll need to make sure you’re not overeating salt, fat, or sugar, so preparing your snacks is best. For more information on what types of popcorn you can eat, keep reading.
Can You Safely Eat Popcorn During Pregnancy?
During your pregnancy, you’ll find yourself craving a wide variety of snacks! If you want to enjoy popcorn, is it safe to eat? Pregnant women need to be careful when choosing snacks, so it’s a good idea to know everything available to them.
You can safely eat popcorn during your pregnancy. Popcorn, in fact, has more nutrients than numerous other snacks and is a whole grain food. As long as you don’t add toppings, it’s also very low in fat and calories. Additionally, it contains zinc, fiber, selenium, and some protein.
When making popcorn, you’ll want to avoid unhealthy toppings, like a lot of butter and salt. These ingredients are fine in small amounts, but you should choose other toppings whenever you can.
It’s best to avoid microwavable popcorn during your pregnancy and stick with air-popped or stovetop popcorn. When you prepare the snack yourself, you can choose what and how much of the toppings go on your food. If you eat a microwavable bag, the brand picks it for you.
What’s The Best Type of Popcorn During Pregnancy?
The best type of popcorn to eat during pregnancy is homemade air-popped popcorn. When you prepare it yourself, you don’t have to worry about what chemicals or ingredients are in the snack. Brands can add unnecessary ingredients to their popcorn, which aren’t always the healthiest.
You can get a popcorn maker to prepare your snack quickly. I recommend the Dash Hot Air Popcorn Popper Maker from Amazon.com. It’s easy to use and pops kernels very fast! The popper also comes with a measuring cup to portion out your popcorn. Plus, it doesn’t need oil to run, making it healthier to use.
That said, you can also make homemade air-popped/microwave popcorn at home without a particular machine. Here’s what you’ll need to do:
- Pour a small serving of popcorn kernels into a paper bag.
- Seal the bag by folding the top several times- you don’t want the popcorn to get out!
- Place the paper bag in your microwave and set it to high for a few minutes.
- Listen to the kernels – when there are about three seconds between pops, remove the bag and let it cool.
- Open the paper bag, pour the popcorn into a bowl, and add your toppings!
What Types Of Popcorn Should Pregnant Women Eat?
You may also be wondering about what flavors of popcorn you can eat. Luckily, you have plenty of options, and you should easily be able to make a flavor that you love.
Pregnant women should choose plain popcorn to eat. From there, they can top it with seasonings to create the flavor of their choice. Pre-buttered popcorn also comes with fat, salt, and calories, which can be unhealthy for both parent and child.
Too much salt and fat can lead to various pregnancy complications. Saturated fats can lead to preterm deliveries, gestational diabetes, and high blood pressure problems when eaten in large quantities.
If you can’t find plain popcorn, then lightly salted popcorn is usually okay. Many pregnant people enjoy popcorn lightly salted with sea salt and nothing else.
However, you can add different seasonings if you want! If you’re wondering what toppings are safe to include, keep on reading.
What Toppings Are Safe For Pregnant Women To Add To Their Popcorn?
Toppings that are safe for pregnant women to add to their popcorn include:
- Olive oil
- Light sea salt
- Vanilla
- Powdered sugar
- Dried herbs or seasonings
- Cinnamon or pumpkin spice
- Peanut butter
- Maple syrup or honey
- Crushed almonds
- Finely grated cheese
These toppings are safe since they don’t contain ingredients that can be harmful during pregnancy. Seasonings and herbs also add flavor without adding more calories, salt, chemicals, or saturated fat to your popcorn – and your diet in general!
You can do a lot with all those toppings! However, it’s essential that you only add all dashes of the toppings. For example, tiny amounts of olive oil are alright, but adding too much would make it unhealthy. You want the focus of your snack to be on the nutrients in the popcorn.
Overall, you want to choose toppings that are healthy and taste good! Plain popcorn is excellent for you, but not everyone likes how it tastes without any seasonings.
What Toppings Should You Avoid?
However, there are some toppings that you’ll need to avoid while pregnant! It’s best to avoid microwavable popcorn bags altogether since they come with too many unhealthy ingredients. What else should you avoid?
The main topping you should avoid is salt. While salt is fine in small amounts, too much salt can lead to high blood pressure and hypertension, which can have a negative impact on the baby’s health (as well as your own).
Salt can lead to high blood pressure, which can cause issues during pregnancy, including preeclampsia. This condition also comes with kidney and liver problems. However, very light servings of salt are generally safe.
To summarize, you can eat popcorn while pregnant- as long as you take care to prepare it yourself. When you use prepackaged popcorn bags, you’re also eating a lot of chemicals that you don’t need.
Overall, you can add a variety of toppings to add to the taste. Plain popcorn is the best for you and is enjoyable with a ton of different, healthy seasonings!
